This week in Duke history: Wallace Wade coaches first game at Duke

Duke football may be in a rut after starting its season 1-2, but the Blue Devils were once one of the preeminent programs in the country.

On Sept. 23, 1931, The Chronicle previewed the first game of Duke's season against South Carolina. The Blue Devils lost that game 7-0 in head coach Wallace Wade's debut with Duke, but his arrival marked a turning point for the program. Wade had won three national championships at Alabama and was also the Crimson Tide's athletic director but left for Durham after the 1930 season.

Wade led Duke to two Rose Bowl appearances in 1939 and 1942, though both ended in heartbreak. In 1938, the "Iron Dukes" rolled through the regular season undefeated and held their opponents scoreless all year until the Rose Bowl, when USC scored a game-winning touchdown with less than a minute remaining. During Wade's tenure, Duke went 110-36-7 and won six Southern Conference championships.

In another surprising career move, Wade left Duke from 1942-1945 because he wanted to join the military for a second time in his life during World War II. With athletic director Eddie Cameron—the namesake of the Blue Devils' basketball stadium—taking over the football team during Wade's absence, Wade served as a lieutenant colonel and earned a Bronze Star.

Duke named its football stadium after Wade in 1967. He died in 1986 at the age of 94.