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 and were Southwest Conference champions
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 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 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
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 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
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
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.

Schedule

Roster

Rankings

Game summaries

Tulane

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.

at UTEP

TCU

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

North Texas State

at Baylor

Houston

at Texas

Texas A&M

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

vs. Pittsburgh (Cotton Bowl)

Awards and honors

Six Mustangs were selected in the 1983 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds.
PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL Club
Eric DickersonRunning back12Los Angeles Rams
Russell CarterSafety110New York Jets
Wes HopkinsSafety235Philadelphia Eagles
Gary MotenLinebacker7175San Francisco 49ers
Craig JamesRunning back7187New England Patriots