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Football
vs Blue & White Game
Remembering the 1944 Blue Devils
9/17/2010 9:30:00 AM | Football
DURHAM, N.C. – “Get up early and stay up late.” That's Ernie “Bear” Knotts' formula for how he made it through the fall of 1944.
Knotts was a pretty busy guy. He was a standout lineman for Duke's football team.
That wasn't all. Like most of Duke's male students in 1944, Knotts was a member of the Navy's V-12 program, training to be a Navy officer. He carried about 20 hours, heavy on math and science. The Navy mandated 9 1/2 hours of physical training every week.
“We started at 6 a.m. with calisthenics and a morning jog. Classes started at 8. We practiced every afternoon. We had supervised study at night, beginning at 7. Lights-out at 10:30.”
Knotts' teammate George Clark recalls “They were pretty particular about getting us ready. You had a routine, with not a lot of free time. You slept hard. We had our future pretty well cast out.”
Knotts notes “We had some normalcy. We still had student government, socials, liberty on weekends.”
Eddie Cameron was Duke's head coach; Wallace Wade was serving in Europe. Duke ran a single-wing, with few substitutions or specialists. Durham's Gordon Carver and Wilson's Clark were speedy backs, while Tom Davis handled the dirty work at fullback and linebacker. Knotts anchored the line.
Knotts recalls “We were not really deep. The goal was to be a 60-minute man. We wanted to play all the time. You didn't go out unless you were injured or the game was out of hand.”
There were lots of military teams, most affiliated with the Navy, which thought that sports were a good way to prepare for the military. In addition to the V-12 programs, college football fans could follow the fortunes of Bainbridge Naval Training Center, Georgia Pre-Flight and countless others.
Duke opened with a 61-0 rout of Richmond.
Duke traveled to Philadelphia to meet Pennsylvania, another V-12 school. Penn scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 46-yard pass. Duke never caught up.
The final was 18-7.
Then came those military schools. North Carolina Pre-Flight was next. Although associated with the University of North Carolina, this team was distinct from the regular Tar Heels, who also had a V-12 program.
Pre-Flight was led by Northwestern's Otto Graham and also included a handful of NFL players. Knotts was matched against the Chicago Bears 255-pound lineman Ray Bray and didn't concede an inch.
“He wasn't any better than college guys. If you're well-coached, you believe you can do what your coach asks you.”
The Cloudbusters stopped Duke on downs at their four early in the game and marched 96 yards for a score. Following a second touchdown, Clark returned the kickoff 62 yards to set up Duke's only score in a 13-6 loss.
Navy and Army were next.
Knotts says, “It seems like Navy and Army had the choice of the nation. We had good talent and were in excellent condition. The military teams had more depth. They could platoon. Army used three teams in the first half. Here comes a new one and you couldn't tell the difference.”
Duke acquitted themselves well. Navy won 7-0, a defensive duel in which the teams combined for only 10 first downs.
Duke met Army in front of 45,000 at the Polo Grounds. This was the legendary Army team led by Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Duke actually led 7-6 at the half, with a blocked punt setting up a 2-yard Davis score. But Army dominated after intermission, pulling away 27-7.
Top-ranked Army ended the season 9-0, allowing only 35 points.
Clark says Duke was being called “the best losing team in college football.” At 1-4 the Blue Devils hosted undefeated and fifth-ranked Georgia Tech.
Knotts recalls Tech as being “as keen a rivalry as UNC. We wanted to beat them pretty bad.”
Clark scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 64-yard dash, sprung by a key block by Davis. Clark says, “Davis was a great blocker. Gordon and I got outside because he took care of the ends.”
Tech answered. On their first play, future Arkansas coaching great Frank Broyles connected on a 70-yard pass.
Tech led 13-12 midway through the final quarter when Cliff Lewis hit Bob Smith for a nine-yard score. Tech lost the ball on downs at the Duke five with five minutes left and Davis sewed up the 19-13 win with an interception with seconds left.
The Tech game turned around Duke's season. Undefeated Wake Forest fell, 34-0. Duke hammered South Carolina 34-7 and North Carolina 33-0.
A 5-4 mark usually isn't a recipe for post-season success. But the AP voters recognized the difficulty of Duke's schedule and ranked them 11th. The Sugar Bowl invited the Southern Conference champions to play Alabama. Alabama was led by freshman Harry Gilmer, one of the first great college passers.
The Navy would only give Duke's V-12 players a few days liberty for New Orleans, leaving too little time for Duke to adjust to the humidity.
Duke jumped to a 7-0 lead on an eight-yard Clark run only 2:25 into the game. Then Alabama took over, scoring three times, for a 19-6 lead. Duke closed to 19-12 at halftime.
Duke regained the lead on a 64-yard drive in the third quarter. Davis carried the ball ten consecutive plays before scoring from the one. Harold Raether's PAT made it 20-19.
Alabama regained the lead when a Lewis pass was picked off and returned 78 yards.
Leading 26-20 late, Alabama took a safety and punted to Clark, who returned it 31 yards to the Alabama 39. Two plays later Clark scored from the 20.
Gilmer completed a pass to the Duke 24, but the clock expired as Carver made the tackle.
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice called Duke's 29-26 win “one of the greatest thrillers of all time.” It was Duke's first bowl win.
Clark sums up Duke's success. “We had some good athletes. We could block and tackle. Eddie Cameron had a lot of charisma. He inspired the fellas to play. We wanted to win for him. We had desire.”
Knotts was a pretty busy guy. He was a standout lineman for Duke's football team.
That wasn't all. Like most of Duke's male students in 1944, Knotts was a member of the Navy's V-12 program, training to be a Navy officer. He carried about 20 hours, heavy on math and science. The Navy mandated 9 1/2 hours of physical training every week.
“We started at 6 a.m. with calisthenics and a morning jog. Classes started at 8. We practiced every afternoon. We had supervised study at night, beginning at 7. Lights-out at 10:30.”
Knotts' teammate George Clark recalls “They were pretty particular about getting us ready. You had a routine, with not a lot of free time. You slept hard. We had our future pretty well cast out.”
Knotts notes “We had some normalcy. We still had student government, socials, liberty on weekends.”
Eddie Cameron was Duke's head coach; Wallace Wade was serving in Europe. Duke ran a single-wing, with few substitutions or specialists. Durham's Gordon Carver and Wilson's Clark were speedy backs, while Tom Davis handled the dirty work at fullback and linebacker. Knotts anchored the line.
Knotts recalls “We were not really deep. The goal was to be a 60-minute man. We wanted to play all the time. You didn't go out unless you were injured or the game was out of hand.”
There were lots of military teams, most affiliated with the Navy, which thought that sports were a good way to prepare for the military. In addition to the V-12 programs, college football fans could follow the fortunes of Bainbridge Naval Training Center, Georgia Pre-Flight and countless others.
Duke opened with a 61-0 rout of Richmond.
Duke traveled to Philadelphia to meet Pennsylvania, another V-12 school. Penn scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 46-yard pass. Duke never caught up.
The final was 18-7.
Then came those military schools. North Carolina Pre-Flight was next. Although associated with the University of North Carolina, this team was distinct from the regular Tar Heels, who also had a V-12 program.
Pre-Flight was led by Northwestern's Otto Graham and also included a handful of NFL players. Knotts was matched against the Chicago Bears 255-pound lineman Ray Bray and didn't concede an inch.
“He wasn't any better than college guys. If you're well-coached, you believe you can do what your coach asks you.”
The Cloudbusters stopped Duke on downs at their four early in the game and marched 96 yards for a score. Following a second touchdown, Clark returned the kickoff 62 yards to set up Duke's only score in a 13-6 loss.
Navy and Army were next.
Knotts says, “It seems like Navy and Army had the choice of the nation. We had good talent and were in excellent condition. The military teams had more depth. They could platoon. Army used three teams in the first half. Here comes a new one and you couldn't tell the difference.”
Duke acquitted themselves well. Navy won 7-0, a defensive duel in which the teams combined for only 10 first downs.
Duke met Army in front of 45,000 at the Polo Grounds. This was the legendary Army team led by Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Duke actually led 7-6 at the half, with a blocked punt setting up a 2-yard Davis score. But Army dominated after intermission, pulling away 27-7.
Top-ranked Army ended the season 9-0, allowing only 35 points.
Clark says Duke was being called “the best losing team in college football.” At 1-4 the Blue Devils hosted undefeated and fifth-ranked Georgia Tech.
Knotts recalls Tech as being “as keen a rivalry as UNC. We wanted to beat them pretty bad.”
Clark scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 64-yard dash, sprung by a key block by Davis. Clark says, “Davis was a great blocker. Gordon and I got outside because he took care of the ends.”
Tech answered. On their first play, future Arkansas coaching great Frank Broyles connected on a 70-yard pass.
Tech led 13-12 midway through the final quarter when Cliff Lewis hit Bob Smith for a nine-yard score. Tech lost the ball on downs at the Duke five with five minutes left and Davis sewed up the 19-13 win with an interception with seconds left.
The Tech game turned around Duke's season. Undefeated Wake Forest fell, 34-0. Duke hammered South Carolina 34-7 and North Carolina 33-0.
A 5-4 mark usually isn't a recipe for post-season success. But the AP voters recognized the difficulty of Duke's schedule and ranked them 11th. The Sugar Bowl invited the Southern Conference champions to play Alabama. Alabama was led by freshman Harry Gilmer, one of the first great college passers.
The Navy would only give Duke's V-12 players a few days liberty for New Orleans, leaving too little time for Duke to adjust to the humidity.
Duke jumped to a 7-0 lead on an eight-yard Clark run only 2:25 into the game. Then Alabama took over, scoring three times, for a 19-6 lead. Duke closed to 19-12 at halftime.
Duke regained the lead on a 64-yard drive in the third quarter. Davis carried the ball ten consecutive plays before scoring from the one. Harold Raether's PAT made it 20-19.
Alabama regained the lead when a Lewis pass was picked off and returned 78 yards.
Leading 26-20 late, Alabama took a safety and punted to Clark, who returned it 31 yards to the Alabama 39. Two plays later Clark scored from the 20.
Gilmer completed a pass to the Duke 24, but the clock expired as Carver made the tackle.
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice called Duke's 29-26 win “one of the greatest thrillers of all time.” It was Duke's first bowl win.
Clark sums up Duke's success. “We had some good athletes. We could block and tackle. Eddie Cameron had a lot of charisma. He inspired the fellas to play. We wanted to win for him. We had desire.”
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