The 1979 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 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Shirley Wilson, the Blue Devils complied an overall record of 2–8–1, with a conference record of 0–6, and finished seventh in the ACC.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15		East Carolina*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	W 28–14	33,800	[1]
September 22		at South Carolina*	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	L 0–35	53,793	[2]
September 29		at Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	L 12–30	26,947	[3]
October 6		at Army*	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	T 17–17	33,874	[4]
October 13		at Richmond*	City Stadium Richmond, VA (Tobacco Bowl)	W 34–7	10,500	[5]
October 20		Clemson	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	L 10–28	24,600	[6]
October 27		Maryland	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	L 0–27	34,200	[7]
November 3		at Georgia Tech*	Grant Field Atlanta, GA	L 14–24	23,445	[8]
November 10		at No. 20 Wake Forest	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)	L 14–17	28,300	[9]
November 17		NC State	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (rivalry)	L 7–28	24,100	[10]
November 24	1:30 p.m.	North Carolina	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	L 16–37	39,800	[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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