OUTLOOK
PLAYERS
COACHES
OPPONENTS
1960S The first two years of the decade found the Mustangs shackled with mounting losses and sagging attendance. In 1960, SMU finished 0-9-1 and average home attendance fell below 30,000 for the first time since 1946. Following a 2-7-1 season in 1961, SMU introduced Hayden Fry as the Mustangs’ eighth head coach. Fry lifted SMU back to national prominence in 1966, when SMU was ranked ninth in the nation and won its first conference championship in 18 years. Jerry LeVias became the first African-American player in the Southwest Conference to receive an athletic scholarship in 1965 after choosing SMU largely because of its accounting program. As a senior in 1968, LeVias caught 80 passes for a school-record 1,131 yards when he was selected both an All-American and Academic All-American. Combined with quarterback Chuck Hixson, 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. Hixson was just a sophomore in 1968, but he finished the season as the nation’s leading passer by completing 265 of 468 attempts for 3,103 yards. October 11, 1963, provided the SMU football program with perhaps its most memorable game when the Mustangs hosted fourth-ranked Navy and its heralded quarterback, Roger Staubach 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, Bill Harlan, Harold Magers 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 right tackle for the winning touchdown with 2:05 left. The SMU defense held off Staubach’s valiant effort to rally his team for one last score, as the Mustangs pulled off the 32-28 upset. • Jerry LeVias and John LaGrone were the only three-time All-SWC selections of the decade. LaGrone was also the first Mustang player to be selected as both an All-American and Academic All-American when he was honored following the 1966 season. • Led by LeVias and Chuck Hixson, the 1968 Mustangs eclipsed the 300-point barrier for the first time in school history, scoring 311 points. In addition to his 1,131 receiving yards, LeVias set school records for receptions in a game (15 vs. Ohio State) and receiving yards in a game (213 vs. N.C. State). Record for the decade: 35-65-3
REVIEW
RECORDS
HISTORY
Defensively, Robert Popelka, Louie Kelcher and Putt Choate starred for the Mustangs in the 1970s. All three were two-time All-Southwest Conference performers during their careers at SMU. Ron Meyer was hired as SMU’s 10th head coach in January of 1976 and was given the responsibility of establishing a championship reign on the Hilltop. His ability to recruit players such as Mike Ford and Emanuel Tolbert helped build the foundation of “Mustang Mania.” A highly-touted quarterback recruit from Mesquite High School, Ford was the nation’s second-ranked passer in 1978, when he threw for 3,007 yards. His main target was Tolbert, an All-American with blazing speed. Home attendance jumped from 26,000 to 52,000 in 1978 and “Mustang Mania” ushered a new era in SMU football the following season, when the Mustangs began playing all of their home games at Texas Stadium. Accompanying the move to a new stadium in 1979 was a freshman class which would lift SMU football to new heights. Freshmen Eric Dickerson and Craig James combined to rush for 1,239 yards in 1979, and the “Pony Express” was born. • Tailback Arthur Whittington finished second in the nation in allpurpose running to Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett in 1976 with 167.5 yards a game. Whittington finished his SMU career in 1977 as the Mustangs’ all-time leader in kickoff return yards with 1,649. • A four-year starter from 1973-76, Ricky Wesson became the first Mustang quarterback to accumulate more yards rushing than passing in a single season in 1974. Wesson rushed for 885 yards while passing for 688. He became the fourth player in SMU history to lead the Mustangs in rushing and passing in the same season. • Putt Choate became the first Mustang defender to record more than 200 tackles in a season when he made 253 in 1978. Choate finished his career with 649 stops. • Despite coming from different backgrounds, Eric Dickerson and Craig James shared similar success before arriving at SMU. Both led their high schools to undefeated 15-0 seasons and state championships as seniors. In three years at Sealy High School, Dickerson rushed for 5,875 yards and 84 touchdowns. James collected 2,411 yards and 35 TDs during his senior season at Stratford High School in Houston. Record for the decade: 48-59-3
1970S Over the course of the 1970s, the SMU football program was shaped by outstanding individual performances and the birth of "Mustang Mania" on the Hilltop. Chuck Hixson ended his SMU career in 1970 as the Mustangs’ career leader in total offense with 7,179 yards. Alvin Maxson helped fill the void left by Hixson’s absence by becoming the first Mustang to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons when he rushed for 1,012 in 1971 and 1,005 in 1972. In the process, he helped the Mustangs to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1958-59.
MEDIA
Under Hayden Fry, Chuck Hixson set numerous records on the Hilltop
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