1981 SMU Mustangs football team

American college football season

1981 SMU Mustangs football
National champion (NCF)Southwest Conference champion
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
1981 record	10–1 (7–1 SWC)
Head coach	Ron Meyer (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Sidwell (6th season)
Home stadium	Texas Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 SMU $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Texas	6	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Houston	5	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Arkansas	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Texas A&M	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Rice	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Baylor	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
TCU	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	7	–	2
Texas Tech	0	–	7	–	1			1	–	9	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 SMU Mustangs football team represented the Southern Methodist University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Mustangs offense scored 365 points while the defense allowed 137 points. At season's end, the Mustangs were given the National Championship Foundation's (NCF) national championship and secured the Southwest Conference championship.

However, the Mustangs had been put on probation by the NCAA for recruiting violations and, per its terms, were banned from participating in any bowl game in 1981 should they have won enough games to qualify. Since SMU's performance would have given them an automatic berth in the Cotton Bowl, the team decided to treat its final regular season game against Arkansas as their bowl game and nicknamed it the "Polyester Bowl".

SMU finished at #5 in the final Associated Press poll of the season. Because its rules prevent schools under probation from being considered, the Mustangs were not ranked in the UPI Coaches Poll at all during the season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 5	Texas–Arlington*		Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 48–0	20,130
September 12	North Texas State*		Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 34–7	20,400
September 19	Grambling State*		Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 59–27	45,700
September 26	at TCU	No. 20	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, Texas (Battle for the Iron Skillet)	W 20–9	25,862
October 10	Baylor	No. 14	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 37–20	33,110
October 17	at Houston	No. 10	Astrodome Houston, Texas	W 38–22	36,892
October 24	No. 10 Texas	No. 8	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	L 7–9	62,777
October 31	at Texas A&M	No. 13	Kyle Field College Station, Texas	W 27–7	62,646
November 7	Rice	No. 10	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas (rivalry)	W 33–12	28,750
November 14	Texas Tech	No. 8	Texas Stadium Irving, Texas	W 30–6	24,410
November 21	at No. 16 Arkansas	No. 6	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, Arkansas	W 32–18	43,842
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 SMU Mustangs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 19 Eric Dickerson Jr FB 28 Charles Drayton Jr OL 77 Perry Hartnett Sr RB 32 Craig James Jr QB 11 Lance McIlhenny So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 75 Harvey Armstrong Sr DT 74 Michael Carter Jr DL 99 Eric Ferguson Sr DL Jerry Kovar  Jr DB 20 James Mobley Sr DB 29 Russell Carter So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 1 Eddie Garcia Jr	Head coach Ron Meyer Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Rankings

See also: 1981 NCAA Division I-A football 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	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	20	15	14	10	8	13	10	8	6	6	5	5

Game summaries

Arkansas

#6 SMU at #16 Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • SMU 3 9 0 20 32 Arkansas 7 0 11 0 18 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas Game attendance: 43,842 Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary 1 SMU Garcia 39-yard field goal SMU 3-0 1 ARK Anderson 7-yard pass from Jones (Lohay kick) ARK 7-3 2 SMU Garcia 43-yard field goal ARK 7-6 2 SMU Washington 10-yard interception return (pass failed) SMU 12-7 3 ARK Clark 1-yard run (Jones to Pierce pass) ARK 15-12 3 ARK Lohay 21-yard field goal ARK 18-12 4 SMU Garcia 24-yard field goal ARK 18-15 4 SMU Garcia 47-yard field goal Tied 18-18 4 SMU Jones 10-yard run (Garcia kick) SMU 25-18 4 SMU Dickerson 31-yard run (Garcia kick) SMU 32-18

• SMU wins first conference title since 1966 (ineligible for Cotton Bowl Classic berth).

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Perry Hartnett	Tackle	5	116	Chicago Bears
Harvey Armstrong	Defensive tackle	7	190	Philadelphia Eagles
Eddie Garcia	Kicker	10	264	Green Bay Packers

^[1]

References

1. "1982 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.

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