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.

1977 Texas Longhorns football
Southwest Conference champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 10–38 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
1977 record	11–1 (8–0 SWC)
Head coach	Fred Akers (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Leon Manley (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Leon Fuller (1st season)
Captain	Earl Campbell LB Morgan Copeland OT George James DT Brad Shearer
Home stadium	Texas Memorial Stadium

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 10	4:00 p.m.	Boston College*	No. 18	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 44–0	50,000
September 17	4:00 p.m.	Virginia*	No. 9	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 68–0	41,000
October 1	4:00 p.m.	Rice	No. 8	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 72–15	47,500
October 8	2:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Oklahoma*	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)		W 13–6	72,032
October 15	12:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Arkansas	No. 2	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR (rivalry)	ABC	W 13–9	44,296
October 22	1:30 p.m.	at SMU	No. 2	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX		W 30–14	36,151
October 29	2:00 p.m.	No. 14 Texas Tech	No. 1	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 26–0	78,809
November 5	2:00 p.m.	at Houston	No. 1	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)		W 35–21	72,124
November 12	2:00 p.m.	TCU	No. 1	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 44–14	50,150
November 19	3:00 p.m.	Baylor	No. 1	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	W 29–7	60,000
November 26	1:30 p.m.	at No. 12 Texas A&M	No. 1	Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)		W 57–28	57,443
January 2, 1978	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Notre Dame*	No. 1	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 10-38	76,701
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[1]

Roster

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 DL 77 Brad Shearer Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 15 Russell Erxleben Jr	Head coach Fred Akers Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Oklahoma

#2 Oklahoma vs. #5 Texas

1 2 3 4 Total Sooners 3 0 3 0 6 • Longhorns 0 10 0 3 13 Date: October 9 Location: Cotton Bowl Game attendance: 72,000

Scoring summary Q1 OKLA von Schamann 47 yard field goal OKLA 3–0 Q2 TEX Erxleben 64 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 TEX Campbell 24 yard run (Erxleben kick) TEX 10–3 Q3 OKLA von Schamann 33 yard field goal TEX 10–6 Q4 TEX Erxleben 58 yard field goal TEX 13–6

See also: 1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team and Red River Shootout

[2]

at Arkansas

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
44–14	1976	W 29–12

at Texas A&M

#1 Texas at Texas A&M

1 2 3 4 Total • Longhorns 14 19 7 17 57 Aggies 7 7 14 0 28 Date: November 26 Location: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas Game attendance: 57,443

Scoring summary Q1 TA&M Dickey 7 yard run (Franklin kick) TA&M 7–0 Q1 TEX Campbell 60 yard pass from McEachern (McMichael kick) Tie 7–7 Q1 TEX Campbell 4 yard run (McMichael kick) TEX 14–7 Q2 TEX H. Jones 4 yard run (McMichael kick) TEX 21–7 Q2 TEX Jackson 9 yard pass from McEachern (kick failed) TEX 26–7 Q2 TEX Jackson 12 yard pass from McEachern (McMichael kick) TEX 33–7 Q2 TA&M Woodard 1 yard run (Franklin kick) TEX 33–14 Q3 TEX Campbell 6 yard run (McMichael kick) TEX 40–14 Q3 TA&M Walker 8 yard run (Franklin kick) TEX 40–21 Q3 TA&M Woodard 1 yard run (Franklin kick) TEX 40–28 Q4 TEX Campbell 23 yard run (McMichael kick) TEX 47–28 Q4 TEX L. Jones 37 yard pass from McEachern (McMichael kick) TEX 54–28 Q4 TEX McMichael 48 yard field goal TEX 57–28

See also: 1977 Texas A&M Aggies football team and Texas–Texas A&M football rivalry

• Earl Campbell 27 Rush, 222 Yds (career-high)

[3]

Notre Dame (Cotton Bowl)

1 2 3 4 Total • Fighting Irish 3 21 7 7 38 Longhorns 3 7 0 0 10 Date: January 2 Location: Cotton Bowl Game attendance: 76,701 Game weather: Sunny; 35°F Referee: Vance Carlson TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson, Paul Hornung, Paul Alexander, and Don Criqui

Scoring summary Q1 11:35 ND Reeve 47-yard field goal ND 3–0 Q1 6:07 TEX Erxleben 42-yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 14:56 ND Eurick 6-yard run (Reeve kick) ND 10–3 Q2 11:37 ND Eurick 10-yard run (Reeve kick) ND 17–3 Q2 7:28 ND Ferguson 17-yard pass from Montana (Reeve kick) ND 24–3 Q2 0:00 TEX Lockett 13-yard pass from McEachern (Erxeleben kick) ND 24–10 Q3 6:49 ND Ferguson 3-yard run (Reeve kick) ND 31–10 Q4 9:41 ND Ferguson 26-yard run (Reeve kick) ND 38–10

Main article: 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic

See also: 1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–5	1971	L 11–24

Rankings

Main article: 1977 NCAA Division I football rankings

Awards and honors

• Earl Campbell – Heisman Trophy,[4] Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy, Consensus All-American[5]
• Brad Shearer – Outland Trophy, Consensus All-American[6]
• Fred Akers – SWC Coach of the Year

1977 team players in the NFL

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

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Texas Knocks Off Oklahoma." Palm Beach Post. 1977 Oct 8. Retrieved 2014-Nov-27.
3. "Campbell, Texas Overpowering." Palm Beach Post. 1977 Nov 27. Retrieved 2014-Dec-04.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Awards.pdf
6. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Awards.pdf
7. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1978.htm