The SMU Mustangs football program is a
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
team representing
Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, prov ...
(SMU) in
University Park in
Dallas County, Texas
Dallas County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 2,613,539, making it the ninth-most populous county in the country. Dallas County is included in the Dallas-Arlington-F ...
. The team competes in the
NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
(FBS) as a member of the
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
(The American).
History
Early history (1915–1917)
In June 1915,
Ray Morrison
J. Ray Morrison (February 28, 1885 – November 19, 1982) was an American football and baseball player and a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (1915–1916, 1922– ...
became
SMU's football, baseball, basketball, and track coach, in addition to being a math instructor. The football team began as a member of the
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas.
History
Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin College, ...
, playing at
Armstrong Field Armstrong Field was a baseball park located in Dallas, Texas on the campus of Southern Methodist University located where Westcott Field now stands. It first hosted SMU football from 1915 through 1925 (Ownby Stadium opened in 1926). It was the home ...
. The first game played by SMU's football team was a 13–2 victory over
Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Approximately 1,000 students are enrolled, mostly undergraduates. While affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the college offers a secular curriculum and has a stude ...
. After winning two games in a span of two seasons, Morrison left SMU for
Fort Oglethorpe upon the United States’ entry into World War I.
During this time, the football team was known as "the Parsons", due to the large number of theology students on the team. On October 17, 1917, the name "Mustangs" was selected as the school's mascot. For the 1917 season, Morrison was replaced by
J. Burton Rix
John Burton Rix (March 24, 1882 – August 8, 1964) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Austin College (1909–1910), Southwestern University (1914–1916), Southern Methodist Universi ...
, who led the Mustangs to a 3–2–3 record in their final season in the
TIAA
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, ...
.
Joining the Southwest Conference (1918–1921)
The 1918 season was the first of many seasons for the SMU Mustangs as a member of the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
, joining
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
,
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
, the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
,
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
, the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
, and
Oklahoma A&M University. The Mustangs’ first season in the conference ended with a 4–2 record.
J. Burton Rix
John Burton Rix (March 24, 1882 – August 8, 1964) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Austin College (1909–1910), Southwestern University (1914–1916), Southern Methodist Universi ...
continued to coach the team in the 1921 season, but after two games, Rix resigned and E. William (Bill) Cunningham took over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season, as the team went on to finish with a 1-6-1 record.
The return of Morrison (1922–1934)
Ray Morrison
J. Ray Morrison (February 28, 1885 – November 19, 1982) was an American football and baseball player and a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (1915–1916, 1922– ...
returned to SMU in 1922, co-coaching the team with former
Vanderbilt teammate
Ewing Y. Freeland
Ewing Young "Big 'un" Freeland (January 1, 1887 – August 15, 1953) was an American football and baseball player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Daniel Baker College (1912–1914), Texas C ...
. For the 1922 and 1923 seasons, Morrison focused on the backfield and ends, while Freeland focused on the linemen. The team became known as the "Aerial Circus" by sportswriters because of Morrison's passing offense. Morrison became known as "the father of the forward pass", due to the team's use of passing on first and second downs, instead of as a play of last resort. At the time, most teams utilized the forward pass five to six times in one game, while SMU did so between 30 and 40 times.
In the 1922 season, the Mustangs compiled a 6–3–1 record. Furthermore, end
Gene Bedford and back
Logan Stollenwerck
Logan may refer to:
Places
* Mount Logan (disambiguation)
Australia
* Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly
* Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud
* Logan City, local gover ...
were named first-team All-Southwest Conference, becoming the first SMU football players to receive that honor. Bedford was the first player to play in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
, for the
Rochester Jeffersons
The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played from 1898 to 1925, including play in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925.
History
Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of t ...
.
In the 1923 season, the SMU Mustangs achieved a perfect 9–0 record, winning their first conference football title in school history. After this season, Freeland left the SMU football team, later becoming head coach for the
Texas Technological College
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...
football team, leaving Morrison as the sole head coach for SMU. SMU played in their first bowl game in 1924, in the
Dixie Classic against
West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist E ...
, but lost that game 7–9.
By 1926, the team began playing their home games at
Ownby Stadium
Ownby Stadium was a stadium in the University Park suburb of Dallas, Texas. It was the home of the Southern Methodist University Mustang football team. In late 1998, the stadium was demolished to build Gerald J. Ford Stadium at the site.
Back ...
. In their first game at Ownby Stadium, the Mustangs defeated
North Texas State Teachers College
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...
42–0, led by quarterback
Gerald Mann
Gerald C. Mann (January 13, 1907 – January 6, 1990) was an American football player and the Texas Attorney General, attorney general of Texas from 1939 to 1944.
Mann studied at Southern Methodist University, where he was twice named to all-con ...
. The first Homecoming game was also played in 1926, resulting in a 14–13 victory over
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...
.
The team continued to have winning seasons until the 1932 season. The Mustangs won their second conference title in 1926, compiling an 8–0–1 record, and a third conference title in 1931, compiling a 9–0–1 record. In 1928, guard
Choc Sanders
Henry Jackson "Choc" Sanders (July 26, 1900 – March 16, 1972) was a college football player, coach and teacher. He was the first All-American for the Southern Methodist University Mustangs
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the West ...
became SMU's first
All-American, as well the first All-American from the Southwest Conference. In 1929, tackle Marion Hammon became SMU's second All-American. After a winning 1934 season, Morrison left SMU to take over the
Vanderbilt Commodores football
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...
team after the retirement of
Dan McGugin
Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...
.
A national championship (1935–1941)
Morrison was replaced by
Matty Bell
William Madison "Matty" Bell (February 22, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He played for Centre, captain of its 1918 team. He served as the head footbal ...
in 1935. In his first season, Bell led the Mustangs to a 12–1 record. During this season, the Mustangs were crowned national champions by
Frank Dickinson and
Deke Houlgate, two of seven contemporaneous selectors, all math systems, that chose five different national champions that year.
To play in the
Rose Bowl against the
Stanford Indians football
The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. The team is known as the Cardinal, adopted prior to the 1982 seas ...
team for the unofficial national championship, SMU faced off against the
TCU Horned Frogs
The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...
, who featured star quarterback
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...
.
The Mustangs had three more winning seasons from 1936 to 1939. SMU failed to win the Southwest Conference title in 1940, despite having the same conference record as the
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Aggi ...
. After a 5–5 season in 1941, Bell left SMU to serve in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during World War II.
The war years (1942–1944)
With Bell in the Navy,
Jimmy Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
took his place as head coach. In his three seasons as head coach, Stewart compiled an overall record of 10–18–2. Bell returned as head coach for the 1945 season.
Doak Walker era (1945–1949)
Upon Bell's return as SMU's head coach, the team also gained halfback and placekicker
Doak Walker
Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professio ...
. Walker won All-Southwest Conference honors his freshman year in 1945 and played in the
East–West Shrine Game
East West (or East and West) may refer to:
*East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture
Arts and entertainment
Books, journals and magazines
*'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...
in San Francisco. Walker did not play for the 1946 season due to serving in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, yet re-enrolled at SMU and rejoined the football team for the 1947 season.
The Mustangs posted a 9–0–2 record in 1947, winning their sixth Southwest Conference title. In the same season, the team played against the
Penn State Nittany Lions
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...
in the
Cotton Bowl Classic
The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
, resulting in a 13–13 tie. Walker threw a 53-yard touchdown pass and scored on a two-yard run in this game. Walker earned the
Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...
during this season.
During the 1948 season, the Mustangs won their seventh conference title, posting a 9–1–1 record. The team played in the Cotton Bowl Classic once more, defeating the
Oregon Webfoots, who were led by quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin
Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "The Dutchman", was an American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He spent his first nine seasons with the Los Ang ...
, 21–13, making it their first victory in a bowl game in school history. Doak Walker, winning All-American honors, also won the
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
, the first Mustang to do so in school history. Additionally, the Mustangs permanently moved to the
Cotton Bowl for their home games this season, after playing only limited numbers of games in that stadium in years previous. In their final game at
Ownby Stadium
Ownby Stadium was a stadium in the University Park suburb of Dallas, Texas. It was the home of the Southern Methodist University Mustang football team. In late 1998, the stadium was demolished to build Gerald J. Ford Stadium at the site.
Back ...
, the Mustangs defeated
Texas Tech
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
41–6. Due to Doak Walker's popularity and gate draw—also as an allusion to 1923 Yankee Stadium's House that Ruth Built″ moniker referring to that stadium's likewise excess of capacity—the Cotton Bowl became regionally known as "The House that Doak Built".
The 1949 season was both Doak Walker's and coach
Matty Bell
William Madison "Matty" Bell (February 22, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He played for Centre, captain of its 1918 team. He served as the head footbal ...
's last as part of SMU's varsity football team and program. The team posted a 5–4–1 record. Walker won All-American honors a third time, the most for any football player in SMU's history. Bell continued to serve SMU as the athletic director, while Walker played in the
NFL for the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
. Over the course of his career at SMU, Walker rushed for 1,954 yards, passed for 1,638 yards, scored 288 points, punted for a 39.4 average and kicked field goals and extra points. He is also the Mustangs' all-time leader in punt return yards with 750—that was during an "era" of NCAA single-platoon substitution rules. Bell left the head coaching position at SMU with a 79–40–8 record, including three Southwest Conference titles, a bowl game victory, and a national championship.
Russell, Woodard, and Meek eras (1950–1961)
Bell was replaced by
Rusty Russell
Rusty Russell is an Australian free software programmer and advocate, known for his work on the Linux kernel's networking subsystem and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.
Software development
Russell wrote the packet filtering systems ip ...
in 1950. Russell previously served as quarterbacks and running backs coach from 1945 to 1949, and is attributed to luring Doak Walker away from the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. In three seasons as head coach, Russell compiled a 13–15–2 record. After a strong first season, in which the Mustangs were ranked number one in the nation, the team suffered two losing seasons. Becoming increasingly under fire, Russell resigned as head coach after the 1952 season.
Kyle Rote
William Kyle Rote, Sr. (October 27, 1928 – August 15, 2002) was an American football player, a running back and receiver for eleven years in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was an All-American running back at S ...
, who filled Doak Walker's place on the team, led the Southwest Conference with 777 yards rushing in 1949, and was named an All-American following the 1950 season. Quarterback
Fred Benners
Frederick Hagaman Benners (June 22, 1930 – January 6, 2023) was an American football player. He played the 1952 NFL season for the New York Giants. Benners also played at Southern Methodist University and is considered one of the greatest Mustan ...
led the Mustangs to perhaps their greatest win of the decade when he completed 22 of 42 passes for 336 yards to beat Notre Dame, 27–20, in Notre Dame, Indiana on October 13, 1951. Benners connected on TD passes of 57, 37, 31 and four yards to four different receivers as the Mustangs beat the Fighting Irish in what was one of the highlights in a 3–6–1 season. Furthermore,
Forrest Gregg
Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional American football, football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame Tackle (gridiron football position), offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the Nationa ...
became part of the team in 1952, and became a two-time All-Southwest Conference player by 1955, later moving on to the
NFL. Moreover,
David Powell became SMU's first Academic All-American winner in the 1952 season.
Woody Woodard
Chalmer E. Woodard (c. 1917 – December 9, 1996) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and track, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at McPherson College from 1950 to 1952, at So ...
took Russell's place as head coach in 1953. Woodard compiled a 19–20–1 record in his four seasons as head coach for SMU, resigning after two consecutive losing seasons. During the 1954 season, wide receiver
Raymond Berry
Raymond Emmett Berry Jr. (born February 27, 1933) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a split end for the Baltimore Colts from 1955 to 1967, and after several assist ...
was elected as a co-captain, despite only catching 11 passes for 144 yards, winning All-Southwest Conference and Academic All-American honors, and later played in the NFL for the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
.
Woodard was replaced by
Bill Meek
William Meridas Meek (August 14, 1920 – May 28, 1998)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University (1947 ...
in 1957, who was coming off a
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
title-winning season with the
Houston Cougars football
The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). The UH football program is a member of the Big 1 ...
team. In five seasons with SMU, Meek compiled a 17–29–4 record. During Meek's time as head coach, quarterback
Don Meredith
Joseph "Dandy" Don Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010) was an American football quarterback, sports commentator, and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career (1960–1968) with the Dallas Cowboys of the Na ...
earned All-American honors in 1958 and 1959, with his .610 career completion percentage being the best of any passer in SMU history, with a tremendous running ability increasing pressure on opposing defenses. The 1960 season, though, proved particularly bad for the Mustangs, as they went 0–9–1, with the only game decided by less than 10 points being a 0–0 tie with
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
.
Hayden Fry era (1962–1972)
Hayden Fry
John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now know ...
became the eighth head coach in 1962. The Mustangs hosted the fourth-ranked
Navy Midshipmen
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.[Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...]
, on October 11, 1963, at the
Cotton Bowl. On its way to a 4–7 season, SMU was given little chance to beat the Midshipmen. Little-known sophomore
John Roderick rushed for 146 yards on 11 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 45 and two yards for the Mustangs. The SMU defense, led by
Bob Oyler,
Martin Cude Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austral ...
,
Bill Harlan,
Harold Magers
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Art ...
and
Doug January, sent Staubach to the bench twice with a dislocated left shoulder. Trailing 28–26 with 2:52 remaining in the game, SMU had one last chance to pull off the upset. Quarterback Danny Thomas threw to
Billy Gannon, who ran to the Navy 46. On the next play, Roderick took a pitchout 23 yards to the 23. After a pass interference penalty against Navy put the ball on the one-yard line, Gannon plowed over the right tackle for the winning touchdown with 2:05 left. The SMU defense held off Staubach's effort to rally his team for one last score, as the Mustangs pulled off the 32–28 upset. Despite a losing record in 1963, the Mustangs played in the
Sun Bowl
The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...
, their first since the 1948 season, against the
Oregon Webfoots, losing 14–21.
When Fry took the job at SMU, he was promised that he would be allowed to recruit black athletes.
Jerry LeVias
Jerry LeVias (born September 5, 1946) is a former American football player. He played college football at Southern Methodist University (SMU). He played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) with the Houston Oilers and in the N ...
became the first black player signed to a football scholarship in the Southwest Conference. In 1966, LeVias made his debut one week after John Hill Westbrook of
Baylor became the first black player to play for a conference team. Fry received abuse for recruiting a black player to SMU in the form of hate mail and threatening phone calls, but he downplayed the treatment, because the harassment of LeVias was much, much worse.
During the 1966 season, Hayden Fry lifted SMU back to national prominence, when SMU was ranked ninth in the nation and won its first conference championship in 18 years, their seventh overall. Fry also won Conference Coach of the Year. SMU lost the
Cotton Bowl Classic
The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
to the
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...
9–24.
John LaGrone, who earned conference honors from 1964 to 1966, was the first Mustang player to be selected as both an All-American and Academic All-American when he was honored following the 1966 season.
During the 1968 season, combined with quarterback
Chuck Hixson
Charles Oliver Hixson, Jr. (born 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. After leading the nation in passing as a sophomore, he was awarded the Sammy Baugh Trophy in 1968. The ...
, Levias helped lead the Mustangs to a 28–27 win over Oklahoma in the
1968 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, giving SMU its first bowl victory since the 1949 Cotton Bowl Classic. SMU and Oklahoma combined to score 35 points in the fourth quarter. SMU stopped Oklahoma short of a potential game-winning two-point conversion with 1:16 left to play. LeVias was selected as an all-conference player as a senior for the third time.
Fry's Mustangs then had just a 12–20 record over the next three years, from 1969 to 1971. That put Fry's job risking, and rumors started to swirl after the Mustangs started the 1972 season at 4–4. Not even a three-game winning streak could save Fry. After a 7–4 season in 1972, Fry was fired at SMU, which robbed the Mustangs of a bowl berth. In his 11 seasons at SMU, Fry compiled a 49–66–1 record.
Dave Smith era (1973–1975)
After Fry's departure,
Dave Smith, a former assistant coach under Fry, took his place as head coach. Coming off a 7–4 season with
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, Smith had two consecutive 6–4–1 seasons with SMU, with his final season resulting in a 4–7 record. In three seasons with SMU, Smith compiled a 16–15–2 record. Smith was replaced by
Ron Meyer
Ronald Shaw Meyer (February 17, 1941 – December 5, 2017) was an American college and professional football coach. He is best known for having been the head coach of Southern Methodist University, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts ...
in 1976.
A winning record (1976–1986)
Coach
Ron Meyer
Ronald Shaw Meyer (February 17, 1941 – December 5, 2017) was an American college and professional football coach. He is best known for having been the head coach of Southern Methodist University, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts ...
came to SMU in 1976 from the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
in the 1970s (including a
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
win) and a stint with
UNLV
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
. Coach Meyer was notable for his recruiting tactics, including visits each year to the homes of 70 or more of the top recruits per year. His most notable recruits were future
NFL running backs
Eric Dickerson
Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Me ...
and
Craig James before the 1979 season, as both their high school teams went 15–0 and won state championships. Combined with blue chip running back Charles Waggoner, the three backs were nicknamed the "Pony Express" running attack and shredded opposing defenses in the option offense led by quarterback
Lance McIlhenny
Lance McIlhenny is a former American college football player who was an award-winning quarterback for Southern Methodist University. He led the SMU Mustangs to two Southwest Conference championships.
Biography
McIlhenny is considered to be one ...
. In 1981, the Mustangs' performance earned them recognition by the
National Championship Foundation The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected college football national champions for each year from 1869 to 1979, and its selections are among the historic national ch ...
as one of its five co-national champions.
The final Associated Press poll ranked SMU No. 5, four spots behind AP national champion Clemson. The team was not ranked in the coaches' poll at all due to a rule forbidding teams on probation from consideration.
Coach Meyer left to become the head coach of the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
in 1982, and SMU hired Coach
Bobby Collins, then head coach at the
University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...
. Dickerson finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1982, and the team claimed a share of its second consecutive national championship, being selected by Bill Schroeder of the
Helms Athletic Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...
as his last ever selection, in addition to consensus champion
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
; the Mustangs did, however, finish second in both the AP and coaches' polls.
SMU posted a 49–9–1 record from 1980 to 1984, which was the highest win percentage (.839) in Division I-A over that span.
"Death Penalty" and decades of rebuilding (1987–2007)
In 1987, SMU football became the first, and only, football program in collegiate athletic history to receive the "
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
" for repeat violation of NCAA rules; that is, having a sports program fully terminated for a determined amount of time. SMU's football program was terminated for the 1987 season because the university was making approximately $61,000 in booster payments from 1985 to 1986. It later emerged that a
slush fund
A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...
had been used to pay players as early as the mid-1970s, and athletic officials had known about it as early as 1981.
SMU was eligible for the "death penalty" because it had been placed on probation in 1985 for recruiting violations. Since many potential student-athletes were poor, boosters would induce them to sign with SMU by offering them payments and expense coverage. Several key boosters and administration officials determined that it would not only be unethical to cut off those payments, but also potentially problematic as some boosters were contractually obligated to pay the athletes for the duration of their time at SMU. There was also the real potential of disgruntled football players "blowing the whistle" on SMU should the payments not continue. When the sanctions were handed down, SMU had three players – all seniors about to graduate – receiving payments. Not long afterward, SMU announced that its football team would stay shuttered for the 1988 season as well after school officials received indications that they wouldn't have enough experienced players to field a viable team, as most of the team had left the university and transferred to other institutions.
Forrest Gregg
Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional American football, football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame Tackle (gridiron football position), offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the Nationa ...
, an SMU alum who was the head coach of the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
, was hired in 1988 to help rebuild the team. The decimation of the program meant that Gregg was left with an undersized and underweight lineup.
The Mustangs struggled for 20 years to recover from the effects of the scandal. Coach Gregg compiled a 3–19 record in his two seasons. He moved on to be the SMU Athletic Director from 1990 through 1994. The program's chances of ever recovering were likely ruined by the collapse of the Southwest Conference after the 1995 season; SMU wound up in the
WAC and later in
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
.
The Mustangs had three more head coaches and only one winning season through the completion of the 2007 season.
"There and Back Again" (2008–2014)
![Shawnbrey McNeal stiffarm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Shawnbrey_McNeal_stiffarm.jpg)
In 2008 SMU hired
Steve Orsini away from the
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
(UCF) to be the SMU Athletic Director. Orsini then hired
June Jones
June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 19 ...
from the
University of Hawai'i
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
to be the team's new head coach at SMU and the 5th coach in the post-death penalty time since 1989. In Jones' first season at SMU, the team had a 1–11 record.
In 2009, Coach Jones' second season at SMU, the Mustangs had a turnaround season, compiling an improved regular season record of 7–5. Although finishing unranked in the
2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, SMU was invited to its first bowl game in 25 years, defeating the unranked
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada.
H ...
with a final score of 45–10 in the
2009 Hawai'i Bowl
The 2009 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was the eighth edition of the college football bowl game, played at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii. The game started at 3:00 pm local time (8:00 pm EST) on Thursday of Christmas Eve 2009, with the SMU Mustangs of ...
, the team's first bowl win since 1984.
In 2010, the Mustangs again compiled a regular season record of 7–5, with a 6–2 in-conference record to earn their first chance at winning a conference title in 26 years, securing a berth in the
Conference USA Championship game. SMU lost the conference title game, 17–7, against
UCF
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
. Once again unranked in the
2010 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, SMU was invited to its second consecutive bowl game, the
2010 Armed Forces Bowl
The 2010 Armed Forces Bowl was the eighth edition of the college football bowl game, and the first of two editions to be played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in the Dallas enclave of University Pa ...
, where it lost against the unranked
Army Black Knights.
Following
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
's move to the
SEC in August and September 2011, SMU made it known that they would like to replace Texas A&M in the
Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
. SMU's interest in the Big 12 was never reciprocated, and the Big 12 instead added
TCU and
West Virginia University
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...
.
SMU went on to win back-to-back bowl games in the
2012 BBVA Compass Bowl (for the 2011 season) and
2012 Hawaii Bowl. SMU ended the Jones Era in 2014 the way it began: with a 1–11 season. The Mustangs won the last game of the season against the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
on December 6, 2014.
Chad Morris (2015–2017)
SMU hired
Clemson offensive coordinator
Chad Morris
Chad Allen Morris (born December 4, 1968) is an American football coach. He is currently an offensive analyst at South Florida. Morris served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2015 to 2017 and the University ...
as head coach and announced his placement on December 1, 2014. His first season resulted in a 2–10 record, a slight improvement from the 2014 season. SMU continued to improve in Morris' second season, finishing 5–7. In his 3rd season, Morris was able to lead the Mustangs to bowl eligibility and a 7–5 record in 2017. However, Morris accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas in the weeks prior to the bowl game, and SMU was forced to move quickly to hire a new football coach in light of the approaching bowl game.
Sonny Dykes (2017–2021)
Sonny Dykes
Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969) is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Meth ...
was hired as the new football coach of SMU on December 11, 2017. The Mustangs were defeated by
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...
51–10 in the DXL Frisco Bowl.
![IX8A3827 (42917293690)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/IX8A3827_%2842917293690%29.jpg)
In the 2019 season, the Mustangs got off to an 8–0 start. On September 21, they defeated cross-town rival TCU. On September 29, the Mustangs were ranked in the AP top 25 for the first time since October 25, 1986.
Rhett Lashlee (2021–present)
Rhett Lashlee
Rhett Lashlee (born June 9, 1983) is an American college football coach who is the head coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Miami ...
returned to SMU as Head Football Coach on Nov. 29, 2021. Lashlee previously served as offensive coordinator for the Mustangs, including during the record-setting 2019 season.
Conference affiliations
*
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas.
History
Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin College, ...
(1915–1917)
*
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
(1918–1995)
*
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...
(1996–2004)
*
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
(2005–2012)
*
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
(2013–present)
Championships
National championships
SMU has won three national championships from NCAA-designated major selectors.
SMU claims all three championships.
Conference championships
SMU has won 11 conference championships, nine outright and two shared.
† Co-champions
Division championships
SMU has won two division championships.
† Co-champions
Bowl games
SMU has participated in 17 bowl games. The Mustangs have a record of 7–9–1 in these games.
Head coaches
List of SMU head coaches.
Rivalries
TCU
The rivalry with TCU is the most intense one for both schools. The respective campuses are located 40 miles apart in the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The SMU-TCU rivalries go for all sports as well as recruiting students from the DFW area, as SMU and TCU are the two top schools in the region in academics and sports. The teams have played all but seven years since their first meeting in 1915. They did not face each other in 1919, 1920, 1925, 1987, 1988, 2006, or 2020.
TCU and SMU fans began the tradition back in 1946. During pre-game festivities, an SMU fan was frying frog legs as a joke before the game. A TCU fan, seeing this desecration of the "frog", went over and told him that eating the frog legs was going well beyond the rivalry and that they should let the game decide who would get the skillet and the frog legs. TCU won the game, and the skillet and frog legs went to TCU. The tradition eventually spilled over into the actual game, and the Iron Skillet is now passed to the winner.
SMU and TCU have agreed to play each season through 2024 on an alternating home-and-home format.
TCU leads the series 52–42–7 through the 2022 season.
North Texas
Nicknamed the "Safeway Bowl", the rivalry between SMU and North Texas is the most one-sided rivalry for the Mustangs. Its name is derived from a challenge from then North Texas head coach Matt Simon issued in 1994 after a two-year break in the series, stating "I'd like to play because I think we could beat them, and my players feel the same way. If they'd like to play on a Safeway parking lot ... just give us a date and time." North Texas generally considers SMU its biggest rival, but SMU downplays North Texas as a real rival. SMU and North Texas are located about 40 miles apart in the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
The schools have played on and off 42 times dating back to 1922 with three major hiatuses, from 1943 to 1973, from 1993 to 2005, and from 2008 to 2013.
North Texas is joining the
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
in 2023, so this will become a conference game for the first time.
SMU leads the series 35–6–1 through the 2022 season.
Navy
SMU and Navy have played each other 23 times, with Navy leading the series 13–10. In 2009, the athletic departments of the United States Naval Academy and Southern Methodist University created the Gansz Trophy in honor of
Frank Gansz
Frank Gansz (November 22, 1938 – April 27, 2009) was an American football coach whose career spanned nearly 40 years. He served as the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL) from 1987 to 1988, compiling a rec ...
who played linebacker at the Naval Academy from 1957 through 1959, was on the Navy coaching staff from 1969 through 1972, and the coaching staff at SMU for the 2008 season before his spring 2009 death.
Navy joined the
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
in 2015 which allowed for this game to become a yearly conference game.
SMU won the 2022 game and thus currently holds the Gansz Trophy.
Navy leads the series 13–11 through the 2022 season.
Rice
The SMU-Rice rivalry is a secondary one for both SMU (after TCU) and Rice (after Houston). However, it is a storied one since SMU is located inside the city of Dallas and Rice is located in Houston, the anchors of Texas's two largest metropolitan areas. Notably, SMU and Rice are two of the smaller universities in
NCAA Division I FBS
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Rice and SMU are consistently ranked the best two private universities in Texas.
In 1918 both schools joined the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
, and from 1926 they played every year except for 1987 and 1988, after the NCAA gave SMU's football program the "
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
" following a
cheating scandal. They played in the same conference until 2013, beginning with the Southwest (1918–1996), then the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...
(1996–2005) and
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
(2005–2012). In that time, they had met 90 times, with SMU leading 48–41–1.
In 1998 a traveling trophy, the "Mayor's Cup", was introduced to the series, and had been awarded to the winner each year through 2012. The Rice Owls hold the trophy after the 2012 game and lead the trophy series 9–6.
SMU left Conference USA for The American for the 2013 season, and no games have been played or scheduled since the 2012 meeting. However, Rice is joining the
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
in 2023, so this will become a conference game again for the first time since 2012.
SMU leads the series 48–41–1 through the 2021 season.
Appearances in the final Associated Press Poll
SMU has made 175 appearances in the Associated Press poll over 103 seasons. SMU has been ranked in the top 10 fo
63 weeks
Home fields
*
Armstrong Field Armstrong Field was a baseball park located in Dallas, Texas on the campus of Southern Methodist University located where Westcott Field now stands. It first hosted SMU football from 1915 through 1925 (Ownby Stadium opened in 1926). It was the home ...
(1915–1925)
*
Ownby Stadium
Ownby Stadium was a stadium in the University Park suburb of Dallas, Texas. It was the home of the Southern Methodist University Mustang football team. In late 1998, the stadium was demolished to build Gerald J. Ford Stadium at the site.
Back ...
(1926–1948, 1989–1994)
*
Cotton Bowl (1932–1978, 1995–1999)
*
Texas Stadium
Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof (Cowboy ...
(1979–1986)
*
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Gerald J. Ford Stadium is a stadium in University Park, Texas, with a Dallas mailing address. The stadium is owned by Southern Methodist University (SMU) and used primarily for games played by the SMU Mustangs football team.
About Ford Stadiu ...
(2000–present)
Individual achievements
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
*
Doak Walker
Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professio ...
1948
Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...
*
Doak Walker
Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professio ...
1947
Sammy Baugh Trophy
The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More th ...
*
Chuck Hixson
Charles Oliver Hixson, Jr. (born 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. After leading the nation in passing as a sophomore, he was awarded the Sammy Baugh Trophy in 1968. The ...
1968
College Football Hall of Fame Inductees
All-Americans
Honored jerseys
SMU has honored six jerseys.
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Future non-conference opponents
Announced opponents as of September 16, 2022.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
American football teams established in 1915
1915 establishments in Texas