1938 Duke Blue Devils football
SoCon champion
Rose Bowl, L 3–7 vs. USC
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Ranking
APNo. 3
Record9–1 (5–0 SoCon)
Head coach
Offensive schemeSingle-wing
MVPEric Tipton
CaptainDan Hill, Eric Tipton
Home stadiumDuke Stadium
Seasons
← 1937
1939 →
1938 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Duke $ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
Clemson 3 – 0 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
VMI 4 – 0 – 3 6 – 1 – 4
North Carolina 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Richmond 3 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
Washington and Lee 2 – 2 – 0 4 – 4 – 1
NC State 3 – 3 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
South Carolina 2 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Wake Forest 3 – 4 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
VPI 2 – 3 – 2 3 – 5 – 2
The Citadel 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Maryland 1 – 2 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Davidson 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Furman 0 – 4 – 1 2 – 7 – 1
William & Mary 0 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1938 Duke Blue Devils football team represented the Duke Blue Devils of Duke University during the 1938 college football season. They were led by head coach Wallace Wade, who was in his eighth season at the school. Known as the "Iron Dukes", the 1938 Blue Devils went undefeated and unscored upon during the entire regular season, earning them the Southern Conference championship.

Duke was invited to the Rose Bowl against the USC Trojans. In what was the Blue Devils' first bowl game appearance, the contest was a scoreless defensive battle until early in the fourth quarter, when Duke kicked a field goal to take a 3–0 lead. However, USC threw a touchdown pass with one minute left to score the first and only points allowed by Duke during the season and win the game.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 248:00 p.m.VPI
W 18–013,000[1][2][3]
October 1Davidson
W 27–06,000[4]
October 8vs. Colgate*
W 7–023,950
October 15Georgia Tech*dagger
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 6–030,000
October 22vs. Wake ForestNo. 9Winston-Salem, NCW 7–0
October 29at North CarolinaNo. 11
W 14–035,000
November 12at Syracuse*No. 7
W 21–0
November 19NC StateNo. 4
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 7–015,000
November 26No. 4 PittsburghNo. 3
  • Duke Stadium
  • Durham, NC
W 7–049,138[5]
January 1at No. 8 USC*No. 3
L 3–7
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[6]

References

  1. ^ "Duke vs. V.P.I." VPI vs. Duke Football Program. 1938. p. 1. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "Blue Devils Meet V.P.I. in Season Opener, Saturday". The Duke Chronicle. Duke University. September 20, 1938. p. 1. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  3. ^ "Blue Devil Football Team Captures Season's Opener, 18–0". The Duke Chronicle. Duke University. September 27, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  4. ^ "Duke turns back Davidson, 27–0". The News and Observer. October 2, 1938. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Smith, Chester L. (November 27, 1938). "Duke blocks kick for touchdown to beat Pitt, 7 to 0". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sports.
  6. ^ "1938 Duke Blue Devils". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
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