CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1961 Wake Forest

4–⁠6 (3–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Billy Hildebrand.

Schedule and results

Wake Forest in 1961, game by game: lost at Baylor 0–31; lost vs. South Carolina 7–10; lost at Duke 3–23; won at Clemson 17–13; lost at NC State 0–7; won vs. Virginia 21–15; lost at Auburn 7–21; won vs. Virginia Tech 24–15; lost at Maryland 7–10; won vs. North Carolina 17–14+9−31Lost 0–31 at Baylor-31BaylorLost 7–10 vs. South Carolina-3South CarolinaLost 3–23 at Duke-20DukeWon 17–13 at Clemson+4ClemsonLost 0–7 at NC State-7NC StateWon 21–15 vs. Virginia+6VirginiaLost 7–21 at Auburn-14AuburnWon 24–15 vs. Virginia Tech+9Virginia TechLost 7–10 at Maryland-3MarylandWon 17–14 vs. North Carolina+3North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23atBaylorL 0–⁠3123%
Sep 30vsSouth CarolinaL 7–⁠1051%
Oct 7atDukeL 3–⁠2319%
Oct 14atClemsonW 17–⁠1320%
Oct 21atNC StateL 0–⁠733%
Oct 28vsVirginiaW 21–⁠1569%
Nov 4atAuburnL 7–⁠2118%
Nov 11vsVirginia TechW 24–⁠1551%
Nov 18atMarylandL 7–⁠1026%
Nov 25vsNorth CarolinaW 17–⁠1450%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 17–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 56th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 119 on file).

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 1961.

Record
4–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 5th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
103–⁠159
Coach
Billy Hildebrand
Elo
1429 +9 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
−0.2 No. 59 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Charles Reiley

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 3Bill Hull EChicago Bears
Rd 5Bill Hull DEBoston Patriots (AFL)

All-ACC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Alan WhiteB

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Duke5–⁠17–⁠320
North Carolina4–⁠35–⁠5
Maryland3–⁠37–⁠3
Clemson3–⁠35–⁠5
South Carolina3–⁠44–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠44–⁠6
NC State3–⁠44–⁠6
Virginia2–⁠44–⁠6

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