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
1982 Southwest Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 2 SMU $ 7 –0 –111 –0 –1
No. 17 Texas 7 –1 –09 –3 –0
No. 9 Arkansas 5 –2 –19 –2 –1
Houston 4 –3 –15 –5 –1
Baylor 3 –4 –14 –6 –1
Texas Tech 3 –5 –04 –7 –0
Texas A&M 3 –5 –05 –6 –0
TCU 2 –6 –03 –8 –0
Rice 0 –8 –00 –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.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11Tulane*No. 8
W 51–733,814
September 18at UTEP*No. 6
W 31–1033,509
September 25TCUNo. 6
W 16–1343,321
October 2North Texas State*No. 7
W 38–1030,118[9]
October 9at BaylorNo. 6
W 22–1930,000
October 16HoustonNo. 5
  • Texas Stadium
  • Irving, TX
W 20–1431,817
October 23at No. 19 TexasNo. 4
W 30–1780,157
October 30Texas A&MNo. 4
  • Texas Stadium
  • Irving, TX
W 47–950,008
November 6at RiceNo. 2
W 41–1425,000
November 13at Texas TechNo. 2
W 34–2745,954
November 20No. 9 ArkansasNo. 2
  • Texas Stadium
  • Irving, TX
T 17–1765,101
January 1, 1983vs. No. 6 Pittsburgh*No. 4
W 7–360,359
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1982 SMU Mustangs football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 87 Rickey Bolden Jr
OL 67 Andrew Campbell
QB   Jeff Courtwright Sr
RB 36 Mark Crites Jr
RB 19 Eric Dickerson Sr
FB 28 Charles Drayton Injured Sr
RB 21 Reggie Dupard Fr
OT 70 Dale Hellestrae So
RB 32 Craig James Sr
QB 2 Don King Fr
WR 7 Bobby Leach So
QB 11 Lance McIlhenny Jr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 13 Keith Brooks Fr
DT 74 Michael Carter So
DB 29 Russell Carter Jr
DB 46 Wes Hopkins Sr
CB 1 Rod Jones Fr
LB 91 Clarence McDade Jr
CB 5 Reggie Phillips So
DB 23 Blane Smith Sr
DT 78 Richard Neely Sr
OLB 54 Tony Good Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 3 Jeff Harrell Jr
P 32 Craig James Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked.
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP6866765442224442
Coaches Poll11—68765443224442

Game summaries

Tulane

Tulane vs. #8 SMU
1 234Total
Green Wave 0 007 7
• Mustangs 7 17720 51
Scoring summary
1SMUCraig James 42-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 7–0
213:58SMUEric Dickerson 14-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 14–0
2SMULance McIlhenny 8-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 21–0
2SMUJeff Harrell 33-yard field goalSMU 24–0
35:15SMUEric Dickerson 25-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 31–0
4SMUReggie Dupard 3-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 38–0
4SMUReggie Dupard 46-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 45–0
47:54TulaneElton Veals 1-yard run (kick)SMU 51–7

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

#6 SMU at UTEP
1 234Total
• Mustangs 14 1430 31
Miners 0 730 10

TCU

In the Battle for the Iron Skillet, SMU beat TCU 16–13.

North Texas State

North Texas State vs. #7 SMU
1 234Total
Mean Green 0 730 10
• Mustangs 14 1077 38

At Baylor

Houston

At Texas

#4 SMU at #19 Texas
1 234Total
• Mustangs 0 7320 30
Longhorns 0 0017 17

Texas A&M

Texas A&M at #4 SMU
1 234Total
Aggies 0 036 9
• Mustangs 16 10147 47

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

Going into this game, SMU needed a victory or a tie to claim the SWC championship and secure a trip to the Cotton Bowl. Arkansas, on the other hand, needed a victory over the Mustangs plus a win over Texas the following week. The game proved to be marred by controversy due to questionable officiating.

Late in the fourth quarter Arkansas led SMU 17-10 with time winding down. From the Mustang 43 yard line, SMU quarterback Lance McIlhenny lofted a pass to receiver Jackie Wilson down the left sideline, with Wilson being defended by Arkansas cornerback Nathan Jones. The pass was long, and Jones was in fact in front of Wilson as both players went to the turf together. Jones was flagged for pass interference, and since that penalty was a spot foul instead of 15 yards at that time in college football, the ball was placed near the Arkansas 15 yard line. SMU would score the game-tying touchdown a few plays later, and the game ended in a 17-17 tie, handing the Mustangs the conference championship. Play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson would even say on live television that the pass interference penalty on Jones was "just a terrible call". The officiating crew was suspended after this game and the NCAA issued an apology to Arkansas. This egregious call directly influenced the NCAA to change the rules for pass interference over the following summer so that a pass interference penalty would be 15 yards and not a spot foul.

#9 Arkansas vs. #2 SMU
1 234Total
Razorbacks 7 037 17
Mustangs 0 737 17
Scoring summary
1ArkGary Anderson 3-yard run (Smith kick)Ark 7–0
2SMUEric Dickerson 6-yard run (Harrell kick)Tied 7–7
3SMUJeff Harrell 49-yard field goalSMU 10–7
3ArkMartin Smith 27-yard field goalTied 10–10
4ArkGary Anderson 3-yard run (Smith kick)Ark 17–10
4SMULance McIlhenny 7-yard run (Harrell kick)Tied 17–17

[11]

Vs. Pittsburgh (Cotton Bowl)

#6 Pittsburgh vs. #4 SMU
1 234Total
Panthers 0 030 3
• Mustangs 0 070 7
Scoring summary
3PittEric Schubert 43-yard field goalPITT 3–0
4SMULance McIlhenny 9-yard run (Harrell kick)SMU 7–3

[12]

Awards and honors

NFL Draft

Six Mustangs were selected in the 1983 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds (335 selections).

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL team
Eric DickersonRunning back12Los Angeles Rams
Russell CarterSafety110New York Jets
Wes HopkinsSafety235Philadelphia Eagles
Gary MotenLinebacker7175San Francisco 49ers
Craig JamesRunning back7187New England Patriots

[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mustangs (11-0-1) cotton to No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1983. p. 4D.
  2. 1 2 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. 1 2 "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.
  9. ↑ "SMU Mustangs trample North Texas State". The Daily Advertiser. October 3, 1982. Retrieved October 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "SMU's Pony Express mauls Green Wave, 51-7". Shreveport Times via newspapers.com. September 12, 1982. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  11. ↑ "S.M.U. IN BOWL AFTER 17-17 TIE". The New York Times. November 21, 1983. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Stout S.M.U. Defense Holds Off Pitt, 7-3". The New York Times. January 2, 1983. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  13. ↑ Eric Dickerson: Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?PLAYER_ID=55
  14. ↑ "'82 Heisman race no Walker in the park". November 1, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  15. ↑ Eric's College Days at SMU, "College". Archived from the original on June 4, 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  16. ↑ "1983 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
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