1938 Duke Blue Devils football team

American college football season

1938 Duke Blue Devils football

SoCon champion

Rose Bowl, L 3–7 vs. USC

Conference| Southern Conference
Ranking
AP| No. 3
Record| 9–1 (5–0 SoCon)
Head coach|

* Wallace Wade (8th season)

Offensive scheme| Single-wing
MVP| Eric Tipton
Captain| Dan Hill, Eric Tipton
Home stadium| Duke Stadium

Seasons

<- 1937

1939 ->

1938 Southern Conference football standings

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| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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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
Captain Dan Hill, coach Wallace Wade, and captain Eric Tipton practicing in a Pasadena park ahead of the Rose Bowl

The 1938 Duke Blue Devils football team represented Duke University during the 1938 college football season. The Blue Devils 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

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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September 24| 8:00 p.m.| VPI| |

* World War Memorial Stadium
* Greensboro, NC

| W 18–0| 13,000| [1][2][3]
October 1| | Davidson| |

* Duke Stadium
* Durham, NC

| W 27–0| 6,000| [4]
October 8| | vs. Colgate*| |

* Civic Stadium
* Buffalo, NY

| W 7–0| 23,950| [5]
October 15| | Georgia Tech*| |

* Duke Stadium
* Durham, NC

| W 6–0| 28,000| [6]
October 22| | vs. Wake Forest| No. 9|

* Bowman Gray Stadium
* Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)

| W 7–0| 10,000| [7]
October 29| | at North Carolina| No. 11|

* Kenan Memorial Stadium
* Chapel Hill, NC

| W 14–0| 35,000| [8]
November 12| | at Syracuse*| No. 7|

* Archbold Stadium
* Syracuse, NY

| W 21–0| 27,500| [9]
November 19| | NC State| No. 4|

* Duke Stadium
* Durham, NC (rivalry)

| W 7–0| 11,000| [10]
November 26| | No. 4 Pittsburgh| No. 3|

* Duke Stadium
* Durham, NC

| W 7–0| 49,138| [11]
January 2| | at No. 8 USC*| No. 3|

* Rose Bowl
* Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)

| L 3–7| 93,000| [12]

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[13]

## References

[edit]

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. ^ "Duke batters down Colgate passing attack to win intersectional clash, 7 to 0". The Palm Beach Post-Times. October 9, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Duke subdues Georgia Tech by 6–0 score". The Baltimore Sun. October 16, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "Duke beats Deacons 7–0". Winston-Salem Journal. October 23, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Duke's eleven beats N.C. by 14-to-0 margin". The Baltimore Sun. October 30, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ "Blue Devils do it again; Eric Tipton leads Duke to triumph". The News and Observer. November 13, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ "Duke gets close call but stops State, 7–0". Daily News. November 20, 1938. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ Smith, Chester L. (November 27, 1938). "Duke blocks kick for touchdown to beat Pitt, 7 to 0". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sports.
12. ^ "Trojans beat Duke, 7–3, on last minute pass". The Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1939. Retrieved December 19, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
13. ^ "1938 Duke Blue Devils". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.

* v
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* e

Duke Blue Devils football

Venues|

* Hanes Field (c. 1913–1928)
* Wallace Wade Stadium (1929–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* North Carolina: Victory Bell
* Tobacco Road

Culture & lore|

* History
* Blue Devil
* "Fight! Blue Devils, Fight!"
* Blue and White (Duke fight song)
* Marching band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895–1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

* v
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Southern Conference football champions

Pre-SEC|

* Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech & North Carolina (1922)
* Vanderbilt & Washington and Lee (1923)
* Alabama (1924)
* Alabama & Tulane (1925)
* Alabama (1926)
* Georgia Tech, Tennessee, & NC State (1927)
* Georgia Tech (1928)
* Tulane (1929)
* Alabama & Tulane (1930)
* Tulane (1931)
* Tennessee & Auburn & LSU (1932)

Pre-ACC|

* Duke (1933)
* Washington and Lee (1934)
* Duke (1935)
* Duke (1936)
* Maryland (1937)
* Duke (1938)
* Duke (1939)
* Clemson (1940)
* Duke (1941)
* William & Mary (1942)
* Duke (1943)
* Duke (1944)
* Duke (1945)
* North Carolina (1946)
* William & Mary (1947)
* Clemson (1948)
* North Carolina (1949)
* Washington and Lee (1950)
* Maryland & VMI (1951)
* Duke (1952)

Post-ACC|

* West Virginia (1953)
* West Virginia (1954)
* West Virginia (1955)
* West Virginia (1956)
* VMI (1957)
* West Virginia (1958)
* VMI (1959)
* VMI (1960)
* The Citadel (1961)
* VMI (1962)
* Virginia Tech (1963)
* West Virginia (1964)
* West Virginia (1965)
* East Carolina & William & Mary (1966)
* West Virginia (1967)
* Richmond (1968)
* Davidson & Richmond (1969)
* William & Mary (1970)
* Richmond (1971)
* East Carolina (1972)
* East Carolina (1973)
* VMI (1974)
* Richmond (1975)
* East Carolina (1976)
* Chattanooga & VMI (1977)
* Chattanooga & Furman (1978)
* Chattanooga (1979)
* Furman (1980)
* Furman (1981)

I-AA/FCS|

* Furman (1982)
* Furman (1983)
* Chattanooga (1984)
* Furman (1985)
* Appalachian State (1986)
* Appalachian State (1987)
* Furman & Marshall (1988)
* Furman (1989)
* Furman (1990)
* Appalachian State (1991)
* The Citadel (1992)
* Georgia Southern (1993)
* Marshall (1994)
* Appalachian State (1995)
* Marshall (1996)
* Georgia Southern (1997)
* Georgia Southern (1998)
* Appalachian State, Furman, & Georgia Southern (1999)
* Georgia Southern (2000)
* Furman & Georgia Southern (2001)
* Georgia Southern (2002)
* Wofford (2003)
* Furman & Georgia Southern (2004)
* Appalachian State (2005)
* Appalachian State (2006)
* Appalachian State & Wofford (2007)
* Appalachian State (2008)
* Appalachian State (2009)
* Appalachian State & Wofford (2010)
* Georgia Southern (2011)
* Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, & Wofford (2012)
* Chattanooga, Furman, & Samford (2013)
* Chattanooga (2014)
* Chattanooga & The Citadel (2015)
* The Citadel (2016)
* Wofford (2017)
* East Tennessee State, Furman, & Wofford (2018)
* Wofford (2019)
* VMI (2020)
* East Tennessee State (2021)
* Samford (2022)
* Furman (2023)
* Mercer (2024)

National championships in bold

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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number