From 'Pony Excess' to ACC Contenders: SMU Mustangs Football Is Back

By Jay Berry

In 1987, the SMU football program was given the "death penalty" by the NCAA.

According to ESPN's 2010 documentary film Pony Excess, much of the cheating took place with the full knowledge of school administrators, including the use of a slush fund to pay players. SMU had the legendary "Pony Express" backfield of Craig James and Eric Dickerson.

Pony Excess

In early 1987, the NCAA investigated SMU's football program for multiple violations and imposed its death penalty—banning the team from competition for a year or more.

The severity of the sanctions, based on the number and seriousness of SMU's infractions, also accounted the school's blatant disregard for previous enforcements efforts; the university had been on probation five times between 1974 and 1985, and seven times overall—more than any other school.

The NCAA canceled SMU's 1987 football season, marking the first time an NCAA program had received this penalty. The university also chose to sit out the 1988 season due to concerns it would be unable to field a competitive team. The two-year hiatus had long-term effects on the program.

The NCAA's Reaction

The NCAA felt it needed to impose the death penalty to be firm against a program it deemed built on a legacy of wrongdoing, deceit, and rule violations. The NCAA committee said SMU's compliance record was "nothing short of abysmal" and found that the school had made no effort to reform itself over the past decade. The committee also determined that SMU had gained a "great competitive advantage" over its opponents due to its cheating. The death penalty was one way of addressing this advantage.

The NCAA extended SMU's bowl game and live television bans until 1989, and the program's probation was prolonged until 1990. Additionally, over four years, SMU lost 55 scholarship positions. During that time, SMU was allowed to hire only six assistant coaches, and just four of them were allowed to participate in off-campus recruiting.

The Aftermath

Football returned to SMU in 1989, and the Mustangs won one or zero games seven times in the next 20 seasons.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the SMU football program is competitive once again. In its first season as a member of the ACC, SMU is 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

They play their biggest game in decades tonight, hosting 7-0 Pitt. Coach Pat Narduzzi has Pitt at 7-0 for the first time in 42 years.

Not only is this a massive game for both programs, but the stakes are even higher with the first year of the 12-team playoff. The winner will be in prime position in the ACC title race.

This is their seventh meeting, dating back to 1938. The game will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on the ACC Network.

The only downside? It’s on the conference network, not on a primetime national channel.