CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 Arkansas

9–⁠2–⁠1 (6–⁠2 Southwest Conference), coached by Lou Holtz, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1978, game by game: won vs. Vanderbilt 48–17; won at Oklahoma State 19–7; won vs. Tulsa 21–13; won vs. TCU 42–3; lost at No. 8 Texas 21–28; lost at No. 11 Houston 9–20; won vs. Rice 37–7; won at Baylor 27–14; won vs. Texas A&M 26–7; won at SMU 27–14; won vs. Texas Tech 49–7; tied vs. No. 15 UCLA 10–10+42−11Won 48–17 vs. Vanderbilt+31VanderbiltWon 19–7 at Oklahoma State+12Oklahoma StateWon 21–13 vs. Tulsa+8TulsaWon 42–3 vs. TCU+39TCULost 21–28 at No. 8 Texas-7No. 8 TexasLost 9–20 at No. 11 Houston-11No. 11 HoustonWon 37–7 vs. Rice+30RiceWon 27–14 at Baylor+13BaylorWon 26–7 vs. Texas A&M+19Texas A&MWon 27–14 at SMU+13SMUWon 49–7 vs. Texas Tech+42Texas TechTied 10–10 vs. No. 15 UCLA0No. 15 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsVanderbiltW 48–⁠1787%
Sep 23atOklahoma StateW 19–⁠770%
Sep 30vsTulsaW 21–⁠1383%
Oct 7vsTCUW 42–⁠390%
Oct 21at8TexasL 21–⁠2844%
Oct 28at11HoustonL 9–⁠2046%
Nov 4vsRiceW 37–⁠791%
Nov 11atBaylorW 27–⁠1465%
Nov 18vsTexas A&MW 26–⁠768%
Nov 25atSMUW 27–⁠1470%
Dec 2vsTexas TechW 49–⁠771%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvs15UCLAFiesta BowlT 10–⁠1061%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied UCLA 10–⁠10 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 2
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 3
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 10: 16
  11. Wk 11: 13
  12. Wk 12: 11
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 8
  15. Final: 11

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.

Record
9–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 2
Points
336–⁠147
Coach
Lou Holtz
Elo
1731 +68 this season
SP+ rating
22.2 No. 10 of 133; offense No. 16, defense No. 10
SRS
23.4 No. 6 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Monte Kiffin
Captains
Ron Calcagni, Ben Cowins, Larry Jackson and Jimmy Walker

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Dan Hampton DTChicago Bears
Rd 3Jerry Eckwood RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 4Vaughn Lusby DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Ben Cowins RBPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Southwest Conference

5 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jerry EckwoodRBAP-2
  • George StewartOGAP-2
  • Rick ShumakerCAP-2
  • Larry JacksonLBAP-2
  • William HamptonLBAP-2

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

1978 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠19–⁠310
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠2–⁠111
Texas6–⁠29–⁠39
Texas Tech5–⁠37–⁠4
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠419
SMU3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Baylor3–⁠53–⁠8
Rice2–⁠62–⁠9
TCU0–⁠82–⁠9

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