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1989 Arkansas

10–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1989, game by game: won vs. Tulsa 26–7; won at Ole Miss 24–17; won vs. UTEP 39–7; won at TCU 41–19; won at Texas Tech 45–13; lost vs. Texas 20–24; won vs. No. 12 Houston 45–39; won at Rice 38–17; won vs. Baylor 19–10; won at No. 14 Texas A&M 23–22; won vs. SMU 38–24; lost vs. No. 8 Tennessee 27–31+32−4Won 26–7 vs. Tulsa+19TulsaWon 24–17 at Ole Miss+7Ole MissWon 39–7 vs. UTEP+32UTEPWon 41–19 at TCU+22TCUWon 45–13 at Texas Tech+32Texas TechLost 20–24 vs. Texas-4TexasWon 45–39 vs. No. 12 Houston+6No. 12 HoustonWon 38–17 at Rice+21RiceWon 19–10 vs. Baylor+9BaylorWon 23–22 at No. 14 Texas A&M+1No. 14 Texas A&MWon 38–24 vs. SMU+14SMULost 27–31 vs. No. 8 Tennessee-4No. 8 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsTulsaW 26–⁠772%
Sep 23atOle MissW 24–⁠1758%
Sep 30vsUTEPW 39–⁠780%
Oct 7atTCUW 41–⁠1972%
Oct 14atTexas TechW 45–⁠1359%
Oct 21vsTexasL 20–⁠2481%
Oct 28vs12HoustonW 45–⁠3961%
Nov 4atRiceW 38–⁠1787%
Nov 11vsBaylorW 19–⁠1078%
Nov 24at14Texas A&MW 23–⁠2250%
Dec 2vsSMUW 38–⁠2492%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8TennesseeCotton BowlL 27–⁠3155%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 31–⁠27 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1989.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJim Mabry, OT

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 7
Points
385–⁠230
Coach
Ken Hatfield
Elo
1708 +84 this season
SP+ rating
19.2 No. 17 of 103; offense No. 12, defense No. 26
SRS
16.2 No. 14 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jack Crowe
Defensive coordinator
Bob Trott
Captains
Anthoney Cooney, Elbert Crawford, Tim Horton and Michael Shepherd
Offense
Option

Drafted in 1990

The 1990 draft
Rd 5Barry Foster RBPittsburgh Steelers

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team, 8 second team

First team

  • Jim MabryOLAP-1
  • Elbert CrawfordCAP-1
  • Todd WrightKAP-1
  • Michael ShepherdDLAP-1

Second team

  • Quinn GroveyQBAP-2
  • Barry FosterRBAP-2
  • Billy WinstonTEAP-2
  • Mark HenryOLAP-2
  • Ty MasonLBAP-2
  • Patrick WilliamsSecondaryAP-2
  • Anthony CooneySecondaryAP-2
  • Tracy SaulSecondaryAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas7–⁠110–⁠213
Houston6–⁠29–⁠214
Texas A&M6–⁠28–⁠420
Texas Tech5–⁠39–⁠319
Texas4–⁠45–⁠6
Baylor4–⁠45–⁠6
TCU2–⁠64–⁠7
Rice2–⁠62–⁠8–⁠1
SMU0–⁠82–⁠9

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