CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 Iowa State

8–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Big Eight), coached by Earle Bruce.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 1978, game by game: won at Rice 23–19; won vs. San Diego State 14–13; won at Iowa 31–0; won vs. Drake 35–7; lost vs. No. 10 Nebraska 0–23; lost at No. 19 Missouri 13–26; lost vs. No. 1 Oklahoma 6–34; won at Kansas 13–7; won vs. Kansas State 24–0; won at Oklahoma State 28–15; won at Colorado 20–16; lost vs. Texas A&M 12–28+31−28Won 23–19 at Rice+4RiceWon 14–13 vs. San Diego State+1San Diego StateWon 31–0 at Iowa+31IowaWon 35–7 vs. Drake+28DrakeLost 0–23 vs. No. 10 Nebraska-23No. 10 NebraskaLost 13–26 at No. 19 Missouri-13No. 19 MissouriLost 6–34 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma-28No. 1 OklahomaWon 13–7 at Kansas+6KansasWon 24–0 vs. Kansas State+24Kansas StateWon 28–15 at Oklahoma State+13Oklahoma StateWon 20–16 at Colorado+4ColoradoLost 12–28 vs. Texas A&M-16Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9atRiceW 23–⁠1972%
Sep 16vsSan Diego StateW 14–⁠1351%
Sep 23atIowaW 31–⁠057%
Sep 30vsDrakeW 35–⁠786%
Oct 7vs10NebraskaL 0–⁠2349%
Oct 14at19MissouriL 13–⁠2644%
Oct 21vs1OklahomaL 6–⁠3432%
Oct 28atKansasW 13–⁠764%
Nov 4vsKansas StateW 24–⁠082%
Nov 11atOklahoma StateW 28–⁠1552%
Nov 18atColoradoW 20–⁠1651%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvsTexas A&MHall of Fame ClassicL 12–⁠2854%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas A&M 28–⁠12 in the Hall of Fame Classic; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 20
  4. Wk 4: 17
  5. Wk 5: 15
  6. Wk 6: 20
  7. Wk 12: 20
  8. Wk 13: 19
  9. Wk 14: 19
Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
219–⁠188
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1571 +12 this season
SP+ rating
3.2 No. 63 of 133; offense No. 94, defense No. 33
SRS
7.9 No. 38 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Pete Rodriguez

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 2Mike Stensrud DEHouston Oilers

All-Big Eight

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Dexter GreenRBAP-1; UPI-2
  • Rick WhiteDEAP-2; UPI-1
  • Mike StensrudDTAP-1; UPI-1
  • Mike SchwartzDBUPI-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Dick CuvelierOTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Chris BoskeyDTUPI-2
  • Tom BoskeyLBAP-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 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma6–⁠111–⁠13
Nebraska6–⁠19–⁠38
Iowa State4–⁠38–⁠4
Missouri4–⁠38–⁠415
Kansas State3–⁠44–⁠7
Oklahoma State3–⁠43–⁠8
Colorado2–⁠56–⁠5
Kansas0–⁠71–⁠10

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