The 1971 Duke Blue Devils football team was an American football team that represented Duke University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. In their first year under head coach Mike McGee, the Blue Devils complied an overall record of 6–5, with a conference record of 2–3, and finished tied for third in the ACC.

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	vs. Florida*		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL	W 12–6	51,677	[2]
September 18	No. 19 South Carolina*		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	W 28–12	35,113	[3]
September 25	at Virginia	No. 20	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 28–0	18,500	[4]
October 2	at No. 10 Stanford*	No. 19	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 9–3	61,000	[5]
October 9	vs. Clemson	No. 14	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	L 0–3	20,000	[6]
October 16	NC State		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (rivalry)	W 41–13	28,174	[7]
October 23	at Navy*	No. 19	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 14–15	24,844	[8]
October 30	at Georgia Tech*		Grant Field Atlanta, GA	L 0–21	49,886	[9]
November 6	West Virginia*		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	W 31–15	30,150	[10]
November 13	at Wake Forest		Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)	L 7–23	32,000	[11]
November 20	North Carolina		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	L 0–38	51,500	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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