1947 SMU Mustangs football team
The 1947 SMU Mustangs football team was an American football team that represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1947 college football season. In its tenth season under head coach Matty Bell, the team compiled a 9–0–2 record (5–0–1 against SWC opponents), won the SWC championship, outscored opponents by a total of 182 to 90, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll.[1] The team played its home games at Ownby Stadium on the SMU campus and at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
1947 SMU Mustangs football | |
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Southwest Conference champion | |
Cotton Bowl Classic, T 13–13 vs. Penn State | |
Conference | Southwest Conference |
Ranking | |
AP | No. 3 |
1947 record | 9–0–2 (5–0–1 SWC) |
Head coach |
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Captain | Sid Halliday |
Home stadium | Ownby Stadium (c. 23,783, grass) Cotton Bowl (c. 45,504, grass) |
1947 Southwest Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 3 SMU $ | 5 | – | 0 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 5 Texas | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 18 Rice | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TCU | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arkansas | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Texas A&M | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baylor | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Mustangs won their first nine games before tying with rival TCU and Penn State, the latter in the 1948 Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year's Day.[1]
SMU's sophomore halfback, Doak Walker, led the country with 387 yards on 10 kickoff returns, an average of 38.7 yards per return.[2] He won the Maxwell Award for 1947, was a consensus selection to the 1947 College Football All-America Team,[3] and finished third in the 1947 voting for the Heisman Trophy.[4] He finished second in the SWC (behind Bobby Layne) with 1,026 yards of total offense, including 684 rushing yards.[5]
Four SMU players received first-team honors on the Associated Press 1947 All-Southwest Conference football team: Walker; end Sid Halliday; tackle Jim Winkler; and guard Earl Cook.[6]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 27 | at Santa Clara* | W 22–6 | 5,000 | [7] | ||
October 4 | Missouri* |
| W 35–19 | 26,000 | [8] | |
October 11 | at Oklahoma A&M* | W 21–14 | 18,000 | [9] | ||
October 18 | No. 15 Rice | W 14–0 | 23,000 | [10] | ||
October 25 | at No. 16 UCLA* | No. 12 | W 7–0 | 64,197 | [11] | |
November 1 | No. 3 Texas | No. 8 |
| W 14–13 | 46,500 | [12] |
November 8 | at Texas A&M | No. 3 | W 13–0 | 38,000 | [13] | |
November 15 | Arkansas | No. 4 |
| W 14–6 | 23,000 | [14] |
November 22 | at Baylor | No. 3 | W 10–0 | 12,000 | [15] | |
November 29 | at TCU | No. 3 | T 19–19 | 31,000 | [16] | |
January 1 | vs. No. 4 Penn State | No. 3 |
| T 13–13 | 47,000 | [17] |
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Players selected in the 1948 NFL Draft
The following SMU players were selected in the 1947 NFL Draft:[18]
Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Club |
Earl Cook | Guard | 3 | 17 | Boston Yanks |
Gil Johnson | Quarterback | 11 | 93 | Philadelphia Eagles |
Bob Ramsey | Back | 26 | 244 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
References
- "1947 SMU Mustangs Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- Gail Fowler (December 18, 1947). "Statistics Error Found, Walker Leads Returners". The Austin American. p. 17.
- "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 8. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
- "1947 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- "Layne Tops SWC In Grid Offense, Shading Walker". The Shreveport Times. December 2, 1947. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Clyde Scott Only Porker to Make All-Southwest". Hope Star (Arkansas). December 1, 1947. p. 5.
- Don Selby (September 28, 1947). "One Man Gang Corrals Broncs, 22-6: Walker Has Great Day". The San Francisco Examiner. pp. 22, 25 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Doak Walker Bright Star as SMU Whips Missouri, 35-19". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. October 5, 1947. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
- "SMU Slides By Oklahoma A&M". Sunday American-Statesman (Austin, TX). October 12, 1947. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
- Jimmy Banks (October 19, 1947). "Walker Leads SMU to 14-0 Triumph Over Favored Rice". Sunday American-Statesman (Austin, TX). pp. 17–18 – via Newspapers.com.
- Al Wolf (October 26, 1947). "Bruins Bow to Mustangs, 7 to 0". Los Angeles Times. pp. 12–13 – via Newspapers.com.
- Weldon Hart (November 2, 1947). "SMU Rips Steers, 14-13: Walker Kicks Extra Point To Drop UT". Sunday American-Statesman (Austin, TX). pp. 1, 17 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Gil Johnson Throws Mustangs to 13-0 Victory Over Aggies". Waco Sunday Tribune-Herald. November 9, 1947. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
- Harold V. Ratliff (November 16, 1947). "Referee Battles as SMU Edges Porkers, 14 to 6". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
- "SMU Scores in Last Minutes to Shade Stubborn Baylor, 10-0". Waco Sunday Tribune-Herald. November 23, 1947. p. Sports 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- Jinx Tucker (November 30, 1947). "Mustangs Rush Back In Final Seconds to Tie Frogs, 19-19". Waco Sunday Tribune-Herald. pp. 16–17 – via Newspapers.com.
- Tex Maule (January 2, 1948). "SMU, Penn State Deadlock, 13 to 13 in Cotton Bowl". The Austin American. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- "1948 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 15, 2019.