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SMU Mustangs

ACCUniversity Park, TXGerald J. Ford Stadium

2026: 5–⁠1 (3–⁠1 ACC), No. 23 in the AP poll. Last: beat Virginia 23–⁠13 at home. Next: California, Saturday, Oct 24, noon ET.

  1. W 27–⁠24at Florida State
  2. W 56–⁠10UC Davis
  3. L 31–⁠41at No. 23 Louisville
  4. W 34–⁠24Missouri State
  5. W 25–⁠16Boston College
  6. W 23–⁠13Virginia
  7. Oct 24California
  8. Oct 31at Syracuse
  9. Nov 6Virginia Tech
  10. Nov 14Wake Forest
  11. Nov 21at Notre Dame
  12. Nov 28at Stanford
  • Outfitted by Nike
  • Live mascot: Peruna

SMU in the news

SMU has played football since at least 1915 and is 560–⁠571–⁠54 in the 1,185 games on record. SMU claims three national championships (1935, 1981, 1982). Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 2, in 1982. They have won 11 Southwest Conference titles (the last in 1984) and one American Conference title, counting shared titles. Doak Walker won the Heisman Trophy here in 1948. Since 1936, the NFL Draft has taken 97 players from here in its first seven rounds, 7 of them in the first round. The AAFC and AFL drafts also took four players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 8 players and 3 coaches from SMU. Ray Morrison (1915–⁠1934) won more games here than any other coach: 82. The most-played rival is TCU: 103 meetings; officially, TCU leads 54–⁠43–⁠7 (54–⁠42–⁠7 as played). This season, under Rhett Lashlee, they’re 5–⁠1.

Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park
Gerald J. Ford StadiumPhoto: Jmcstrav, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From the numbers

  • SMU is one of five FBS teams that have led at halftime of every game this season, with Nebraska, Ohio State, Utah and Virginia Tech.

Computed from every game through Oct 17 and the score after every scoring play; a note appears only when few teams share it. All the numbers.

On this date in 1957SMU lost to No. 19 Rice 27–⁠21 at home.

Résumé

All-time record
560–⁠576–⁠54 official; 560–⁠571–⁠54 on file; how we count
Postseason
8–⁠12 bowls, title games, playoff
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
2 of 191 ranked
Elo now
1661 18th of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 29 · Composite No. 44 in FBS, Oct 17; up 4 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
1982 rated 1775
Conference titles
12 last in 2023
Bowl record
8–⁠11–⁠1 official, bowls only
Seasons
110 since 1915, 1,185 games

Identity

Fight song
Pony Battle Cry
Mascot
Peruna
Student section
The Stampede
Apparel
Nike

2026 season 5–⁠1

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atFlorida StateW 27–⁠2463%
Sep 12vsUC DavisW 56–⁠1080%
Sep 19at23LouisvilleL 31–⁠4149%
Sep 26vsMissouri StateW 34–⁠2483%
Oct 3vsBoston CollegeW 25–⁠1683%
Oct 17vsVirginiaW 23–⁠1370%
Oct 24vsCaliforniaPreview84%
Oct 31atSyracusePreview75%
Nov 6vsVirginia TechPreview76%
Nov 14vsWake ForestPreview61%
Nov 21atNotre DamePreview30%
Nov 28atStanfordPreview72%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

SMU’s Elo through 2026: 1633 going into the opener, 1661 after the latest game; AP rank from No. 19 to unranked.162516501675Elo 1633 going in; beat Florida State 27–24; AP No. 19Elo 1642 going in; beat UC Davis 56–10; AP No. 17Elo 1656 going in; lost to Louisville 41–31; AP No. 16Elo 1633 going in; beat Missouri State 34–24; AP No. 22Elo 1641 going in; beat Boston College 25–16; AP No. 21Elo 1648 going in; beat Virginia 23–13; AP No. 24Now: Elo 1661 after the latest game1661
191716222124·
Florida StateUC DavisLouisvilleMissouri StateBoston CollegeVirginiaNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses. Numbers under the line: the AP rank going into each game, and in the newest poll (a dot: unranked).

Players

The 2026 rosterRecord bookThe money

On the 2026 team

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at SMU.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Apparel
Nike · Independently corroborated
Mascot
Peruna · Official source
Live mascot
Peruna (black Shetland pony) · Official source
Student section
The Stampede · Official source
Athletic director
Damon Evans · Official source
NIL collective
Boulevard Collective · Single source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Nike, from 2012.

  • SMU, Jan 24, 2012: SMU signs with Nike

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.

Program strength since 1915

Best seasons ever
SMU end-of-season Elo from 1915 to 2026, best in 1982 at 1775.13001500170019001920194019601980200020201982 peak: Elo 1775
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

On Bluesky

From reporters and writers who cover college football, linked to their posts on Bluesky.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
Rhett Lashlee2022–⁠202643–⁠17
Sonny Dykes2017–⁠202130–⁠18
Chad Morris2015–⁠201714–⁠22
Tom Mason20141–⁠9
June Jones2008–⁠201436–⁠43
Phil Bennett2002–⁠200718–⁠52
Mike Cavan1997–⁠200122–⁠34
Tom Rossley1991–⁠199615–⁠48–⁠3
Forrest Gregg1989–⁠19903–⁠19
Bobby Collins1982–⁠198643–⁠14–⁠1
Ron Meyer1976–⁠198134–⁠32–⁠1
Dave Smith1973–⁠197516–⁠15–⁠2
Hayden Fry1962–⁠197249–⁠66–⁠1
Bill Meek1957–⁠196117–⁠29–⁠4
Chalmer Woodward1953–⁠195619–⁠20–⁠1
H.N. Russell1950–⁠195213–⁠15–⁠2
Madison Bell1935–⁠194979–⁠40–⁠8
James Stewart1942–⁠194410–⁠18–⁠2
Ray Morrison1915–⁠193482–⁠41–⁠22
Bill Cunningham19210–⁠5–⁠1
J. Rix1917–⁠192116–⁠14–⁠6

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesSMU record
TCU10342–⁠54–⁠7 ‡
Rice9149–⁠41–⁠1
Baylor8336–⁠40–⁠7
Texas A&M8129–⁠45–⁠7
Arkansas7331–⁠37–⁠5
Texas7322–⁠47–⁠4
Texas Tech4916–⁠33
North Texas4336–⁠6–⁠1

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Rivals the program names: TCU, Rice, North Texas, Navy, Houston.

Trophies it holds: Gansz Trophy (Navy), Mayor’s Cup (Rice, since 2023). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.

Every opponent (138)

Every program SMU has played, A to Z, with SMU’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

12, counting shared titles
American Conference 1
2023
Southwest Conference 11
1923, 1926, 1931, 1935, 1940 (shared), 1947, 1948, 1966, 1981, 1982, 1984 (shared)
C-USA West 2
2009 (tied), 2010

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1915–⁠1917
  2. Southwest Conference 1918–⁠1986 and 1989–⁠1995
  3. Conference USA 2005–⁠2012
  4. American Athletic Conference 2013–⁠2023
  5. ACC since 2024
  • 1996Joined the WAC from the Southwest Conference. Source
  • 2005Joined Conference USA from the WAC. Source
  • 2013Joined the American Athletic Conference from Conference USA. Source
  • 2024Joined the ACC from the American Athletic Conference, announced September 1, 2023. Source

SMU’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

National award winners

All awards
1948Doak Walker RBHeisman
1947Doak Walker RB/KMaxwell

Consensus All-Americans 16

1985Reggie Dupard RB
1983Russell Carter DB
1982Eric Dickerson RB
1980John Simmons DB
1978Emanuel Tolbert WR
1974Louie Kelcher DT
1972Robert Popelka DB
1968Jerry LeVias WR
1966John LaGrone MG
1951Dick Hightower C
1950Kyle Rote RB
1949Doak Walker RB
1948Doak Walker RB
1947Doak Walker RB
1935Bobby Wilson RB
1935J.C. Wetsel OG

Led the nation 5

2019Xavier Jones rushing touchdowns (23 TD)
2017Trey Quinn receptions (114 catches)
1978Mike Ford passing yards (3,007 yds), total offense (2,957 yds), total offense per game (268.8)
1947Doak Walker kickoff return yards (387 yds)
1942Harding Miller receiving yards (531 yds)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

Heisman runners-up and finalists

The votes
1982Eric Dickerson RB3rd
1959Don Meredith QB3rd
1950Kyle Rote RB2nd
1949Doak Walker RB3rd
1947Doak Walker RB3rd

Second to fifth in the vote, from each season’s Wikipedia article.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
8
Coaches
3
2020Eric Dickerson RB
2003Hayden Fry coach here, 1962–⁠1972
2003Jerry LeVias WR
1998Jerry Rhome QB
1982Don Meredith QB
1973Bobby Wilson RB
1969Gerald Mann QB
1964Kyle Rote RB
1959Doak Walker RB
1955Matty Bell coach, career 1920–⁠1949
1954Ray Morrison coach here, 1915–⁠1934

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
97 since 1936
First-round picks
7
AAFC and AFL picks
4 1947–⁠49, 1961
1986Roderick Jones DBNo. 25, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1986Reggie Dupard RBNo. 26, New England Patriots
1984Russell Carter DBNo. 10, New York Jets
1983Eric Dickerson RBNo. 2, Los Angeles Rams
1951Kyle Rote RBNo. 1, New York Giants
1949Doak Walker RBNo. 3, New York Bulldogs
1949Paul Page RBNo. 4, New York Giants

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

Southern Methodist University
Enrollment
12,116 7,285 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Dallas, Texas
Public or private
Private nonprofit; Research 1
Founded
1911
Graduates’ median earnings
$78,354 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @smufbInstagram @smufbFacebook SMUFB
Athletics department
X @SMUMustangsInstagram @smu.mustangsFacebook SMUMustangs

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones smumustangs.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.

Voices

play-by-play
  1. from 2001Rich Phillips radio

From the announcers’ Wikipedia articles (CC BY-SA), with the years as each article gives them: those in Wikipedia’s SMU football announcers category, and any whose article names them the program’s play-by-play voice. Television network crews and announcers whose articles give no years are left out.

On the newsreel

And 12 more

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Films and books

On film

  • Pony Excess2010, ESPN 30 for 30, directed by Thaddeus D. Matula

In books

Films: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia’s lists and categories (CC BY-SA), about the program, its seasons, games and rivalries. Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions

Shaded: national title seasons, No. 1 in the final AP poll or claimed by SMU (3 claimed).

SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20265–⁠13–⁠119Rhett Lashlee166112.8
20259–⁠46–⁠216Rhett Lashlee169913.4
202411–⁠38–⁠012Rhett Lashlee169417.5
202311–⁠38–⁠022Rhett Lashlee164710.1
20227–⁠65–⁠3Rhett Lashlee15674.7
20218–⁠44–⁠4Sonny Dykes15968.9
20207–⁠34–⁠3Sonny Dykes15729.2
201910–⁠36–⁠2Sonny Dykes15944.4
20185–⁠74–⁠4Sonny Dykes1443-5.4
20177–⁠64–⁠4Chad Morris, Sonny Dykes1458-2.9
20165–⁠73–⁠5Chad Morris1423-10.8
20152–⁠101–⁠7Chad Morris1311-17.5
20141–⁠111–⁠7June Jones, Tom Mason1305-21.2
20135–⁠74–⁠4June Jones1481-15.2
20127–⁠65–⁠3June Jones1562-7.6
20118–⁠55–⁠3June Jones15430.3
20107–⁠76–⁠2June Jones1478-3.2
20098–⁠56–⁠2June Jones1485-6.1
20081–⁠110–⁠8June Jones1248-18.5
20071–⁠110–⁠8Phil Bennett1309-13.4
20066–⁠64–⁠4Phil Bennett1459-7.7
20055–⁠64–⁠4Phil Bennett1411-13.0
20043–⁠83–⁠5Phil Bennett1318-16.2
20030–⁠120–⁠8Phil Bennett1208-27.8
20023–⁠93–⁠5Phil Bennett1301-24.8
Every season back to 1915 (85 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20014–⁠74–⁠4Mike Cavan1383-14.5
20003–⁠92–⁠6Mike Cavan1325-19.0
19994–⁠63–⁠3Mike Cavan1440-15.0
19985–⁠74–⁠4Mike Cavan1466-2.2
19976–⁠55–⁠3Mike Cavan14831.2
19965–⁠64–⁠4Tom Rossley1414-0.4
19951–⁠100–⁠7Tom Rossley1236-18.7
19941–⁠9–⁠10–⁠6–⁠1Tom Rossley1312-14.6
19932–⁠7–⁠21–⁠5–⁠1Tom Rossley1380-12.1
19925–⁠62–⁠5Tom Rossley1404-10.2
19911–⁠100–⁠8Tom Rossley1254-17.5
19901–⁠100–⁠8Forrest Gregg1265-21.3
19892–⁠90–⁠8Forrest Gregg1353-20.2
19866–⁠55–⁠3Bobby Collins15534.4
19856–⁠55–⁠33Bobby Collins162911.4
198410–⁠26–⁠2158Bobby Collins172415.4
198310–⁠27–⁠11912Bobby Collins17079.4
198211–⁠0–⁠17–⁠0–⁠162Bobby Collins177514.7
198110–⁠17–⁠15Ron Meyer174725.5
19808–⁠45–⁠320Ron Meyer163019.9
19795–⁠63–⁠5Ron Meyer15084.8
19784–⁠6–⁠13–⁠5Ron Meyer148417.4
19774–⁠73–⁠5Ron Meyer1433-0.6
19763–⁠82–⁠6Ron Meyer1408-2.5
19754–⁠72–⁠5Dave Smith14480.0
19746–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Dave Smith15112.8
19736–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3–⁠1Dave Smith15191.0
19727–⁠44–⁠3Hayden Fry154512.2
19714–⁠73–⁠4Hayden Fry1426-7.9
19705–⁠63–⁠4Hayden Fry14571.8
19693–⁠73–⁠4Hayden Fry1476
19688–⁠35–⁠214Hayden Fry1590
19673–⁠73–⁠4Hayden Fry1452
19668–⁠36–⁠110Hayden Fry1569
19654–⁠5–⁠13–⁠4Hayden Fry1437
19641–⁠90–⁠7Hayden Fry1317
19634–⁠72–⁠5Hayden Fry1410
19622–⁠82–⁠5Hayden Fry1358
19612–⁠7–⁠11–⁠5–⁠1Bill Meek1349
19600–⁠9–⁠10–⁠6–⁠1Bill Meek1361
19595–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3–⁠14Bill Meek1580
19586–⁠44–⁠21718Bill Meek1593
19574–⁠5–⁠13–⁠3Bill Meek1482
19564–⁠62–⁠4Chalmer Woodward1470
19554–⁠62–⁠416Chalmer Woodward1567
19546–⁠3–⁠14–⁠1–⁠1Chalmer Woodward1603
19535–⁠53–⁠3Chalmer Woodward1542
19524–⁠5–⁠13–⁠2–⁠1H.N. Russell1517
19513–⁠6–⁠11–⁠4–⁠1H.N. Russell1543
19506–⁠42–⁠410H.N. Russell1612
19495–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3–⁠19Madison Bell1606
19489–⁠1–⁠15–⁠0–⁠1410Madison Bell1736
19479–⁠0–⁠25–⁠0–⁠13Madison Bell1674
19464–⁠5–⁠12–⁠4Madison Bell1506
19455–⁠64–⁠2Madison Bell1481
19445–⁠52–⁠3James Stewart1405
19432–⁠72–⁠3James Stewart1429
19423–⁠6–⁠21–⁠4–⁠1James Stewart1477
19415–⁠52–⁠4Madison Bell1572
19408–⁠1–⁠15–⁠116Madison Bell1652
19396–⁠3–⁠14–⁠218Madison Bell1598
19386–⁠44–⁠2Madison Bell1549
19375–⁠62–⁠4Madison Bell1524
19365–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3–⁠119Madison Bell1575
193512–⁠16–⁠0Madison Bell1720
19348–⁠2–⁠23–⁠2–⁠1Ray Morrison1605
19334–⁠7–⁠12–⁠4Ray Morrison1458
19323–⁠7–⁠21–⁠4–⁠1Ray Morrison1508
19319–⁠1–⁠15–⁠0–⁠1Ray Morrison1656
19306–⁠3–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Ray Morrison1599
19296–⁠0–⁠43–⁠0–⁠2Ray Morrison1641
19286–⁠3–⁠12–⁠2–⁠1Ray Morrison1609
19277–⁠24–⁠1Ray Morrison1617
19268–⁠0–⁠15–⁠0Ray Morrison1608
19255–⁠2–⁠21–⁠1–⁠2Ray Morrison1548
19245–⁠1–⁠42–⁠0–⁠4Ray Morrison1565
19239–⁠05–⁠0Ray Morrison1582
19226–⁠3–⁠12–⁠2Ray Morrison1423
19211–⁠6–⁠10–⁠4J. Rix, Bill Cunningham1278
19203–⁠5–⁠20–⁠4–⁠1J. Rix1314
19195–⁠4–⁠10–⁠2–⁠1J. Rix1382
1918partial4–⁠21–⁠2J. Rix1380
19173–⁠2–⁠30–⁠1J. Rix1311
19160–⁠8–⁠20–⁠1Ray Morrison1217
1915few games on file0–⁠20–⁠1Ray Morrison1412

Officially 560–⁠576–⁠54 since 1915 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 560–⁠571–⁠54 (−5 losses). Some games are missing from our source.

No season on file for 1987–⁠88: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.

Game by game, 109 of 110 seasons are complete on file. For one season (1918) the record comes from coaching totals and some games are missing, so early totals and streaks count only the games on file.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.