Re: Barry Jacobs on Pitt, Syracuse, Duke and History

[killerleft]

Barry somehow left out one of the biggest football games ever played in the state of North Carolina. In 1938, Duke beat #4 Pitt 7-0 during a snowstorm and ice event (at Duke Stadium!) to help preserve an undefeated and unscored-on regular season and send the Devils to the Rose Bowl. We lost there 7-3 on a last minute pass play.

It was the 1938 Blue Devils, of course, who earned the nickname "Iron Dukes", which I've heard still is used in some fashion by Duke to this day:)

A link (there may be better) follows, which describes the incredible day had by one Football Hall of Famer named Eric Tipton. What did he do? Hint: They don't call it FOOTball for nothin'!

http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=14235&bid=1366

My dad was at this game (hitchhiked from Graham, NC on the back of a farm truck). He described it so well I feel like I was there.

P.S. Couldn't edit my spelling of Pitt in the headline, sorry.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Barry somehow left out one of the biggest football games ever played in the state of North Carolina. In 1938, Duke beat #4 Pitt 7-0 during a snowstorm and ice event (at Duke Stadium!) to help preserve an undefeated and unscored-on regular season and send the Devils to the Rose Bowl. We lost there 7-3 on a last minute pass play.

It was the 1938 Blue Devils, of course, who earned the nickname "Iron Dukes", which I've heard still is used in some fashion by Duke to this day:)

A link (there may be better) follows, which describes the incredible day had by one Football Hall of Famer named Eric Tipton. What did he do? Hint: They don't call it FOOTball for nothin'!

http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=14235&bid=1366

My dad was at this game (hitchhiked from Graham, NC on the back of a farm truck). He described it so well I feel like I was there.

P.S. Couldn't edit my spelling of Pitt in the headline, sorry.
My father and grandfather were at that game. I heard about the snow, etc. in my dad's stories told during my childhood. They rode the train since my grandfather worked for the Great Southern and could ride free with a pass. They walked from the train station to the campus, just like my dad did during his years as a student there. It was a special time!

[Olympic Fan]

The interesting thing about the 1938 Iron Dukes is that they were supposed to be an offensive dynamo, built around junior tailback George McAfee (an NFL Hall of Famer, George Halas later said that McAfee and Gale Sayers were the two greatest running backs he ever saw).

But McAfee broke his foot in preseason and Wade had to revamp the team on the fly. He turned to Tipton, a good (but not great) runner whose greatest strength was his punting ability. Wade changed from an offensive mindset to a defensive approach -- often punting on second and third down. In the bad weather against a great Pitt team (that was the defending national champions), Tipton ofen punted on first down! As noted above, seven of his kicks were downed inside the 10. One of those coffin corner kicks led to the only score of the game, when Pitt tried to punt from its endzone and the kick was blocked by end Bolo Perdue.

It should also be noted (Barry didn't mention it) that Pitt was the visitor in the first game ever played in Duke (now Wade) Stadium. And while his article claims that Duke beat Pitt in 1929, Pitt actually won that game 52-7.

I'd say there's a pretty strong historic connection between the two schools.

[PaIronDuke]

My father and grandfather were at that game. I heard about the snow, etc. in my dad's stories told during my childhood. They rode the train since my grandfather worked for the Great Southern and could ride free with a pass. They walked from the train station to the campus, just like my dad did during his years as a student there. It was a special time!

I grew up in Henderson, NC and can also remember my dad, who was an outstanding player himself at Catawba College in the '30's. coming home that snowy day and raving about the greatest kicking exhibition he had ever seen. Some of us forget that the Iron Dukes were only three points away from being one of the all-time storied teams in college football.

The current Iron Dukes program has a proud heritage, indeed, and is one of the signal distinctions we Duke fans bear.........