1982 SMU Mustangs football team
The 1982 SMU Mustangs football team represented the Southern Methodist University in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the first year for the team under head coach Bobby Collins and the Mustangs finished undefeated at 11–0–1,[1][2] and were Southwest Conference champions (7–0–1).
| 1982 SMU Mustangs football | |
|---|---|
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 7–3 vs. Pittsburgh | |
| Conference | Southwest Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 2 |
| AP | No. 2 |
| 1982 record | 11–0–1 (7–0–1 SWC) |
| Head coach |
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| Captain | Craig James Gary Moten |
| Home stadium | Texas Stadium |
| 1982 Southwest Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 SMU $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 0 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Texas | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Arkansas | 5 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston | 4 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baylor | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 0 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A tie in their regular season finale against #9 Arkansas on November 20 caused the voters in both polls to drop SMU from second to fourth,[3] costing the Mustangs the national championship. The tie was attributed in part to a lengthy and highly questionable pass interference call on Arkansas late in the game that allowed SMU to score the game-tying touchdown,[4] a call that announcer Keith Jackson stated on air was a bad call by the officials. Trailing by a point, head coach Collins opted not to go for the two-point conversion and the lead, and they kicked the extra point to knot the score at seventeen with under three minutes remaining. There was no further scoring, as SMU missed a long field goal attempt in the final seconds.[2][4]
Repeating as SWC champions, the Mustangs again earned the automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day, where they defeated sixth-ranked Pittsburgh 7–3.[1][5] Played in near-freezing conditions, it was the final college game for the "Pony Express" running back tandem of Eric Dickerson and Craig James, as well as for Pitt quarterback Dan Marino.
After SMU's tie to Arkansas, Penn State moved up to second and then defeated #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to secure the top spot in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, despite a slightly less impressive final record of 11–1.[6][7][8]
The Mustangs were runner-up in the final AP Poll, but the Helms Athletic Foundation, in the final year in which it selected a national college football champion, split the honor between SMU and Penn State.[9]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 11 | Tulane* | No. 8 | W 51–7 | 33,814 | |
| September 18 | at UTEP* | No. 6 | W 31–10 | 33,509 | |
| September 25 | TCU | No. 6 |
| W 16–13 | 43,321 |
| October 2 | North Texas State* | No. 7 |
| W 38–10 | 30,118 |
| October 9 | at Baylor | No. 6 | W 22–19 | 30,000 | |
| October 16 | Houston | No. 5 |
| W 20–14 | 31,817 |
| October 23 | at No. 19 Texas | No. 4 | W 30–17 | 80,157 | |
| October 30 | Texas A&M | No. 4 |
| W 47–9 | 50,008 |
| November 6 | at Rice | No. 2 | W 41–14 | 25,000 | |
| November 13 | at Texas Tech | No. 2 | W 34–27 | 45,954 | |
| November 20 | No. 9 Arkansas | No. 2 |
| T 17–17 | 65,101 |
| January 1, 1983 | vs. No. 6 Pittsburgh | No. 4 | W 7–3 | 60,359 | |
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Roster
| 1982 SMU Mustangs football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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Rankings
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final | |||||
| AP | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Coaches Poll | 11 | – | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |||||
Game summaries
Tulane
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SMU romped to a season-opening victory over Tulane with a school-record 519 yards rushing. Senior Eric Dickerson ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and went over 3,000 career rushing yards. Craig James added 110 yards and a touchdown. It was the 10th time Dickerson and James each ran for more than 100 yards in the same game.[10]
at UTEP
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TCU
In the Battle for the Iron Skillet, SMU beat TCU 16–13.
North Texas State
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at Baylor
Houston
at Texas
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Texas A&M
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Eric Dickerson ran for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns on 14 carries.
at Rice
In the Mayor's Cup, SMU beat Rice 41–14.
at Texas Tech
Arkansas
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vs. Pittsburgh (Cotton Bowl)
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Awards and honors
- Eric Dickerson, consensus All-American,[13] third in the Heisman Trophy voting,[14] despite splitting time with Craig James.[15]
NFL Draft
Six Mustangs were selected in the 1983 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds (335 selections).
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Club |
| Eric Dickerson | Running back | 1 | 2 | Los Angeles Rams |
| Russell Carter | Safety | 1 | 10 | New York Jets |
| Wes Hopkins | Safety | 2 | 35 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Gary Moten | Linebacker | 7 | 175 | San Francisco 49ers |
| Craig James | Running back | 7 | 187 | New England Patriots |
- Source:[16]
References
- "Mustangs (11-0-1) cotton to No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1983. p. 4D.
- Putnam, Pat (January 10, 1983). "Cottoning on to No. 2, it's SMWho". Sports Illustrated: 21.
- "Mustangs lose No. 2 position to Penn State". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 23, 1982. p. 3B.
- "SMU makes a tie as good as a win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 21, 1982. p. 6F.
- "SMU in high Cotton after stopping Pitt". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. January 2, 1983. p. 4B.
- "Only dissent on No. 1 comes from No. 2". Eugene Register Guard. (Oregon). AP, UPI. January 3, 1983. p. 1C.
- "At long last". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 3, 1983. p. 23.
- Donovan, Dan (January 3, 1983). "National title belongs to players - Paterno". Pittsburgh Press. p. C1.
- http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/rsfc/history/helms.html
- "SMU's Pony Express mauls Green Wave, 51-7". Shreveport Times via newspapers.com. September 12, 1982. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- "S.M.U. IN BOWL AFTER 17-17 TIE". The New York Times. November 21, 1983. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- "Stout S.M.U. Defense Holds Off Pitt, 7-3". The New York Times. January 2, 1983. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
- Eric Dickerson: Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?PLAYER_ID=55
- "'82 Heisman race no Walker in the park". November 1, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- Eric's College Days at SMU, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2003-06-04. Retrieved 2015-07-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1983.htm