Jerry Barger-RIP

[jimsumner]

Former Duke football standout.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/new...8222&fhid=6224

[Olympic Fan]

A great, great player ...

Barger started at quarterback for Bill Murray's first Duke team in 1951. In his first start -- as a true freshman, playing his first college game -- Barger led Duke to a 34-6 victory at South Carolina.

He started most of his freshman year for a 5-4-1 Duke team. He came off the bench most of the time (as a backup to Worth Lutz) as a sophomore on an 8-2 team that won the Southern Conference Championship.

Barger came into his own as a star in 1953, quarterbacking Duke to a perfect conference season and a share of the ACC championship (Duke and Maryland didn't play that year ... both were perfect in the league). In 1954, he led Duke to the outright ACC title, an 8-2-1 and a decisive 34-7 victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. That was just one notable win in his career -- he was 3-1 in games against Tennessee. He was 4-0 against UNC and ended his career with a 14-game conference winning streak.

Barger didn't throw much -- that wasn't Murray's style -- but he ran the ball well (over 500 career yards), he returned kickoffs, he returned punts and for his last two years, he was Duke's punter. He also played safety in two-way era and had 13 career interceptions.

Not surprisingly, he was the 1954 ACC player of the year. But maybe the most significant thing about him was that his backup was future NFL Hall of Gamer Sonny Jurgenson.

Like I say -- I a great player from a great era of Duke football.

[Reilly]

4-0 against UNC sounds good to me. From his obituary, it appears Mr. Barger had a full, good life. Condolences to his family and friends.

So he played as a true freshman in 1951 -- when did the rule about freshmen not being able to play varsity come into effect? Or was that just a b'ball thing? I was recently reading something about Gordy Coleman, former Cincinnati Reds player, and Reds radio announcer who died in 1994, and it noted that Coleman had gone to Duke to play both football and baseball for one year (1952-53), but he's not listed in the football media guide, which I guessed was due to his being a frosh, but maybe frosh could play in 1952, or the media guide is wrong, or what I was reading about him was wrong.

[Olympic Fan]

4-0 against UNC sounds good to me. From his obituary, it appears Mr. Barger had a full, good life. Condolences to his family and friends.

So he played as a true freshman in 1951 -- when did the rule about freshmen not being able to play varsity come into effect? Or was that just a b'ball thing? I was recently reading something about Gordy Coleman, former Cincinnati Reds player, and Reds radio announcer who died in 1994, and it noted that Coleman had gone to Duke to play both football and baseball for one year (1952-53), but he's not listed in the football media guide, which I guessed was due to his being a frosh, but maybe frosh could play in 1952, or the media guide is wrong, or what I was reading about him was wrong.

Freshman eligibility kicked in during World War II ... and continued after the war.

Starting in 1950, the NCAA took steps to re-instate freshman ineligility, but it only applied to NCAA championship events. That cost NC State in 1951 when they won the Southern Conference title (edging Duke), but had to play the NCAA Tournament without their three best players (including Vic Bubas), who had all played as freshman in 1948. That convinced Everett Case to start holding his freshmen out of competition so they would be able to play in the NCAA Tournament as seniors.

But it was a voluntary thing in the old Southern Conference. Wake played Dickie Hemric as a freshman (which is why his scoring record lasted so long). Duke played Ronnie Mayer and Joe Belmont as freshman in 1952-53 -- that same year, Case held future All-Americans Ronnie Shavlik and Vic Molodet out of action.

When the ACC was formed in the spring of 1953, the new league agreed to confirm to NCAA rules on freshman eligibility, but holdover players -- such as Hemric, Mayer and Belmont -- were grandfathered in. Since the NCAA didn't administer bowl games, there was less incentive to hold out football players. But I'm sure the freshman rules adopted by the new ACC applied to them.

But even before the rule change, remember that it was voluntary. For instance, in 1953 when Mayer and Belmont played as freshmen, their classmate Richard Morgan (who would become a three-year starter) played freshman ball. I don't know, but I assume that's what happened with Gordy Coleman.