The 1936 Duquesne Dukes football team represented

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

in the

1936 college football season The 1936 college football season was the first in which the Associated Press writers' poll selected a national champion. The first AP poll, taken of 35 writers, was released on October 20, 1936. Each writer listed his choice for the top ten teams ...

. The Dukes were led by first-year head coach

John "Clipper" Smith John Philip "Little Clipper" Smith (December 12, 1904 – May 11, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a guard at the University of Notre Dame under Knute Rockne. Smith ...

. An upset victory over cross-town rival and national powerhouse

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

thrust Duquesne into the national spotlight. Another upset victory over previously undefeated Marquette secured the team a spot in the

1937 Orange Bowl The 1937 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Mississippi State Maroons and Duquesne Dukes. Background A 5th-place finish in the Southeastern Conference was an upturn from 9th for the Maroons, in their first offic ...

, where they defeated

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, 13–12. Duquesne was ranked 14th in the final poll of the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

in its inaugural year.

Schedule

References

{{Duquesne Dukes football navbox Duquesne Duquesne Dukes football seasons Orange Bowl champion seasons Duquesne football