Wikipedia

1977 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1977 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Longhorns finished the regular season with an 11–0 record. Earl Campbell won the Heisman Trophy in 1977 and led the nation in rushing with 1,744 yards. In 1977, he became the first recipient of the Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy, which was awarded to the most outstanding player in the now-defunct Southwest Conference. He was selected as the Southwest Conference running back of the year in each of his college seasons and finished with 4,444 career rushing yards. Rothman (FACT), a mathematical rating system in use since 1968 and NCAA-designated major selector, selected Texas as co-national champions with Notre Dame and Arkansas.

1977 Texas Longhorns football
Co-national champion (Rothman (FACT)) Southwest Conference champion
ConferenceSouthwest Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 4
Record11–1 (8–0 SWC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorLeon Manley (1st season)
Offensive schemeVeer/I formation
Defensive coordinatorLeon Fuller (1st season)
Base defense4–3
CaptainEarl Campbell
LB Morgan Copeland
OT George James
DT Brad Shearer
Home stadiumTexas Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1976
1978 →
1977 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Texas $ 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 3 Arkansas 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
Texas A&M 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Houston 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Texas Tech 4 – 4 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Baylor 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
SMU 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
TCU 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Rice 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

edit
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 104:00 p.m.Boston College*No. 18
W 44–050,000
September 174:00 p.m.Virginia*No. 9
  • Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX
W 68–041,000[1]
October 14:00 p.m.RiceNo. 8
  • Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX (rivalry)
W 72–1547,500
October 82:00 p.m.vs. No. 2 Oklahoma*No. 5
W 13–672,032
October 1512:00 p.m.at No. 8 ArkansasNo. 2
ABCW 13–944,296
October 221:30 p.m.at SMUNo. 2
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
W 30–1436,151
October 292:00 p.m.No. 14 Texas TechNo. 1
  • Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX (rivalry)
W 26–078,809
November 52:00 p.m.at HoustonNo. 1
W 35–2172,124
November 122:00 p.m.TCUNo. 1
  • Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX (rivalry)
W 44–1450,150
November 193:00 p.m.BaylorNo. 1
  • Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX
ABCW 29–760,000
November 261:30 p.m.at No. 12 Texas A&MNo. 1
W 57–2857,443
January 2, 19781:00 p.m.vs. No. 5 Notre Dame*No. 1
CBSL 10–3876,701
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[2]

Roster

edit
1977 Texas Longhorns football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 20 Earl Campbell Sr
WR 2 Alfred Jackson Sr
QB 6 Randy McEachern Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 99 Steve McMichael So
DL 77 Brad Shearer Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 15 Russell Erxleben Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Game summaries

edit

Oklahoma

edit
#2 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas
1 234Total
Sooners 3 030 6
• Longhorns 0 1003 13
  • Date: October 9
  • Location: Cotton Bowl
  • Game attendance: 72,000
Scoring summary
Q1OKLAvon Schamann 47 yard field goalOKLA 3–0
Q2TEXErxleben 64 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q2TEXCampbell 24 yard run (Erxleben kick)TEX 10–3
Q3OKLAvon Schamann 33 yard field goalTEX 10–6
Q4TEXErxleben 58 yard field goalTEX 13–6
See also: 1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team and Red River Shootout

[3]

At Arkansas

edit
See also: 1977 Arkansas Razorbacks football team and Arkansas–Texas football rivalry

At Texas A&M

edit
#1 Texas at Texas A&M
1 234Total
• Longhorns 14 19717 57
Aggies 7 7140 28
Scoring summary
Q1TA&MDickey 7 yard run (Franklin kick)TA&M 7–0
Q1TEXCampbell 60 yard pass from McEachern (McMichael kick)Tie 7–7
Q1TEXCampbell 4 yard run (McMichael kick)TEX 14–7
Q2TEXH. Jones 4 yard run (McMichael kick)TEX 21–7
Q2TEXJackson 9 yard pass from McEachern (kick failed)TEX 26–7
Q2TEXJackson 12 yard pass from McEachern (McMichael kick)TEX 33–7
Q2TA&MWoodard 1 yard run (Franklin kick)TEX 33–14
Q3TEXCampbell 6 yard run (McMichael kick)TEX 40–14
Q3TA&MWalker 8 yard run (Franklin kick)TEX 40–21
Q3TA&MWoodard 1 yard run (Franklin kick)TEX 40–28
Q4TEXCampbell 23 yard run (McMichael kick)TEX 47–28
Q4TEXL. Jones 37 yard pass from McEachern (McMichael kick)TEX 54–28
Q4TEXMcMichael 48 yard field goalTEX 57–28
See also: 1977 Texas A&M Aggies football team and Texas–Texas A&M football rivalry

[4]

vs. Notre Dame (Cotton Bowl)

edit
1 234Total
• Fighting Irish 3 2177 38
Longhorns 3 700 10
Scoring summary
Q111:35NDReeve 47-yard field goalND 3–0
Q16:07TEXErxleben 42-yard field goalTie 3–3
Q214:56NDEurick 6-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 10–3
Q211:37NDEurick 10-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 17–3
Q27:28NDFerguson 17-yard pass from Montana (Reeve kick)ND 24–3
Q20:00TEXLockett 13-yard pass from McEachern (Erxeleben kick)ND 24–10
Q36:49NDFerguson 3-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 31–10
Q49:41NDFerguson 26-yard run (Reeve kick)ND 38–10
Main article: 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic
See also: 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Rankings

edit
Main article: 1977 NCAA Division I football rankings

Awards and honors

edit

1977 team players in the NFL

edit
Main article: 1978 NFL draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Earl Campbell Running back 1 1 Houston Oilers
Brad Shearer Defensive tackle 3 74 Chicago Bears
Alfred Jackson Wide receiver 7 167 Atlanta Falcons

[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Texas bombards Virginia, 68–0". Del Rio News Herald. September 18, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Football, All-Time Results". mackbrown-texasfootball.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  3. ^ "Texas Knocks Off Oklahoma." Palm Beach Post. 1977 Oct 8. Retrieved 2014-Nov-27.
  4. ^ "Campbell, Texas Overpowering." Palm Beach Post. 1977 Nov 27. Retrieved 2014-Dec-04.
  5. ^ "Heisman Winners". heisman.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  6. ^ a b "2010 NCAA Football Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletics Association.
  7. ^ "1978 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1977_Texas_Longhorns_football_team&oldid=1242864644"