1981 SMU Mustangs football team

1981 SMU Mustangs football
NCF national champion SWC champion
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
1981 record	10–1 (7–1 SWC)
Head coach	Ron Meyer (6th year)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Sidwell (6th year)
Home stadium	Texas Stadium

1981 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#5 SMU $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
#2 Texas	6	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Houston	5	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Arkansas	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Texas A&M	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Rice	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Baylor	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
TCU	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	7	–	2
Texas Tech	0	–	7	–	1			1	–	9	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 SMU Mustangs football team represented the Southern Methodist University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Mustangs offense scored 365 points while the defense allowed 137 points. At season's end, the Mustangs were given the National Championship Foundation's (NCF) national championship and secured the Southwest Conference championship.

However, the Mustangs had been put on probation by the NCAA for recruiting violations and, per its terms, were banned from participating in any bowl game in 1981 should they have won enough games to qualify. Since SMU's performance would have given them an automatic berth in the Cotton Bowl, the team decided to treat its final regular season game against Arkansas as their bowl game and nicknamed it the "Polyester Bowl".

SMU finished at #5 in the final Associated Press poll of the season. Because its rules prevent schools under probation from being considered, the Mustangs were not ranked in the UPI Coaches Poll at all during the season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	Result	Attendance
1981-09-05	Texas-Arlington*		Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	W 48-0	20,130
1981-09-12	North Texas State*		Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	W 34-7	20,400
1981-09-19	Grambling State*		Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	W 59-27	45,700
1981-09-26	at TCU	No. 20	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX (Battle for the Iron Skillet)	W 20-9	25,862
1981-10-10	Baylor	No. 14	Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	W 37-20	33,110
1981-10-17	at Houston	No. 10	Astrodome • Houston, TX	W 38-22	36,892
1981-10-24	No. 10 Texas	No. 8	Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	L 7-9	62,777
1981-10-31	at Texas A&M	No. 13	Kyle Field • College Station, TX	W 27-7	62,646
1981-11-07	Rice	No. 10	Texas Stadium • Irving, TX (Rivalry)	W 33-12	28,750
1981-11-14	Texas Tech	No. 8	Texas Stadium • Irving, TX	W 30-6	24,410
1981-11-21	at No. 16 Arkansas	No. 6	Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	W 32-18	43,842
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

Game summaries

Arkansas

#6 SMU at #16 Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • SMU 3 9 0 20 32 Arkansas 7 0 11 0 18 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas Game attendance: 43,842 Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary 1 SMU Garcia 39-yard field goal SMU 3-0 1 ARK Anderson 7-yard pass from Jones (Lohay kick) ARK 7-3 2 SMU Garcia 43-yard field goal ARK 7-6 2 SMU Washington 10-yard interception return (pass failed) SMU 12-7 3 ARK Clark 1-yard run (Jones to Pierce pass) ARK 15-12 3 ARK Lohay 21-yard field goal ARK 18-12 4 SMU Garcia 24-yard field goal ARK 18-15 4 SMU Garcia 47-yard field goal Tied 18-18 4 SMU Jones 10-yard run (Garcia kick) SMU 25-18 4 SMU Dickerson 31-yard run (Garcia kick) SMU 32-18

• SMU wins first conference title since 1966 (ineligible for Cotton Bowl Classic berth).

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Perry Hartnett	Tackle	5	116	Chicago Bears
Harvey Armstrong	Defensive Tackle	7	190	Philadelphia Eagles
Eddie Garcia	Kicker	10	264	Green Bay Packers

^[1]

References

1. "1982 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.