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1987 Duke

5–⁠6 (2–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Steve Spurrier.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1987, game by game: won vs. Colgate 41–6; won vs. Northwestern 31–16; won vs. Vanderbilt 35–31; lost at Virginia 17–42; lost at Rutgers 0–7; lost at No. 7 Clemson 10–17; lost at Maryland 22–23; won vs. Georgia Tech 48–14; lost at Wake Forest 27–30; lost vs. NC State 45–47; won at North Carolina 25–10+35−25Won 41–6 vs. Colgate+35ColgateWon 31–16 vs. Northwestern+15NorthwesternWon 35–31 vs. Vanderbilt+4VanderbiltLost 17–42 at Virginia-25VirginiaLost 0–7 at Rutgers-7RutgersLost 10–17 at No. 7 Clemson-7No. 7 ClemsonLost 22–23 at Maryland-1MarylandWon 48–14 vs. Georgia Tech+34Georgia TechLost 27–30 at Wake Forest-3Wake ForestLost 45–47 vs. NC State-2NC StateWon 25–10 at North Carolina+15North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsColgateW 41–⁠673%
Sep 12vsNorthwesternW 31–⁠1660%
Sep 19vsVanderbiltW 35–⁠3167%
Sep 26atVirginiaL 17–⁠4249%
Oct 3atRutgersL 0–⁠739%
Oct 17at7ClemsonL 10–⁠1716%
Oct 24atMarylandL 22–⁠2326%
Oct 31vsGeorgia TechW 48–⁠1450%
Nov 7atWake ForestL 27–⁠3039%
Nov 14vsNC StateL 45–⁠4760%
Nov 21atNorth CarolinaW 25–⁠1027%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 25–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 64th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠5 7th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
301–⁠243
Coach
Steve Spurrier
Elo
1472 +48 this season
SP+ rating
-2.4 No. 59 of 101; offense No. 47, defense No. 73
SRS
3.7 No. 41 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Richard Bell
Captains
Jason Cooper, Dave Demore and Dewayne Terry
Most valuable player
Steve Slayden
Offense
Fun and gun
Defense
3–⁠4

All-ACC

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1987 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1987 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠110–⁠212
Virginia5–⁠28–⁠4
Wake Forest4–⁠37–⁠4
NC State4–⁠34–⁠7
Maryland3–⁠34–⁠7
North Carolina3–⁠45–⁠6
Duke2–⁠55–⁠6
Georgia Tech0–⁠62–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.