CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1980 Houston

7–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Southwest Conference), coached by Bill Yeoman.

Schedule and results

Houston in 1980, game by game: lost at Arizona State 13–29; lost vs. Miami 7–14; won vs. North Texas 24–17; lost at No. 20 Baylor 12–24; won vs. Texas A&M 17–7; won at SMU 13–11; won vs. No. 15 Arkansas 24–17; won vs. TCU 37–5; lost at Texas 13–15; won at Texas Tech 34–7; lost vs. Rice 7–35; won vs. Navy 35–0+35−28Lost 13–29 at Arizona State-16Arizona StateLost 7–14 vs. Miami-7MiamiWon 24–17 vs. North Texas+7North TexasLost 12–24 at No. 20 Baylor-12No. 20 BaylorWon 17–7 vs. Texas A&M+10Texas A&MWon 13–11 at SMU+2SMUWon 24–17 vs. No. 15 Arkansas+7No. 15 ArkansasWon 37–5 vs. TCU+32TCULost 13–15 at Texas-2TexasWon 34–7 at Texas Tech+27Texas TechLost 7–35 vs. Rice-28RiceWon 35–0 vs. Navy+35Navy
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atArizona StateL 13–⁠2959%
Sep 20vsMiamiL 7–⁠1468%
Sep 27vsNorth TexasW 24–⁠1767%
Oct 4at20BaylorL 12–⁠2437%
Oct 11vsTexas A&MW 17–⁠761%
Oct 18atSMUW 13–⁠1145%
Oct 25vs15ArkansasW 24–⁠1749%
Nov 1vsTCUW 37–⁠589%
Nov 8atTexasL 13–⁠1542%
Nov 22atTexas TechW 34–⁠758%
Nov 29vsRiceL 7–⁠3587%
Dec 14Bowls & playoffvsNavyGarden State BowlW 35–⁠047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Navy 35–⁠0 in the Garden State Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 18

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.

Consensus All-AmericanLeonard Mitchell, DT

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
236–⁠181
Coach
Bill Yeoman
Elo
1626 −25 this season
SP+ rating
13.8 No. 26 of 133; offense No. 56, defense No. 14
SRS
12.5 No. 26 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Don Todd
Captains
Terry Elston and Steve Bradham

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 1Leonard Mitchell DEPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Southwest Conference

1 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.