Arkansas Razorbacks football, 1980-1989
Encyclopedia
| : | 1980 – 1981 – 1982 – 1983 – 1984 – 1985 – 1986 – 1987 – 1988 – 1989 – Stats |
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1980
Overview
A bright spot for the Hogs in 1980 was senior punter Steve CoxSteve Cox (football player)
Stephen Everett Cox is a former American football punter and placekicker. Cox was drafted by the Cleveland Browns and played for them for four seasons. Cox played four more seasons for the Washington Redskins...
. He led college football with an average of 46.5 yards per punt. He would go on to win Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
with the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. Cox completed one of only six field goals of 60+ yards in NFL history.
Schedule
1981
Overview
The biggest win of the year was against a #1 Texas team, which the Razorbacks were rivals with already. Although unranked, the Razorbacks came out on top by 31 points, removing Texas' #1 ranking. The Hogs received a Gator BowlGator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...
berth against a 10–2–0 North Carolina team ranked 11th, while the Hogs were unranked at the time.
The SWC's champion, SMU, could not participate in a bowl game due to probation.
Defensive lineman Billy Ray Smith was a consensus All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n for Arkansas. Bruce Lahay, a kicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
, also received first-team honors. Lahay was in a three-way tie for field goals per game in 1981, hitting on 1.73 per game. This mark was also held by Kevin Butler
Kevin Butler (American football)
Kevin Gregory Butler is a former professional American football placekicker. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, and then played professionally for the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League...
of Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...
and Larry Roach of Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and completes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are led by Mike Gundy, who is in his seventh year as...
.
Schedule
1982
Overview
Arkansas had two consensus All-AmericaAll-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
ns in 1982, Steve Korte, on the offensive line, and defensive lineman Billy Ray Smith. Smith anchored a defensive unit that was the number one scoring offense, giving up only 10.5 points per game, and ninth in the nation in terms of stopping the run, only giving up 96.7 yards per game. Billy Ray Smith was a consensus All American in 1981 as well, and would be picked fifth in the 1983 NFL Draft
1983 NFL Draft
The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983...
.
Schedule
1983
Overview
Ron FaurotRon Faurot
Ronald Faurot is a former professional American football defensive lineman who played two seasons for the New York Jets in the National Football League. He currently owns and manages Broncos Sports Bar and Grill in Bedford, Texas....
received first-team All-American honors as a defensive lineman for the Hogs.
The Hogs would hire Ken Hatfield
Ken Hatfield
Ken Hatfield is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy , the University of Arkansas , Clemson University , and Rice University , compiling a career college football record of 168–140–4.-Playing...
, who shined for the Hogs as a defensive back on the 1964 National Championship team, as their new head football coach. He is still a large proponent of the triple option
Triple Option
The triple option is an American football scheme used to offer multiple ways to progress the football forward in the field of play. The triple option is based on the option run, but uses three players who may run with the ball instead of the two that are used in the standard option run.The triple...
offense in college football.
Schedule
1984
Overview
Junior punt returner Bobby Edmonds of Arkansas ranked ninth in the nation in punt return average. He averaged 11.8 yards per return. Arkansas had the seventh-best scoring defense in 1984, yielding only 12.5 points per game.Schedule
Liberty Bowl
The Razorbacks met current SECSoutheastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
foe Auburn in the Liberty Bowl. The MVP of the game was Bo Jackson
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....
of Auburn, who had 88 yards on 18 carries with 2 touchdowns. Arkansas quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Brad Taylor completed 18 of 34, for 201 yards passing, with one touchdown and two interceptions. The Auburn defense held the Hog's leading rusher Marshall Foreman to 62 yards on 15 carries. Arkansas lost the game 21–15, despite outgaining the Tigers in total yards, 356 to 252.
1985
Overview
Arkansas was the eighth-best team in the nation in rushing yards per game, with 265.6. On the defensive end, the Hogs gave up only 11.7 points per game, the 6th best mark in college football.Razorback punt returner B.J. Edmonds finished ninth in college football with 11.6 yards per return.
Schedule
1986
Schedule
Coaching staf
- Athletic Director: Frank BroylesFrank BroylesJohn Franklin Broyles is a former American football player and coach, athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976...
- Head Coach: Ken HatfieldKen HatfieldKen Hatfield is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy , the University of Arkansas , Clemson University , and Rice University , compiling a career college football record of 168–140–4.-Playing...
- Assistants: Wally Ake (DL), Larry Beckman (OL), Larry BrinsonLarry BrinsonLarry Sylvesta Brinson is an American college football coach and former college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for four seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Brinson played college football for the University of Florida, and...
(RB), Fred Goldsmith (DC/ILB), Jim Goodman (WR), Roger Hinshaw (OLB), David LeeDavid Lee (American football)David Lee is an American football coach as the offensive coordinator with the Ole Miss Rebels.-College:...
(QB/FB), Bob Trott (DB), Ken Turner (TE/K)
Awards
- All-Americans: P Greg HorneGreg HorneGregory Lee Horne is a former professional American football punter in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Arkansas....
(AFCA, 1st) - All-SWC: S Steve AtwaterSteve AtwaterStephen Dennis "Smiling Assassin" Atwater is a former American football player who spent most of his career playing free safety for the Denver Broncos of the NFL. Atwater and Dennis Smith made up a Broncos secondary that was known for their ferocious hits on opposing players...
(1st), OG Freddie Childress (1st), SE James Shibest (1st)
1987
Schedule
1988
Schedule
1989
Overview
In Ken Hatfield's final year at UA, the Razorbacks went 10–2, however lost their fourth-straight bowl game and second consecutive Cotton Bowl Classic. Jack CroweJack Crowe
Jack Crowe is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, a position he has held since 2000. Crowe served as the head football coach at the University of Arkansas from 1990 until he resigned one game into the 1992 season after an upset...
would be promoted from offensive coordinator, and only remain two years. He was fired after a loss to FCS The Citadel.
Offensive tackle Jim Mabry
Jim Mabry
Jim Mabry is an American football player. He played on both offensive line and defensive line at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1981-1985. He then attended the University of Arkansas and was an offensive lineman from 1985-1989...
was a consensus All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n for the Hogs.
Freshman kicker Todd Wright hit on 20 of 23 field goals
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
on the year. His average of 1.82 per game tied future NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
kicker Chris Gardocki
Chris Gardocki
Christopher Allen Gardocki is a former punter in the National Football League. Gardocki has spent time with the Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis Colts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers...
from Clemson
Clemson Tigers football
The Clemson Tigers football team is an American football team from Clemson University in South Carolina. It competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
, among others.
As a team, the Razorbacks were the seventh-best rushing offense in college football, with an average of 314.2 yards per game on the ground.