1982 SMU Mustangs football team

1982 SMU Mustangs football
Co-national champion (HAF)
SWC champion
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
ConferenceSouthwest Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record11–0–1 (7–0–1 SWC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeNo-huddle option
Defensive coordinatorBill Clay (1st season)
Base defense3–4
CaptainCraig James
Gary Moten
Home stadiumTexas Stadium
Seasons
← 1981
1983 →
1982 Southwest Conference football standings
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
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

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).

A tie in their regular season finale against No. 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 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 No. 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. On the season, the Mustangs outscored their opponents by a combined score of 354 to 160.

  1. ^ a b "Mustangs (11-0-1) cotton to No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1983. p. 4D.
  2. ^ a b Putnam, Pat (January 10, 1983). "Cottoning on to No. 2, it's SMWho". Sports Illustrated: 21.
  3. ^ "Mustangs lose No. 2 position to Penn State". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 23, 1982. p. 3B.
  4. ^ a b "SMU makes a tie as good as a win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 21, 1982. p. 6F.
  5. ^ "SMU in high Cotton after stopping Pitt". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. January 2, 1983. p. 4B.
  6. ^ "Only dissent on No. 1 comes from No. 2". Eugene Register Guard. (Oregon). AP, UPI. January 3, 1983. p. 1C.
  7. ^ "At long last". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 3, 1983. p. 23.
  8. ^ Donovan, Dan (January 3, 1983). "National title belongs to players - Paterno". Pittsburgh Press. p. C1.