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. However, the tie in their final regular season game against Arkansas caused the voters in the AP Poll to drop SMU out of the #2 spot in their ranking, possibly costing the Mustangs the national championship in the wire-service polls when Penn State defeated top-ranked Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Penn State had inherited the No. 2 ranking when SMU tied Arkansas (thanks in part to a highly questionable pass interference call on Arkansas at the end of the game that allowed SMU to kick the tying field goal, a call that announcer Keith Jackson stated on air was a bad call by the officials), and went on to win the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll after their victory over Georgia despite a slightly less impressive final record of 11–1.

As Southwest Conference champions, the Mustangs earned an automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl, where they defeated #6 Pittsburgh 7–3 in what was the final college football game for the "Pony Express" running back tandem of Eric Dickerson and Craig James (as well as for Pitt quarterback Dan Marino). The Mustangs were voted #2 in the 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.^[1]

Regular season

• In the Battle for the Iron Skillet, SMU beat TCU 16–13.
• In the Mayor's Cup, SMU beat Rice 41–14.
• In his senior year despite splitting time with Craig James, Eric Dickerson finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting.^[2]

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	W 16–13	43,321
October 2	North Texas State*	No. 7	Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas	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	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	vs. No. 6 Pittsburgh	No. 4	Cotton Bowl • Dallas, Texas (Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 7–3	60,359
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll.

Roster

Team players drafted into the NFL

^[3]

Awards and honors

• Eric Dickerson, All-America choice ^[4]

References