College Football Old School Game of the Week: SMU's Pony Express Completes Undefeated Season with Cotton Bowl Victory

SMU quarterback Lance McIlhenny runs for what would be the only touchdown in the 1983 Cotton Bowl.

When it comes to the 1982 college football national championship, the majority of experts and fans will recognize the Penn State Nittany Lions as the national champions as they were voted #1 in the final AP and Coaches polls after their win in the Sugar Bowl against #1 Georgia.

But if you ask anyone associated with the SMU football program, they will tell you they should have been voted national champions and will point to their win in the 1983 Cotton Bowl over the Pittsburgh Panthers as part of their argument.

The Mustangs came into the game ranked #4 in the country with a 10-0-1 record with their only blemish of the season coming in their regular season finale whey played the Arkansas Razorbacks to a 17-17 tie.

The Mustangs were led by head coach Bobby Collins, who was in his second season as the SMU head coach after taking over from Ron Meyer, who had left to become the head coach of the NFL's New England Patriots following the 1980 season.

Collins inherited a team which featured the famous "Pony Express" backfield in running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James, who had combined to run for over 2,500 yards during the 1982 regular season as Dickerson finished the 1982 season with 1,617 yards and 17 touchdowns to finish 3rd in the Heisman Trophy race while James ran for 938 yards.

At quarterback was junior Lance McIlhenny, who had taken over as the SMU starting quarterback since midway through the 1980 season when the Mustangs switched from a pro-style offense to a triple option attack,t he Mustangs did not have to travel far from their home in Dallas to play in the school's first Cotton Bowl since 1966 after winning the Southwest Conference championship for the second year in a row(They did not play in a bowl game in 1981 because they were on NCAA probation).

Standing in their way were the #6 Pittsburgh Panthers who having to salvage their season after they were unble to fulfill their national championship expectations.

The Panthers had finished the previous two seasons as the #2 team in the country and were seen as national title contenders as they were ranked #1 in the preseason AP and coaches poll.

The Panthers were led by quarterback Dan Marino, who had thrown for 34 touchdown passes in 1981 and defensive end Chris Doleman on a team which had 18 starters returning from the season before for first-year head coach Foge Fanzio, who had been promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach after Jackie Sherill's departure for Texas A&M following the '81 season.

Pitt would win their first seven games of the season before falling to Notre Dame 31-16 in the first week of November then would lose to Penn State 19-10 in the final game of the regular season to finish the regular season with a 9-2 record as they earned an invitation to take on the Mustangs in Dallas on New Year's Day.

While Pitt was hoping to finish the season with their fourth straight 10-win season, the Mustangs were looking to complete an undefeated season for the first time since 1947 as the two teams meet on a cold, windy day in Dallas which featured some sleeting during the game.

 Pitt would get the ball to start the game as they would drive from their 28-yard-line to inside SMU territory until the Panthers were faced with a 4th down at the Mustangs' 38-yard-line.

Lined up to punt, the Panthers ran a fake as the ball was snapped to the upback, Rick Duckovich, who ran 11 yards to the SMU 27-yard line to give Pitt a fresh set of downs.

On the very next play, Marino completed a screen pass to fullback Joe McCall that went for 26 yards to put the Panthers at the SMU one-yard-line where they had a 1st & goal only for disaster to strike when McCall fumbled the ball when he tried to leap over a pile to get into the end zone.

SMU strong safety Wes Hopkins would make the recovery to end the Pitt scoring threat and give the Mustangs offense the ball at their two-yard-line.

From there, the SMU offense would launch a 22-play, 91-drive that took over nine minutes off the clock as the "Pony Express" drove to the Pitt seven-yard drive which was aided by four penalties for 40 yards by the Panthers' defense which included two personal fouls.

But just like the Panthers on their first drive of the game, the Mustangs would turn it over as McIlhenny fumbled the football when he was hit by Pitt cornerback Tim Lewis as nose guard JC Pelusi would make at the Pittsburgh 14-yard-line to end the SMU scoring threat.

Pitt quarterback Dan Marino would complete 19 of 37 passes for 187 yards.

The game was still scoreless late in the second quarter when the Panthers would force another turnover when free safety Tom Flynn knocked the ball loose from James which was recovered by fellow defensive back Dan "Peep" Short to give Pitt the ball at their 36-yard-line with 2:35 left before halftime.

Marino would complete four passes to get the Panthers down to the SMU 10-yard-line where Eric Schubert would attempt a 26-yard field goal only for the kick to sail wide left and no good as the first half would end in a scoreless tie, the first time that happened in a Cotton Bowl since 1961.

After SMU punted the ball following their opening possession of the second half, the Panthers took over at their 38-yard-line as Marino would complete his next five passes for 28 yards to lead Pitt to the SMU 19-yard-line when Mustangs nose guard Michael Carter sacked Marino for a nine-yard-loss.

The Panthers would end up settling for a 43-yard field goal by Schubert to end the 13-play, 36-yard drive to give Pitt a 3-0 lead with 4:34 left in the third quarter.

The Mustangs would begin their next possession at their 20-yard-line as Dickerson got to carry the ball twice to start the drive as he ran for 12 yards to give SMU a 1st down at its 32-yard-line when McIlhenny was dropped for a six-yard loss by Pelusi to make it 2nd & 16.

Dickerson would run for three yards to set up 3rd & 13 when McIlhenny put the ball in the air as he completed a 20-yard pass to flanker Bobby Leach to give the Mustangs a 1st down at their 49-yard-line.

Just when it seemed like the Mustangs' offense had it moving, Leach would be dropped for a 11-yard los on an end around by Doleman and Short to bring up 2nd & 21 at the SMU 38-yard-line.

That is when McIlhenny went deep and fired a pass for Leach down the right sideline who would make an over-the-shoulder catch as he was knocked out of bounds at the Pitt 20-yard-line after a 42-yard completion.

The Mustangs would go back to Dickerson as he would carry the ball on the next two plays to pick up nine yards and set up 3rd & 1 when James got the ball as he ran for two yards to pick up the 1st down at the Pitt nine-yard-line.

McIlhenny would then fake a handoff to Dickerson, ran to his right and fake a pitch to James, took up the middle and broke a tackle attempt to Pitt linebacker Yogi Jones, to run into the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown to complete the 11-play, 80-yard drive and give SMU  7-3 lead with 13:49 left in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers would begin their ensuing possession at their 26-yard-line as Marino would complete a 19-yard pass to split end Keith Williams, then hit running back Bryan Thomas for 11 yards on a 4th & 3 at the SMU 33-yard-line which was followed by a 15-yard run by Thomas to give Pitt a 1st & goal at the Mustangs' seven-yard-line.

After a McCall run that went for no gain on 1st down, Marino tried to hit Williams again but overthrew him in the end zone to set up 3rd & goal when Marino fired a pass before he was hit by SMU linebacker Clarence McDade that was intended for Dwight Collins in the end zone.

But Hopkins would get in front of the pass to deflect it as SMU free safety Blane Smith would make  the interception to give the ball back to the Mustangs with 8:08 left in the game and SMU still ahead 7-3.

The Pitt defense would force the Mustangs to punt to give the ball back to Marino and the Panthers offense at their 38-yard-line with 4:29 left to play as Panther fans hoped Marino could pull off a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes just like he did in the Sugar Bowl one year earlier.

The drive would begin with an eight-yard run by Thomas that was followed by a one-yard run by McCall which got 15 yards added on to it as Carter was called for a late hit penalty to give Pitt a 1st down at the SMU 37-yard-line.

An incomplete pass followed by a one-yard run by Marlon McIntyre followed by another incomplete pass set up 4th & 9 when Marino fired a low pass for a diving Dwight Collins at the SMU 26-yard-line that Collins dropped, the sixth such drop for the Pitt offense, to turn the ball over on downs and give the Mustangs a chance to run out the remaining 2:11 on the clock.

Dickerson would pick up two 1st downs to milk the remaining time in the game as the Mustangs came away with the 7-3 victory, their first Cotton Bowl win since 1949 and their 11th victory of the season to finish with a 11-0-1 record.

Despite the loss, the Panthers would still finish the season ranked in the top 10 as they earned the #9 ranking in the final coaches' poll and #10 ranking in the final AP poll as Marino would go on to a Hall-of-Fame career as he would play 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

As for SMU, despite being the only college football team not to lose a game in 1982, they would finish ranked #2 in both the final AP and coaches poll behind Penn State, who was voted #1 in both polls after defeating #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

The Mustangs would remain a national power for the next two seasons as they would finish with back-to-back 10-2 seasons until they finished with two straight 6-5 seasons in 1985 + 1986 before the program was banned from playing for two seasons after receiving the infamous "Death Penalty" for repeated NCAA violations in 1987.

Eric Dickerson ran the ball 27 times for 124 yards.

The Pitt defense would force the Mustangs to punt to give the ball back to Marino and the Panthers offense at their 38-yard-line with 4:29 left to play as Panther fans hoped Marino could pull off a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes just like he did in the Sugar Bowl one year earlier.

The drive would begin with an eight-yard run by Thomas that was followed by an one-yard run by McCall which got 15 yards added on to it as Carter was called for a late hit penalty to give Pitt a 1st down at the SMU 37-yard-line.

An incomplete pass followed by a one-yard run by Marlon McIntyre followed by another incomplete pass set up 4th & 9 when Marino fired a low pass for a diving Dwight Collins at the SMU 26-yard-line that Collins dropped, the sixth such drop for the Pitt offense, to turn the ball over on downs and give the Mustangs a chance to run out the remaining 2:11 on the clock.

Dickerson would pick up two 1st downs to milk the remaining time in the game as the Mustangs came away with the 7-3 victory, their first Cotton Bowl win since 1949 and their 11th victory of the season to finish with a 11-0-1 record.

Despite the loss, the Panthers would still finish the season ranked in the top 10 as they earned the #9 ranking in the final coaches poll and #10 ranking in the final AP poll as Marino would go on to a Hall-of-Fame career as he would play 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

As for SMU, despite being the only college football team not to lose a game in 1982, they would finished ranked #2 in both the final AP and coaches poll behind Penn State, who was voted #1 in both polls after defeating #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

The Mustangs would remain a national power for the next two seasons as they would finish with back-to-back 10-2 seasons until they finished with two straight 6-5 seasons in 1985 + 1986 before the program was banned from playing for two seasons after receiving the infamous "Death Penalty" for repeated NCAA violations in 1987.