Recently, the Duke football team overwhelmed its first two opponents scoring over 100 points for the first time since 1945 when they beat South Carolina 60-0 and Bogue Field 76-0.  That’s right, Bogue Field had a football team. Here’s one recent account. 

I did a little digging and found that Duke has some video but it would cost about $100 to digitize. I also found some references in Football! Navy! War! by Wilbur D. Jones, jr. that referred to (Quite) A Few Good Men by John A. Gunn.  “Bogue Field made more headlines by losing one game than it did in the remainder of its two abbreviated seasons” was the common line. 

For Duke, it was a record breaking start to the season with a 76 point win and 136 points for the first two games.  They were eventually beaten by the National Champion Army and Navy teams later that season. 

For Bogue Field, it was a national spotlight.  Finding themselves on the front sports page in some newspapers.  They went on to beat Oak Grove 6-0 and lost to Little Creek by the same score.  They were ranked #56 by the Williamson Rating Service ahead of many other service teams.  In 1944, they lost to Camp Lejeune, 0-41, and MCAS Kinston, 0-8.

Gunn also provides the rosters for both years as well as a comprehensive look into Marine football in the mid-20th century.  It is remarkable how prevalent football was on military bases even as WWII was raging abroad.

If you were on the team or watched the games, please post some comments about the experience.