1979 SMU Mustangs football team

American college football season

1979 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Houston +	7	–	1	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Arkansas +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Texas	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 14 Baylor	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Texas A&M	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
SMU	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Texas Tech	2	–	5	–	1	3	–	6	–	2
TCU	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Rice	0	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the: Southwest Conference (SWC) during the——1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by, fourth-year head coach Ron Meyer, the Mustangs compiled an overall record 5–6 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, placing sixth in the "SWC."

Schedule※

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 8	Rice		Texas Stadium Irving, TX (rivalry)	W 35–17	60,217
September 15	at TCU	No. 20	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (rivalry)	W 27–7	18,732
September 22	North Texas State*	No. 18	Texas Stadium Irving, TX (rivalry)	W 20–9	57,923
September 29	at Tulane*	No. 19	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	L 17–24	42,563
October 13	Baylor		Texas Stadium Irving, TX	L 21–24	65,101
October 20	at No. 5 Houston		Houston Astrodome Houston, TX	L 10–37	43,409
October 27	No. 9 Texas		Texas Stadium Irving, TX	L 6–30	53,327
November 3	at Texas A&M		Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 14–47	58,690
November 10	at Wichita State*		Cessna Stadium Wichita, KS	W 34–0	6,110
November 17	Texas Tech		Texas Stadium Irving, TX	W 35–10	42,226
November 24	at No. 7 Arkansas		War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	L 7–31	54,718
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior——to the game

1979 SMU Mustangs football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`19`	Eric Dickerson	Fr
TE	`87`	Bob Fisher	Sr
QB	`10`	Mike Ford	Jr
OL	`77`	Perry Hartnett	So
RB	`32`	Craig James	Fr
OL	`71`	Mike Jusko	Jr
OL	`53`	Randy Katz	Sr
OL	`67`	Mike Mason	Jr
OL	`50`	Lance Pederson	Jr
OL	`76`	Lee Spivey	Jr
QB	`12`	Jim Bob Taylor	Fr
WR	`21`	Emanuel Tolbert	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL	`75`	Harvey Armstrong	So
DB	`27`	Charles Bruton	Jr
DT	`74`	Michael Carter	Fr
DL	`99`	Eric Ferguson	So
DB	`9`	Mark Gibson	Jr
DL	`80`	Byron Hunt	Jr
DL	`61`	Charles Hunt	Sr
DL		Jerry Kovar	So
DB	`20`	James Mobley	So
DB	`34`	John Simmons	Jr
DL	`95`	John Wells	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`1`	Eddie Garcia	So

^ "2020 Football Media Guide".
^ "Unbeaten Mustangs down North Texas". The Kilgore News Herald. September 23, "1979." p. 1B. Retrieved October 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "SMU pounds Wichita St". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. November 11, 1979. Retrieved February 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e SMU Mustangs football
Venues	Armstrong Field (1915–1922) Gardner Park (1919) Ownby Stadium (1926–1948, 1989–1994) Cotton Bowl (1932–1978, 1995–1999) Texas Stadium (1972–1973, 1979–1986) Gerald J. Ford Stadium (2000–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Navy: Gansz Trophy North Texas: Safeway Bowl Rice TCU
Culture & lore	Peruna Best Dressed Band in the Land 1935 "Game of the Century" Death penalty 2022 Houston game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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