CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 Houston

9–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Bill Yeoman, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Houston in 1978, game by game: lost at Memphis 3–17; won vs. Utah 42–25; won at No. 10 Florida State 27–21; won at Baylor 20–18; won vs. No. 6 Texas A&M 33–0; won at SMU 42–28; won vs. No. 9 Arkansas 20–9; won vs. TCU 63–6; won at No. 6 Texas 10–7; lost at Texas Tech 21–22; won vs. Rice 49–25; lost vs. No. 10 Notre Dame 34–35+57−14Lost 3–17 at Memphis-14MemphisWon 42–25 vs. Utah+17UtahWon 27–21 at No. 10 Florida State+6No. 10 Florida StateWon 20–18 at Baylor+2BaylorWon 33–0 vs. No. 6 Texas A&M+33No. 6 Texas A&MWon 42–28 at SMU+14SMUWon 20–9 vs. No. 9 Arkansas+11No. 9 ArkansasWon 63–6 vs. TCU+57TCUWon 10–7 at No. 6 Texas+3No. 6 TexasLost 21–22 at Texas Tech-1Texas TechWon 49–25 vs. Rice+24RiceLost 34–35 vs. No. 10 Notre Dame-1No. 10 Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16atMemphisL 3–⁠1749%
Sep 23vsUtahW 42–⁠2574%
Sep 30at10Florida StateW 27–⁠2127%
Oct 7atBaylorW 20–⁠1855%
Oct 14vs6Texas A&MW 33–⁠044%
Oct 21atSMUW 42–⁠2856%
Oct 28vs9ArkansasW 20–⁠954%
Nov 4vsTCUW 63–⁠690%
Nov 11at6TexasW 10–⁠737%
Nov 25atTexas TechL 21–⁠2256%
Dec 2vsRiceW 49–⁠2592%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10Notre DameCotton BowlL 34–⁠3543%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 35–⁠34 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 5
Points
364–⁠213
Coach
Bill Yeoman
Elo
1688 +130 this season
SP+ rating
24.2 No. 8 of 133; offense No. 5, defense No. 22
SRS
22.1 No. 9 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Don Todd
Captains
Danny Davis, David Hodge and Jim Wells
Offense
Houston Veer
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Willis Adams WRCleveland Browns
Rd 7Emmett King RBNew York Jets

All-Southwest Conference

6 first team, 2 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 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.