CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 Arizona State

9–⁠3 (4–⁠3 Pac-10), coached by Frank Kush.

Schedule and results

Arizona State in 1978, game by game: won vs. Pacific 42–7; won vs. BYU 24–17; lost at Washington State 26–51; won vs. UTEP 27–0; won at Northwestern 56–14; won vs. No. 2 USC 20–7; lost at Washington 7–41; won vs. California 35–21; lost vs. Stanford 14–21; won at Oregon State 44–22; won at Arizona 18–17; won vs. Rutgers 34–18+42−34Won 42–7 vs. Pacific+35PacificWon 24–17 vs. BYU+7BYULost 26–51 at Washington State-25Washington StateWon 27–0 vs. UTEP+27UTEPWon 56–14 at Northwestern+42NorthwesternWon 20–7 vs. No. 2 USC+13No. 2 USCLost 7–41 at Washington-34WashingtonWon 35–21 vs. California+14CaliforniaLost 14–21 vs. Stanford-7StanfordWon 44–22 at Oregon State+22Oregon StateWon 18–17 at Arizona+1ArizonaWon 34–18 vs. Rutgers+16Rutgers
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsPacificW 42–⁠771%
Sep 16vsBYUW 24–⁠1755%
Sep 23atWashington StateL 26–⁠5155%
Sep 30vsUTEPW 27–⁠086%
Oct 7atNorthwesternW 56–⁠1477%
Oct 14vs2USCW 20–⁠741%
Oct 28atWashingtonL 7–⁠4144%
Nov 4vsCaliforniaW 35–⁠2163%
Nov 11vsStanfordL 14–⁠2160%
Nov 18atOregon StateW 44–⁠2271%
Nov 25atArizonaW 18–⁠1756%
Dec 16Bowls & playoffvsRutgersGarden State BowlW 34–⁠1853%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Rutgers 34–⁠18 in the Garden State Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 93 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 14
  2. Wk 8: 12

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

Consensus All-AmericanAl Harris, DE

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 4th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
347–⁠236
Coach
Frank Kush
Elo
1636 +71 this season
SP+ rating
12.2 No. 34 of 133; offense No. 13, defense No. 73
SRS
12.6 No. 25 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Larry Kentera

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Al Harris DEChicago Bears
Rd 3Kim Anderson DBBaltimore Colts
Rd 6Jeff McIntyre LBDenver Broncos
Rd 6Chris DeFrance WRDallas Cowboys

All-Pac-10

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC6–⁠112–⁠12
UCLA6–⁠28–⁠3–⁠114
Washington6–⁠27–⁠4
Arizona State4–⁠39–⁠3
Stanford4–⁠38–⁠417
California3–⁠46–⁠5
Arizona3–⁠45–⁠6
Oregon2–⁠52–⁠9
Oregon State2–⁠63–⁠7–⁠1
Washington State1–⁠73–⁠7–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.