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1974 SMU

6–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠3–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Dave Smith.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1974, game by game: won vs. North Texas 7–6; won vs. Virginia Tech 28–25; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 9–28; won vs. Oregon State 37–30; won at TCU 33–13; won vs. Rice 19–14; lost vs. No. 11 Texas Tech 17–20; lost at No. 12 Texas 15–35; won vs. No. 5 Texas A&M 18–14; tied vs. Arkansas 24–24; lost vs. No. 16 Baylor 14–31+20−20Won 7–6 vs. North Texas+1North TexasWon 28–25 vs. Virginia Tech+3Virginia TechLost 9–28 at No. 1 Ohio State-19No. 1 Ohio StateWon 37–30 vs. Oregon State+7Oregon StateWon 33–13 at TCU+20TCUWon 19–14 vs. Rice+5RiceLost 17–20 vs. No. 11 Texas Tech-3No. 11 Texas TechLost 15–35 at No. 12 Texas-20No. 12 TexasWon 18–14 vs. No. 5 Texas A&M+4No. 5 Texas A&MTied 24–24 vs. Arkansas0ArkansasLost 14–31 vs. No. 16 Baylor-17No. 16 Baylor
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vsNorth TexasW 7–⁠666%
Sep 21vsVirginia TechW 28–⁠2571%
Sep 28at1Ohio StateL 9–⁠2821%
Oct 5vsOregon StateW 37–⁠3074%
Oct 12atTCUW 33–⁠1360%
Oct 19vsRiceW 19–⁠1472%
Oct 26vs11Texas TechL 17–⁠2043%
Nov 2at12TexasL 15–⁠3525%
Nov 9vs5Texas A&MW 18–⁠1443%
Nov 16vsArkansasT 24–⁠2459%
Nov 23vs16BaylorL 14–⁠3160%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Baylor 31–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

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 1974.

Consensus All-AmericanLouie Kelcher, DT

Record
6–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3–⁠1 tied for 4th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
221–⁠240
Coach
Dave Smith
Elo
1511 −1 this season
SP+ rating
2.8 No. 67 of 124; offense No. 50, defense No. 77
SRS
4.8 No. 51 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1975

The 1975 draft
Rd 2Louie Kelcher DTSan Diego Chargers
Rd 3Oscar Roan WRCleveland Browns

All-Southwest Conference

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • David BostickRBAP-2
  • Mickey EarlDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1974 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1974 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Baylor6–⁠18–⁠414
Texas A&M5–⁠28–⁠316
Texas5–⁠28–⁠417
Arkansas3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
SMU3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Texas Tech3–⁠46–⁠4–⁠2
Rice2–⁠52–⁠8–⁠1
TCU0–⁠71–⁠10

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