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1954 SMU

6–⁠3–⁠1 (4–⁠1–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Chalmer Woodward.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1954, game by game: lost vs. Georgia Tech 7–10; won at Missouri 25–6; won at No. 15 Rice 20–6; won vs. Kansas 36–18; tied at Texas 13–13; won vs. Texas A&M 6–3; won at No. 4 Arkansas 21–14; lost vs. No. 20 Baylor 21–33; won vs. TCU 21–6; lost vs. Notre Dame 14–26+19−12Lost 7–10 vs. Georgia Tech-3Georgia TechWon 25–6 at Missouri+19MissouriWon 20–6 at No. 15 Rice+14No. 15 RiceWon 36–18 vs. Kansas+18KansasTied 13–13 at Texas0TexasWon 6–3 vs. Texas A&M+3Texas A&MWon 21–14 at No. 4 Arkansas+7No. 4 ArkansasLost 21–33 vs. No. 20 Baylor-12No. 20 BaylorWon 21–6 vs. TCU+15TCULost 14–26 vs. Notre Dame-12Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 2vsGeorgia TechL 7–⁠1039%
Oct 9atMissouriW 25–⁠639%
Oct 16at15RiceW 20–⁠631%
Oct 23vsKansasW 36–⁠1885%
Oct 30atTexasT 13–⁠1348%
Nov 6vsTexas A&MW 6–⁠380%
Nov 13at4ArkansasW 21–⁠1440%
Nov 20vs20BaylorL 21–⁠3357%
Nov 27vsTCUW 21–⁠667%
Dec 4vsNotre DameL 14–⁠2638%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 26–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 23rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 18
  2. Wk 9: 19
  3. Wk 10: 11

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 1954.

Record
6–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1–⁠1 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
184–⁠135
Coach
Chalmer Woodward
Elo
1603 +75 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.1 No. 18 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Duane Nutt and Raymond Berry

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 3Ed Bernet EPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 3Frank Eidom BPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Southwest Conference

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas5–⁠18–⁠310
SMU4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
Rice4–⁠27–⁠319
Baylor4–⁠27–⁠418
Texas2–⁠3–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
TCU1–⁠54–⁠6
Texas A&M0–⁠61–⁠9

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