1972 SMU Mustangs football team

1972 Southwest Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. Led by Hayden Fry in his 11th and final season as head coach, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a conference mark of 4–3, tying for second place in the SWC.

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Wake Forest*		Texas Stadium Irving, TX	W 56–10	20,175
September 23	at Florida*		Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL	W 21–14	42,849
September 30	at Virginia Tech*		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	L 10–13	26,000	^[1]
October 7	New Mexico State*		Texas Stadium Irving, TX	W 55–6	27,221
October 21	Rice		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 29–14	20,398
October 28	Texas Tech	No. 18	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	L 3–17	35,953
November 4	at No. 9 Texas		Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	L 9–17	72,500
November 11	Texas A&M		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	L 17–27	32,109
November 18	at Arkansas		Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	W 22–7	38,342
November 25	Baylor		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	W 12–7	18,035
December 2	at TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (rivalry)	W 35–22	18,152
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

1972 SMU Mustangs football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`28`	Alvin Maxson	Jr
T	`73`	John Meyer	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`24`	Pat Curry	Sr
DB	`43`	Robert Popelka	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

^ "Mustangs saddled by Virginia Tech". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 1, 1972. Retrieved December 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

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v t SMU Mustangs football
Venues	Armstrong Field (1915–1922) 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: Mayor's Cup TCU: Battle for the Iron Skillet
Culture & lore	Peruna Best Dressed Band in the Land Death penalty
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
National championship seasons in bold

1972 Southwest Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Texas $	7	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
Texas Tech	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
SMU	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Arkansas	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Rice	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Baylor	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
TCU	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Texas A&M	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll