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1980 Arkansas

7–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Southwest Conference), coached by Lou Holtz.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1980, game by game: lost at Texas 17–23; won vs. Oklahoma State 33–20; won vs. Tulsa 13–10; won vs. TCU 44–7; won vs. Wichita State 27–7; lost at Houston 17–24; lost vs. Rice 16–17; lost at No. 16 Baylor 15–42; won vs. Texas A&M 27–24; lost at SMU 7–31; won vs. Texas Tech 22–16; won vs. Tulane 34–15+37−27Lost 17–23 at Texas-6TexasWon 33–20 vs. Oklahoma State+13Oklahoma StateWon 13–10 vs. Tulsa+3TulsaWon 44–7 vs. TCU+37TCUWon 27–7 vs. Wichita State+20Wichita StateLost 17–24 at Houston-7HoustonLost 16–17 vs. Rice-1RiceLost 15–42 at No. 16 Baylor-27No. 16 BaylorWon 27–24 vs. Texas A&M+3Texas A&MLost 7–31 at SMU-24SMUWon 22–16 vs. Texas Tech+6Texas TechWon 34–15 vs. Tulane+19Tulane
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atTexasL 17–⁠2344%
Sep 20vsOklahoma StateW 33–⁠2074%
Sep 27vsTulsaW 13–⁠1079%
Oct 4vsTCUW 44–⁠788%
Oct 11vsWichita StateW 27–⁠784%
Oct 25atHoustonL 17–⁠2451%
Nov 1vsRiceL 16–⁠1786%
Nov 8at16BaylorL 15–⁠4239%
Nov 15vsTexas A&MW 27–⁠2476%
Nov 23atSMUL 7–⁠3144%
Nov 29vsTexas TechW 22–⁠1671%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsTulaneHall of Fame ClassicW 34–⁠1557%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tulane 34–⁠15 in the Hall of Fame Classic; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 14
  6. Wk 6: 15
  7. Wk 7: 14
  8. Wk 8: 15

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 1980.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
272–⁠236
Coach
Lou Holtz
Elo
1628 −29 this season
SP+ rating
7.9 No. 43 of 133; offense No. 42, defense No. 55
SRS
7.6 No. 38 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Bob Cope
Captains
Keith Houfek and George Stewart

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 5Steve Cox PCleveland Browns
Rd 6Bobby Duckworth WRSan Diego Chargers

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Baylor8–⁠010–⁠214
SMU5–⁠38–⁠420
Houston5–⁠37–⁠5
Texas4–⁠47–⁠5
Rice4–⁠45–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠5
Texas Tech3–⁠55–⁠6
Texas A&M3–⁠54–⁠7
TCU1–⁠71–⁠10

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