1938 Duke Blue Devils football team

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.

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
Captains	Dan Hill Eric Tipton
Home stadium	Duke Stadium
Seasons ← 1937 1939 →

1938 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	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

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

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
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

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