1940 Lawrence Tech Blue Devils football team
{{short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 1940
| team = Lawrence Tech Blue Devils
| sport = football
| image = Lawrence Tech football program (1940).png
| image_size = 200px
| conference = Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference
| short_conf = MOCC
| record = 6–3
| conf_record = 3–1
| head_coach = Don Ridler
| hc_year = 3rd
| captain =
| stadium =
| champion = MOCC co-champion
}}
{{1940 Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference football standings}}
The 1940 Lawrence Tech Blue Devils football team represented the Lawrence Institute of Technology of Highland Park, Michigan, as a member of the Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference (MOCC) during the 1940 college football season. In their third year under head coach Don Ridler,{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tech Freshman Nearly Created Incident|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|author=Tom Lobaugh|date=November 2, 1940|page=15|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123786903/lawrence-tech-freshman-nearly-created/|via=Newspapers.com}} the Blue Devils compiled a 6–3 record, tied for the MOCC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 147 to 96.{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tech (MI) Records by Year|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|accessdate=April 30, 2023|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/year_by_year_discontinued.php?teamid=1707|archive-date=September 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907085757/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/year_by_year_discontinued.php?teamid=1707|url-status=dead}}
Five Lawrence Tech players were selected by conference coaches to the MOCC all-conference first team: end Fred Dupke; tackle Walter Nowacki; guard Al Schrecke; halfback Harry Awdey; and halfback Jackie Coogan.{{cite news|title=All-Stars Led by Lawrence: Five Players Get Positions on M-O Conference Eleven|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=December 3, 1940|page=19|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123802125/all-stars-led-by-lawrence-five-players/|via=Newspapers.com}}
Paul Ribbentrop, a cousin of Germany's Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, played at the tackle position for the 1930 Lawrence Tech team.{{cite news|title=Once More It's Proved There's Nothing in a Name|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=Tom Lobaugh|date=November 30, 1940|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123787210/paul-ribbentrop/|via=Newspapers.com}}
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
| attend = y
| source = y
|September 20|at|Hillsdale
|September 28|at|{{cfb link|year=1940|team=Indiana State Sycamores|title=Indiana State}}
|October 5|at|{{cfb link|year=1940|team=Assumption Purple Warriors||title=Assumption (ON)}}|Kennedy Stadium|Windsor, OH|W 10-0|1,500|{{cite news|title=Purple Loses To Lawrence: Assumption Boys Drop Opening M-O Tilt by Score of 10-0|newspaper=The Windsor Daily Star|date=October 7, 1940|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123800681/purple-loses-to-lawrence-assumption/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 12||Grand Rapids
|October 19||{{cfb link|year=1940|team=Ferris Institute Bulldogs|title=Ferris Institute}}||Big Rapids, MI|W 20-0|1,000|{{cite news|title=Blue Devils Defeat Ferris: Utter Stars as Tech Spurts in Last Half to 20-0 Triumph|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 20, 1940|page=Sport 5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123787865/blue-devils-defeat-ferris-utter-stars/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|October 26||Wittenberg
|November 2||{{cfb link|year=1940|team=St. Mary's Eagles|title=St. Mary's (MI)}}|Ives Field|Highland Park, MI|W 31-0||{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tech Downs St. Mary's: Blue Devils Victors, 31 to 0|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=November 3, 1940|page=Sport 4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123787948/lawrence-tech-downs-st-marys-blue/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 9||{{cfb link|year=1940|team=DeSales Sailors|title=DeSales (OH)}}|Ives Field|Highland Park, MI|L 7-33|1,000|{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tech Seeks to Clinch M-O Grid Title by Beating DeSales Saturday|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|date=November 8, 1940|page=16|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123787083/lawrence-tech-seeks-to-clinch-m-o-grid/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=DeSales Blasts Blue Devils: Sailors Win, 33-7, to Throw M.O.O.C. Race into Three-Way Tie|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|author=Bob Latshaw|date=November 10, 1940|page=Sport 5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123787293/desales-blasts-blue-devils-sailors/|via=Newspapers.com}}
|November 16|at|{{cfb link|year=1940|team=Defiance Yellow Jackets|title=Defiance}}
}}