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
National champion (Helms) Southwest Conference champion Cotton Bowl Classic champion
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	Bobby Collins (1st season)
Captain	Craig James Gary Moten
Home stadium	Texas Stadium

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

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	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 51–7	33,814
September 18	at UTEP*	No. 6	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas	W 31–10	33,509
September 25	TCU	No. 6	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas (Battle for the Iron Skillet)	W 16–13	43,321
October 2	North Texas State*	No. 7	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas (Safeway Bowl)	W 38–10	30,118
October 9	at Baylor	No. 6	Baylor Stadium Waco, Texas	W 22–19	30,000
October 16	Houston	No. 5	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 20–14	31,817
October 23	at No. 19 Texas	No. 4	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, Texas	W 30–17	80,157
October 30	Texas A&M	No. 4	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 47–9	50,008
November 6	at Rice	No. 2	Rice Stadium Houston, Texas (Mayor's Cup)	W 41–14	25,000
November 13	at Texas Tech	No. 2	Jones Stadium Lubbock, Texas	W 34–27	45,954
November 20	No. 9 Arkansas	No. 2	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	T 17–17	65,101
January 1, 1983	vs. No. 6 Pittsburgh	No. 4	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas (Cotton Bowl)	W 7–3	60,359
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1982 SMU Mustangs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class 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  Sr RB 21 Reggie Dupard Fr T 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. # Name Class 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	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Jeff Harrell Jr P 32 Craig James Sr	Head coach Bobby Collins Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
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

Tulane vs. #8 SMU

1 2 3 4 Total Green Wave 0 0 0 7 7 • Mustangs 7 17 7 20 51 Date: September 11 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, TX Game attendance: 33,814 Game weather: 92 °F (33 °C)

Scoring summary 1 SMU Craig James 42-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 7–0 2 13:58 SMU Eric Dickerson 14-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 14–0 2 SMU Lance McIlhenny 8-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 21–0 2 SMU Jeff Harrell 33-yard field goal SMU 24–0 3 5:15 SMU Eric Dickerson 25-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 31–0 4 SMU Reggie Dupard 3-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 38–0 4 SMU Reggie Dupard 46-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 45–0 4 7:54 Tulane Elton 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 2 3 4 Total • Mustangs 14 14 3 0 31 Miners 0 7 3 0 10 Date: September 18 Location: Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas Game attendance: 33,509

TCU

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

North Texas State

North Texas State vs. #7 SMU

1 2 3 4 Total Mean Green 0 7 3 0 10 • Mustangs 14 10 7 7 38 Date: October 2 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, TX Game attendance: 30,118

at Baylor

Houston

at Texas

#4 SMU at #19 Texas

1 2 3 4 Total • Mustangs 0 7 3 20 30 Longhorns 0 0 0 17 17 Date: October 23 Location: Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX Game attendance: 80,157 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

Texas A&M

Texas A&M at #4 SMU

1 2 3 4 Total Aggies 0 0 3 6 9 • Mustangs 16 10 14 7 47 Date: October 30 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, TX Game attendance: 50,008

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

#9 Arkansas vs. #2 SMU

1 2 3 4 Total Razorbacks 7 0 3 7 17 Mustangs 0 7 3 7 17 Date: November 20 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, TX Game attendance: 65,101 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

Scoring summary 1 Ark Gary Anderson 3-yard run (Smith kick) Ark 7–0 2 SMU Eric Dickerson 6-yard run (Harrell kick) Tied 7–7 3 SMU Jeff Harrell 49-yard field goal SMU 10–7 3 Ark Martin Smith 27-yard field goal Tied 10–10 4 Ark Gary Anderson 3-yard run (Smith kick) Ark 17–10 4 SMU Lance McIlhenny 7-yard run (Harrell kick) Tied 17–17

[11]

vs. Pittsburgh (Cotton Bowl)

#6 Pittsburgh vs. #4 SMU

1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 0 0 3 0 3 • Mustangs 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 2 Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX Game attendance: 60,359 Referee: Jimmy Harper TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson, Pat Haden, and Pat O'Brien

Scoring summary 3 Pitt Eric Schubert 43-yard field goal PITT 3–0 4 SMU Lance McIlhenny 9-yard run (Harrell kick) SMU 7–3

[12]

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

1. "Mustangs (11-0-1) cotton to No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1983. p. 4D.
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. "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. http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/rsfc/history/helms.html
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, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2003-06-04. Retrieved 2015-07-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1983.htm