CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1977 SMU

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Southwest Conference), coached by Ron Meyer.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1977, game by game: won at TCU 45–21; lost vs. North Texas 13–24; won vs. Tulane 28–23; lost vs. No. 6 Ohio State 7–35; lost at Baylor 6–9; won at No. 19 Houston 37–23; lost vs. No. 2 Texas 14–30; lost at No. 11 Texas A&M 21–38; won vs. Rice 41–24; lost vs. No. 18 Texas Tech 7–45; lost at No. 8 Arkansas 7–47+24−40Won 45–21 at TCU+24TCULost 13–24 vs. North Texas-11North TexasWon 28–23 vs. Tulane+5TulaneLost 7–35 vs. No. 6 Ohio State-28No. 6 Ohio StateLost 6–9 at Baylor-3BaylorWon 37–23 at No. 19 Houston+14No. 19 HoustonLost 14–30 vs. No. 2 Texas-16No. 2 TexasLost 21–38 at No. 11 Texas A&M-17No. 11 Texas A&MWon 41–24 vs. Rice+17RiceLost 7–45 vs. No. 18 Texas Tech-38No. 18 Texas TechLost 7–47 at No. 8 Arkansas-40No. 8 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10atTCUW 45–⁠2157%
Sep 17vsNorth TexasL 13–⁠2442%
Sep 24vsTulaneW 28–⁠2367%
Oct 1vs6Ohio StateL 7–⁠3528%
Oct 8atBaylorL 6–⁠932%
Oct 15at19HoustonW 37–⁠2318%
Oct 22vs2TexasL 14–⁠3034%
Oct 29at11Texas A&ML 21–⁠3815%
Nov 5vsRiceW 41–⁠2478%
Nov 12vs18Texas TechL 7–⁠4534%
Nov 19at8ArkansasL 7–⁠4716%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arkansas 47–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 74th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
226–⁠319
Coach
Ron Meyer
Elo
1433 −6 this season
SP+ rating
-0.6 No. 81 of 140; offense No. 36, defense No. 116
SRS
1.4 No. 72 of 145 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Steve Sidwell
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1978

The 1978 draft
Rd 7Arthur Whittington RBOakland Raiders

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Harold PerryDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1977 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1977 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas8–⁠011–⁠14
Arkansas7–⁠111–⁠13
Texas A&M6–⁠28–⁠4
Texas Tech4–⁠47–⁠5
Houston4–⁠46–⁠5
Baylor3–⁠55–⁠6
SMU3–⁠54–⁠7
TCU1–⁠72–⁠9
Rice0–⁠81–⁠10

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