1989 SMU Mustangs football team

The 1989 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Forrest Gregg, the Mustangs were returning to competition for the first time since 1986. An NCAA investigation into continued misconduct in the football program had resulted in the Mustangs receiving the "death penalty", which resulted in the 1987 season being cancelled and indirectly resulted in the team not having enough players to field a team in 1988. After playing most of the past several seasons at Texas Stadium, the Mustangs moved back to their old home of Ownby Stadium on campus, where they had not played since 1948.

1989 SMU Mustangs football
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	2–9 (0–8 SWC)
Head coach	Forrest Gregg (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Rossley (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Run and shoot
Defensive coordinator	Dale Lindsey (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Ownby Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1990 →

1989 Southwest Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 13 Arkansas $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 20 Texas A&M	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 14 Houston	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Texas Tech	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Baylor	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Texas	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
TCU	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Rice	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
SMU	0	–	8	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The Mustangs recorded a record of 2-8, finishing last in the Southwest Conference where they failed to record a victory. Both of those wins came against opponents from the lower Division I-AA level, as SMU beat Connecticut and North Texas. The team allowed 499 points on defense and gave up 50 or more three times, including their game against conference rival Houston where they gave up 95.

"Ponygate"

Main article: Southern Methodist University football scandal

Throughout the late 1970s and mid-1980s the SMU football program had been investigated and punished several times by the NCAA for recruiting violations. The most egregious violation was a slush fund to attract players to play for the SMU football team. The repeated violations resulted in the football program ultimately receiving the death penalty, with the NCAA's infractions committee voting unanimously to cancel the Mustangs' 1987 season and the team's four scheduled home games in 1988.^[1][2]

The team was placed on probation until 1990, was banned from bowl games until 1989, and could not be televised on national television until 1989. The program would lose 55 scholarships over four years and could only hire five assistant coaches instead of the usual nine. The program was also barred from off-campus recruiting until August 1988 and paid campus visits were forbidden until the 1988–89 school year. As a result of the penalties, the program granted a full release to every player on the roster that resulted in other universities recruiting SMU players.^[3][4]

On February 27, 1987, two days after the sanctions were announced, acting athletic director Dudley Parker stated he was unsure if the program could field a team for the 1988 season.^[4][5] Two months later, on April 11, university president William Stallcup formally cancelled the 1988 season, citing concerns over injuries to potential players and having to rely on a high number of walk-ons with only a few scholarship players remaining.^[6]

Return to football

Hall of Fame lineman and SMU alum Forrest Gregg was hired as the program's head coach in January 1988; at the time, Gregg was the head coach for the Green Bay Packers and resigned and took a pay cut for the SMU job.^[7][8] Gregg was personally asked to take the head coaching position by Stalcup.^[9] The first player Gregg recruited was quarterback Mike Romo from San Antonio.^[10]

Gregg and his staff had to rebuild the football program practically from scratch. By the time of the team's week one game against Rice, only one scholarship player, senior wide receiver Mitchell Gleiber, remained from the 1986 team. The Mustangs' week one roster consisted of 89 players, with 73 being freshmen, and 41 were on scholarship. The starting lineup against Rice consisted of 15 freshmen, two sophomores, and three seniors.^[11] In their first game since November 22, 1986, the Mustangs lost 35–6 to Rice; the Owls' victory snapped a 18 game losing streak.^[12]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	Rice	Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX (rivalry)	L 6–35	23,227
September 16	Connecticut*	Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX	W 31–30	20,548
September 23	Texas	Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX	L 13–45	23,733
September 30	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (rivalry)	L 10–28	26,023
October 14	Baylor	Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX	L 3–49	21,434
October 21	at No. 16 Houston	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 21–95	20,009
October 28	North Texas*	Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 35–9	21,186	[13]
November 4	at No. 20 Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 14–63	48,948
November 11	at No. 1 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	L 6–59	59,075
November 18	No. 20 Texas Tech	Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX	L 24–48	21,885
December 2	at No. 9 Arkansas	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	L 24–38	47,112
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1989 SMU Mustangs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Greg Ballard WR Korey Beard WR Andy Bergfeld WR Michael Bowen OL Kyle Carroll QB, P Casey Clyce QB Dan Freiburger OL Tre Giller WR Mitch Glieber WR Brent Harraman OL Matt Hart RB Rongea Hill RB Stuart Ison TE, P Marklen Kennedy RB Marty Kidd WR Simeon Knight RB Kevin Love QB Mike Romo OL Oscar Rosales RB Omar Thompson OL Curtis Eldridge WR Derwin Ware OL Matt Wisenbaker RB Jason Wolf	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Jason Bednarz WR Korey Beard DL Steve Benotti DB Malcolm Borlenghi DB Cary Brabham DB Richie Butler LB Chris Collins DB Ron Hagen LB Darren Harrington LB Bill Kiely DL Geoff King DB Marcus Malonson DB Mark Martinez DL Uzo Okeke LB Mike Ostos WR Korey Beard WR Korey Beard WR Korey Beard DL Kenny Rea DB Marcello Simmons	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Matt Lomenick	Head coach Forrest Gregg Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

at No. 16 Houston

See also: 1989 Houston Cougars football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	6	8	7	0	21
No. 16 Cougars	24	35	22	14	95

Game information

First quarter HOU – Roman Anderson 28-yard field goal. Cougars 3–0. HOU – Chuck Weatherspoon 2-yard run (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 10–0. HOU – Chuck Weatherspoon 54-yard run (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 17–0. SMU – Greg Ballard fumble recovery in end zone (kick blocked). Cougars 17–6. HOU – Paul Smith 62-yard pass from Andre Ware (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 24–6. Second quarter HOU – Patrick Cooper 7-yard pass from Andre Ware (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 31–6. SMU – Korey Beard 2-yard pass from Mike Romo (Collins pass from Lawson). Cougars 31–14. HOU – Brian Williams 40-yard pass from Andre Ware (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 38–14. HOU – Manny Hazard 3-yard pass from Andre Ware (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 45–14. HOU – Brian Williams 87-yard pass from Andre Ware (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 52–14. HOU – Manny Hazard 28-yard pass from Andre Ware (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 59–14. Third quarter HOU – Manny Hazard 46-yard pass from David Klingler (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 66–14. SMU – Kevin Love 26-yard run (Matt Lomenick kick). Cougars 66–21. HOU – Chuck Weatherspoon 22-yard run (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 73–21. HOU – Paul Smith 53-yard pass from David Klingler (Perry run). Cougars 81–21. Fourth quarter HOU – Paul Smith 74-yard pass from David Klingler (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 88–21. HOU – Patrick Cooper 16-yard pass from David Klingler (Roman Anderson kick). Cougars 95–21. Top passers SMU – Mike Romo – 27/54, 286 yards, TD, INT HOU – Andre Ware – 25/41, 517 yards, 6 TD Top rushers SMU – Kevin Love – 14 rushes, 53 yards, TD HOU – Chuck Weatherspoon – 15 rushes, 207 yards, 3 TD Top receivers SMU – Mitch Glieber – 5 receptions, 81 yards HOU – Paul Smith – 6 receptions, 255 yards, 3 TD

SMU Mustangs at No. 16 Houston Cougars – Game summary

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

• Date: October 21
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 20,009
• Box score

SMU lost 95–21 to in-state rival Houston. The Cougars finished the game with 1,021 yards of offense, setting the record for most offensive yards in an NCAA game and the only time a team has gained 1,000 or more yards in a single game.^[10]

at No. 1 Notre Dame

See also: 1989 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	6	0	0	6
No. 1 Fighting Irish	7	35	10	7	59

Game information

First quarter ND – Ricky Watters 35-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 6:54. Notre Dame 7–0. Drive: 6 plays, 79 yards. Second quarter ND – Pete Graham 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 14:22. Notre Dame 14–0. SMU – Andy Bergfeld 5-yard pass from Mike Romo (kick blocked), 11:37. Notre Dame 14–6. Drive: 3 plays, 19 yards. ND – Andre Jones blocked extra point return, 11:37. Notre Dame 16–6. ND – Billy Hackett 34-yard field goal, 8:16. Notre Dame 19–6. ND – Ricky Watters 97-yard punt return (Craig Hentrich kick), 7:04. Notre Dame 26–6. ND – Anthony Johnson 4-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 4:02. Notre Dame 33–6. Drive: 64 yards. ND – Safety, Casey Clyce steps out of end zone, 3:00. Notre Dame 35–6. ND – Walter Boyd 14-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 0:15. Notre Dame 42–6. Drive: 75 yards. Third quarter ND – Rusty Setzer 2-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 10:51. Notre Dame 49–6. ND – Billy Hackett 32-yard field goal, 5:45. Notre Dame 52–6. Fourth quarter ND – Rod West 1-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 3:22. Notre Dame 59–6. Top passers SMU – Mike Romo – 28/54, 194 yards ND – Tony Rice – 5/8, 83 yards Top rushers SMU – Kevin Love – 4 rushes, 5 yards ND – Ricky Watters – 7 rushes, 69 yards, TD Top receivers SMU – Jason Wolf – 9 receptions, 63 yards ND – Raghib Ismail – 4 receptions, 65 yards

SMU Mustangs at No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

• Date: November 11
• Game attendance: 59,075
• Recap/Box Score

External videos
Full game

References

1. Asher, Mark. NCAA cancels SMU's 1987 football. The Washington Post, 1987-02-26.
2. Whitford, David (2013) [1989]. A Payroll to Meet. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-8032-4885-4.
3. Frank, Peter H. (February 28, 1987). "SCOUTS SEEK S.M.U. PLAYERS". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
4. Jenkins, Sally. SMU May Sit Out Through '88; Inability to Compete Under Sanctions Is Cited. The Washington Post, 1987-02-28.
5. SMU considers scrapping its 1988 football season, too. Chicago Sun-Times, 1987-02-28.
6. Frank, Peter. "'88 football season canceled by SMU. New York Times, 1987-04-11.
7. Perkins, Eddie (January 15, 1988). "The rebuilding starts for SMU, Packers". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1C.
8. "Forrest Gregg eager to resurrect Mustangs". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. January 15, 1988. p. 15.
9. Drape, Joe (August 1, 2012). "Coach Who Revived S.M.U. Looks Back With Pride". The New York Times. pp. B20. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
10. Vannini, Chris (October 22, 2019). "'Everyone was in it together': 30 years after allowing 1,021 yards to Houston, the 1989 SMU team is still revered". The Athletic. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
11. Crowe, Jerry (September 3, 1989). "SMU Returns and Is Routed by Rice: In Mustangs' First Game Since Nov. 22, 1986, Owls Get a Rare Victory, 35–6". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
12. Richards, Darryl (September 3, 1989). "SMU GLAD TO BE BACK - RICE ALSO LIKES IT". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
13. "SMU rips North Texas 35–9". Austin American-Statesman. October 29, 1989. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• 1989 SMU Mustangs football roster