1941 Duquesne Dukes football team

The 1941 Duquesne Dukes football team was an American football team that represented Duquesne University as an independent during the 1941 college football season. Duquesne completed a perfect season with an 8–0 record, shut out five of eight opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 143 to 23.^[1] Duquesne won games against Marquette, Villanova, Saint Mary's, and previously-undefeated Mississippi State.^[2] The Dukes were ranked No. 8 in the final AP Poll;^[3] they were later retroactively selected as a co-national champion by the Massey Ratings.^[4]

1941 Duquesne Dukes football
Co-national champion (Massey Ratings)
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 8
Record	8–0
Head coach	Aldo Donelli (3rd season) Steve Sinko (interim)
Home stadium	Forbes Field
Seasons ← 1940 1942 →

1941 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Duquesne			–					8	–	0	–	0
Thiel			–					7	–	0	–	0
Saint Francis (PA)			–					6	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Fordham			–					8	–	1	–	0
Rochester			–					6	–	1	–	0
Trinity (CT)			–					6	–	1	–	0
Wagner			–					5	–	1	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					5	–	1	–	1
Penn State			–					7	–	2	–	0
Temple			–					7	–	2	–	0
Coast Guard			–					6	–	2	–	0
Norwich			–					6	–	2	–	0
Hofstra			–					5	–	2	–	0
Boston College			–					7	–	3	–	0
Syracuse			–					5	–	2	–	1
Bucknell			–					6	–	3	–	0
Drexel			–					4	–	2	–	1
Boston University			–					5	–	3	–	0
La Salle			–					5	–	3	–	0
Tufts			–					5	–	3	–	0
Army			–					5	–	3	–	1
CCNY			–					4	–	4	–	0
Villanova			–					4	–	4	–	0
Manhattan			–					4	–	4	–	1
Holy Cross			–					4	–	4	–	2
Colgate			–					3	–	3	–	2
Providence			–					3	–	3	–	2
Buffalo			–					3	–	4	–	1
Massachusetts State			–					3	–	4	–	1
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	6	–	0
Vermont			–					2	–	6	–	0
NYU			–					2	–	7	–	0
Carnegie Tech			–					1	–	7	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Aldo Donelli was the head coach for the first two games but then resigned to become head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steve Sinko took over as Duquesne's acting head coach after Donelli's resignation.^[5] National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Duquesne records credit the entire season to Donelli's head coaching record.^[6][7]

Two Duquesne players received first-team honors on the 1941 All-America team:

• End John Rokisky received first-team All-America honors from Collier's Weekly and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press (AP).^[8] He was also honored by the AP as a first-team player on the 1941 All-Eastern football team.^[9] Rokisky later played three years of professional football in the All-America Football Conference.^[10]
• Center Al DeMao received first-team All-America honors from Life magazine and second-team All-America honors from the United Press (UP). He also received second-team honors from the AP on the All-Eastern team.^[9] DeMao later played nine years in the NFL with the Washington Redskins.^[11]

The team played its home games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 20	Waynesburg		Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 14–2		[12]
September 26	Niagara		Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 33–0	11,000	[13]
October 10	at Manhattan		Polo Grounds New York, NY	W 26–7	11,127	[14]
October 17	Saint Vincent		Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 7–0	10,000	[15]
October 25	at Marquette		Marquette Stadium Milwaukee, WI	W 31–14	> 20,000	[16]
November 1	Villanova	No. 16	Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 7–0	20,698	[17]
November 9	at Saint Mary's	No. 12	Kezar Stadium San Francisco, CA	W 9–0	25,000	[18]
November 15	No. 13 Mississippi State	No. 10	Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 16–0	31,483	[19]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game