1998 SMU Mustangs football team

Last updated
1998 SMU Mustangs football
Conference Western Athletic Conference
DivisionMountain Division
Record1–1 [1] , 4 wins vacated (0–1 WAC, 4 wins vacated)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGreg Briner (1st season)
Defensive coordinator Eric Schumann (2nd season)
Home stadium Cotton Bowl (c. 68,252)
Seasons
←  1997
1999  →
1998 Western Athletic Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Mountain Division
No. 13 Air Force x$  7 –1   12 –1  
Wyoming  6 –2   8 –3  
Colorado State  5 –3   8 –4  
Rice  5 –3   5 –6  
TCU  4 –4   7 –5  
Tulsa  2 –6   4 –7  
SMU  1 –1   0 –1  
UNLV  0 –8   0 –11  
Pacific Division
BYU xy  7 –1   9 –5  
San Diego State x  7 –1   7 –5  
Utah  5 –3   7 –4  
Fresno State  5 –3   5 –6  
San Jose State  3 –5   4 –8  
UTEP  3 –5   3 –8  
New Mexico  1 –7   3 –9  
Hawaii  0 –8   0 –12  
Championship: Air Force 20, BYU 13
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Western Athletic Conference Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Mike Cavan, the Mustangs finished the season with an overall record of 5–7 and a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the WAC's Mountain Division. However, SMU vacated 10 games after Steve Malin was found to have been ineligible due to academic fraud. The Mustangs played their home games at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Contents

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 57:00 p.m.at Rice
L 17–23 (vacated) OT42,674
September 127:00 p.m. Tulane *
L 21–3112,316
September 196:00 p.m.at Arkansas *
L 17–44 (vacated)55,544
September 262:00 p.m. Ole Miss *
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
L 41–48 (vacated) OT22,281
October 311:00 p.m.at Hawaii
W 28–0 (vacated)25,912
October 102:00 p.m.at Wyoming
L 7–12 (vacated)15,504
October 172:00 p.m. TCU
W 10–6 (vacated)26,360
October 242:00 p.m. UNLV
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
W 10–7 (vacated)16,073
October 311:00 p.m.at Air Force
L 7–31 (vacated)30,053
November 72:00 p.m. Tulsa
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
W 33–3 (vacated)11,143
November 142:00 p.m. Colorado State Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Cotton Bowl
  • Dallas, TX
L 10–3221,133
November 2111:00 a.m.at Navy *
 KLDT W 24–1127,487
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming

Personnel

Roster

1998 SMU Mustangs football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
C 70Austin AdamiSr
RB 21Kelsey AdamsSr
QB 15 Josh McCown So
RB 46Jeff PenningtonJr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt
NamePositionSeasons at
SMU		Alma Mater
Mike Cavan Head coach2 Georgia (1972)
Warren BelinLinebackers, assistant recruiting coordinator2 Wake Forest (1990)
Greg BrinerOffensive coordinator, quarterbacks1 USC (1972)
Derek Dooley Wide receivers, assistant recruiting coordinator2 Virginia (1991)
Troy DouglasDefensive backs2 Appalachian State (1988)
Paul EtheridgeTight ends, offensive tackles2 Georgia (1993)
Steve MalinDefensive line5 East Texas State (1993)
David McKnightRunning backs2 Georgia (1969)
Eric Schumann Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, secondary2 Alabama (1977)
Randy WilliamsCenters, guards, recruiting coordinator2 Valdosta State (1991)
Source: [2]

After the season

NFL Draft

Two members of the 1998 SMU squad were selected in the 1999 NFL Draft. Defensive back Donald Mitchell was selected in the fourth round and 117th overall by the Tennessee Titans. Defensive back Coby Rhinehart was selected in the sixth round and 190th overall by the Arizona Cardinals. [3]

Steve Malin controversy

Twelve years after the NCAA "death penalty" that caused the SMU football program to shut down for two years, SMU encountered another scandal. SMU notified the NCAA of possible recruiting violations in early August 1999 and subsequently suspended defensive line coach Steve Malin. [4] On November 7, 1999, The Dallas Morning News reported that former SMU football player Corlin Donaldson alleged that Malin paid another person $100 to take Donaldson's ACT exam in 1998 so that Donaldson would be eligible to attend SMU. Although Donaldson described this account to NCAA investigators, Donaldson recanted this story under pressure from Malin to save Malin's job. [5] Following an internal investigation, SMU fired Malin on December 8, 1999; Malin had been suspended that year since August 3 without a replacement at his position. Additionally, SMU removed one assistant coach from recruiting roles for the 2000 season, reduced a total of 8 scholarships for the 2000 and 2001 seasons, and reduced a total of 16 official campus visits for high school recruits for those seasons as well. SMU also submitted a report to the NCAA. [6]

On December 13, 2000, the NCAA placed SMU on two years' probation and vacated ten games from SMU's 1998 season in which Donaldson played, which reduced SMU's record to 1-1 for 1998. [7] [8] SMU's 2005 media guide indicates that the NCAA vacated the first ten games of the 1998 season. [9] The NCAA reported that its infractions committee "concluded that the assistant football coach [Malin] initially suggested that the prospective student-athlete [Donaldson] should participate in academic fraud, actively assisted in the initial fraudulent ACT, had actual knowledge of the fraud in the second ACT and finally, had reason to know that the prospect, after enrolling at the university and becoming a student-athlete, was ineligible to compete by reason of the academic fraud." [8] Additionally, the NCAA also discovered rules violations regarding recruiting and tryouts dating back to 1995. [8] The NCAA also extended SMU's self-imposed restrictions on coaches' off-campus recruiting to the 2001 season and limited official visits for high school recruits to 38 for the 2001–02 school year. [8] [10] Malin also was assessed a seven-year show-cause penalty. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Due to NCAA sanctions, SMU had 4 regular season wins and 6 regular season losses vacated for the 1998 season. SMU's pre-sanctions record was 5–7 (4–4 WAC). The "official" record now is 1–1.
  2. ↑ "SMU Football: Assistant Coaches". www.smumustangs.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 1999. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "SMU Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  4. ↑ Whitmire, Keith (August 7, 1999). "SMU suspends assistant". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on November 19, 2001. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ Valadie, Josie. "Ex-SMU player says coach urged him to cheat on test". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 6, 2002. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  6. ↑ "SMU dismisses coach, imposes sanctions after independent investigation of rules violations". Southern Methodist University. December 8, 1999. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  7. ↑ "1998 SMU Mustangs Stats".
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Southern Methodist University Public Infractions Report". NCAA. December 13, 2000. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Records and Results" (PDF). SMU Football 2005 Media Guide. p. 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  10. ↑ Cash, Rana (December 14, 2000). "NCAA slaps SMU with additional sanctions". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2001. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
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