No. 11: 1937
Our series ranking the 20 best UNC football teams of all time continues today. Once this series concludes, we will rank the best UNC basketball teams of all time:
No. 11: 1937
Record: 7-1-1 (4-0-1 Southern Conference)
Bowl: None
Ranking: 19
Coach: Raymond Wolf
All-Americans: Andy Bershak (E)
Honors: None
What's To Know: Ray Goff picked up where Carl Snavely left off in Snavely's first stint as UNC's head coach by leading the '37 team to the program's first final formal AP national ranking. A 13-13 tie with South Carolina marked the opening of the campaign, one of the first true "What if" games in UNC football history.
Carolina cruised past most of its competition pitching five shutouts along the way. A potential showdown with national implications at Fordham (which included Vince Lombardi as a player) was missed as a result of the tie, and in the end the Heels weren't ready to beat the Rams, who were a power at the time.
The 14-0 loss didn't derail Carolina, as it responded two weeks later by winning at No. 8 Duke, 14-6, clinching the game on a fake field goal that ended up with UNC scoring on a touchdown pass. The game was played before 45,000 fans at Duke.
UNC concluded the season by waxing Virginia, 40-0, on Thanksgiving. The Heels were ranked in three different weeks that season, rising to No. 15 in late October.
*Only a few bowl games existed at the time.
1938 NFL Draft
5th Rnd: Andy Bershak, E, Lions
8th Rnd: Tom Burnette, B, FB, Pirates
12th Rnd: Henry Bartos, OG, Redskins