CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 SMU

4–⁠6–⁠1 (3–⁠5 Southwest Conference), coached by Ron Meyer.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1978, game by game: won vs. TCU 45–14; won vs. Florida 35–25; lost at No. 3 Penn State 21–26; tied at No. 14 Ohio State 35–35; won at Baylor 28–21; lost vs. No. 11 Houston 28–42; lost at No. 7 Texas 3–22; lost vs. Texas A&M 17–20; won at Rice 58–0; lost at Texas Tech 16–19; lost vs. No. 11 Arkansas 14–27+58−19Won 45–14 vs. TCU+31TCUWon 35–25 vs. Florida+10FloridaLost 21–26 at No. 3 Penn State-5No. 3 Penn StateTied 35–35 at No. 14 Ohio State0No. 14 Ohio StateWon 28–21 at Baylor+7BaylorLost 28–42 vs. No. 11 Houston-14No. 11 HoustonLost 3–22 at No. 7 Texas-19No. 7 TexasLost 17–20 vs. Texas A&M-3Texas A&MWon 58–0 at Rice+58RiceLost 16–19 at Texas Tech-3Texas TechLost 14–27 vs. No. 11 Arkansas-13No. 11 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsTCUW 45–⁠1470%
Sep 16vsFloridaW 35–⁠2541%
Sep 23at3Penn StateL 21–⁠2617%
Oct 7at14Ohio StateT 35–⁠3524%
Oct 14atBaylorW 28–⁠2146%
Oct 21vs11HoustonL 28–⁠4244%
Oct 28at7TexasL 3–⁠2219%
Nov 4vsTexas A&ML 17–⁠2043%
Nov 11atRiceW 58–⁠067%
Nov 18atTexas TechL 16–⁠1931%
Nov 25vs11ArkansasL 14–⁠2730%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arkansas 27–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 55th-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 1978.

Led the nationMike Ford: passing yards (3,007 yds), total offense (2,957 yds), total offense per game (268.8)

Consensus All-AmericanEmanuel Tolbert, WR

Record
4–⁠6–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
300–⁠251
Coach
Ron Meyer
Elo
1484 +29 this season
SP+ rating
17.4 No. 18 of 133; offense No. 9, defense No. 61
SRS
16.1 No. 16 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Steve Sidwell
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
3–⁠4

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠19–⁠310
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠2–⁠111
Texas6–⁠29–⁠39
Texas Tech5–⁠37–⁠4
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠419
SMU3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Baylor3–⁠53–⁠8
Rice2–⁠62–⁠9
TCU0–⁠82–⁠9

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