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1952 Wake Forest

5–⁠4–⁠1 (5–⁠1 Southern Conference), coached by Tom Rogers.

Schedule and results

Wake Forest in 1952, game by game: lost at Baylor 14–17; won at William & Mary 28–21; tied at Boston College 7–7; lost at No. 14 Villanova 0–20; won at North Carolina 9–7; won vs. NC State 21–6; lost at TCU 9–27; lost vs. Duke 7–14; won at Furman 28–0; won vs. South Carolina 39–14+28−20Lost 14–17 at Baylor-3BaylorWon 28–21 at William & Mary+7William & MaryTied 7–7 at Boston College0Boston CollegeLost 0–20 at No. 14 Villanova-20No. 14 VillanovaWon 9–7 at North Carolina+2North CarolinaWon 21–6 vs. NC State+15NC StateLost 9–27 at TCU-18TCULost 7–14 vs. Duke-7DukeWon 28–0 at Furman+28FurmanWon 39–14 vs. South Carolina+25South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 20atBaylorL 14–⁠1731%
Sep 27atWilliam & MaryW 28–⁠2142%
Oct 4atBoston CollegeT 7–⁠761%
Oct 11at14VillanovaL 0–⁠2035%
Oct 18atNorth CarolinaW 9–⁠757%
Nov 1vsNC StateW 21–⁠680%
Nov 8atTCUL 9–⁠2744%
Nov 15vsDukeL 7–⁠1447%
Nov 22atFurmanW 28–⁠062%
Nov 29vsSouth CarolinaW 39–⁠1464%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat South Carolina 39–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southern Conference.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 119 on file).

Led the nationLarry Spencer: kickoff return average (42.2)

Record
5–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠1 tied for 2nd in Southern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
162–⁠133
Coach
Tom Rogers
Elo
1571 +16 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
3.2 No. 55 of 113 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Jack Lewis

All-Southern Conference

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Jack LewisEUP-1; INS-1
  • Bob GaonaOTUP-2; INS-1
  • Ken BridgesOGINS-1

Second team

  • Charles GeorgeBUP-2
  • Bill FinnanceOGUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1952 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1952 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke5–⁠08–⁠216
West Virginia5–⁠17–⁠2
Wake Forest5–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
William & Mary4–⁠14–⁠5
George Washington5–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
Virginia Tech4–⁠45–⁠6
Furman2–⁠2–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
South Carolina3–⁠45–⁠5
Washington and Lee3–⁠43–⁠7
VMI2–⁠3–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
NC State2–⁠43–⁠7
North Carolina1–⁠22–⁠6
The Citadel1–⁠3–⁠13–⁠5–⁠1
Davidson1–⁠62–⁠7
Clemson0–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Richmond0–⁠61–⁠9

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