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1989 Duke

8–⁠4 (6–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Steve Spurrier.

Schedule and results

Duke in 1989, game by game: lost at South Carolina 21–27; won vs. Northwestern 41–31; lost at No. 17 Tennessee 6–28; lost at Virginia 28–49; won vs. No. 7 Clemson 21–17; won vs. Army 35–29; won at Maryland 46–25; won vs. Georgia Tech 30–19; won at Wake Forest 52–35; won vs. No. 22 NC State 35–26; won at North Carolina 41–0; lost vs. No. 24 Texas Tech 21–49+41−28Lost 21–27 at South Carolina-6South CarolinaWon 41–31 vs. Northwestern+10NorthwesternLost 6–28 at No. 17 Tennessee-22No. 17 TennesseeLost 28–49 at Virginia-21VirginiaWon 21–17 vs. No. 7 Clemson+4No. 7 ClemsonWon 35–29 vs. Army+6ArmyWon 46–25 at Maryland+21MarylandWon 30–19 vs. Georgia Tech+11Georgia TechWon 52–35 at Wake Forest+17Wake ForestWon 35–26 vs. No. 22 NC State+9No. 22 NC StateWon 41–0 at North Carolina+41North CarolinaLost 21–49 vs. No. 24 Texas Tech-28No. 24 Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2atSouth CarolinaL 21–⁠2738%
Sep 9vsNorthwesternW 41–⁠3169%
Sep 16at17TennesseeL 6–⁠2830%
Sep 23atVirginiaL 28–⁠4931%
Sep 30vs7ClemsonW 21–⁠1724%
Oct 7vsArmyW 35–⁠2950%
Oct 21atMarylandW 46–⁠2544%
Oct 28vsGeorgia TechW 30–⁠1967%
Nov 4atWake ForestW 52–⁠3566%
Nov 11vs22NC StateW 35–⁠2656%
Nov 18atNorth CarolinaW 41–⁠079%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs24Texas TechAll-American BowlL 21–⁠4954%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas Tech 49–⁠21 in the All-American Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 32nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 108 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 25
  2. Wk 13: 23
  3. Wk 14: 20
  4. Wk 15: 20
  5. Wk 16: 20

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1989.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Virginia

Consensus All-AmericanClarkston Hines, WR

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
377–⁠335
Coach
Steve Spurrier
Elo
1577 +78 this season
SP+ rating
5.4 No. 45 of 103; offense No. 16, defense No. 80
SRS
5.5 No. 34 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinators
Jim Collins and Bob Sanders
Captains
Carey Metts and John Howell
Most valuable player
Clarkston Hines
Offense
Fun and gun
Defense
4–⁠3

All-ACC

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Dave ColonnaTEAP-2
  • Erwin SampsonDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia6–⁠110–⁠318
Duke6–⁠18–⁠4
Clemson5–⁠210–⁠212
Georgia Tech4–⁠37–⁠4
NC State4–⁠37–⁠5
Maryland2–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Wake Forest1–⁠62–⁠8–⁠1
North Carolina0–⁠71–⁠10

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