On October 21, 1978, the No. 11 Houston Cougars beat SMU, 42-28, in the Cotton Bowl. The 64,871 in attendance was SMU’s largest home crowd in more than 13 years.
Houston had won four in a row after an opening loss to Memphis State, including ranked wins over No. 10 Florida State and No. 6 Texas A&M. But UH fans were tense sitting in the Cotton Bowl, a year removed from the 1977 game, when SMU came from behind in the final 39 seconds to steal one from the Coogs.
But Tommy Ebner made sure that wouldn’t happen again. After SMU received the opening kick, the Houston DB picked off QB Mike Ford’s first pass of the game. UH ran the ball effectively on that first drive and quickly scored on a 10-yard keeper by Danny Davis. The Cougar rushing attack never let up, eventually totaling 385 yards on 75 carries.
SMU had the nation’s best passing attack and scored twice in the first half before the Coogs scored on the final play of the half. Danny Davis scrambled, the clock ticking to 0, before he found Terald Clark, who was able to snag the touchdown pass with his fingertips. UH led at the half, 21-14.
UH was 10/12 on third down in the first half.
But SMU tied it at 21-21 in the third quarter on a pick-six. UH punted on its next possession, and two 15-yard penalties forced the Ponies to punt, too. The Coogs moved it to the 12-yard line when Danny Davis hurt his toe and had to come out of the game. Backup Delrick Brown came in and ran the 12 yards for the score, giving UH the lead again.
Another great defensive series pushed SMU to punt again, and Houston scored again; Brown rolled right and hit TE Garrett Jurgajtis curling into the middle of the end zone. UH led 35-21.
On the next drive, the Mad Dogs got SMU into third-and-long, and everyone in the building knew SMU would throw. Houston Post writer John Hollis best described the sequence that followed:
He rolled left and threw. A big long arm snaked up from the crowd of red jerseys in front of him. (Leonard) Mitchell pulled in the interception at SMU’s 30 and started running.
Have you ever seen an elephant fly?
Mitchell caromed off a teammate, brushed another aside and sped for the end zone. He scored unchallenged. Then, the UH bench erupted in frenzied delight.
Mitchell had his own description:
“I looked up and saw that big banana coming, and it really felt good to grab it,” Mitchell said. “I ran past Ford. I put a move on him, and just ran the rest of the way.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever scored a touchdown.”
Mitchell’s INT was one of five the Cougars had on the day. The quarterbacks completed 7 passes to UH receivers and five to UH defenders. Ebner picked off Ford’s final pass to seal it for the Coogs.
Emmett King ran for 161 yards on 24 carries, while Randy Love had 121. Houston won the Southwest Conference outright with a 7-1 record and went to the Cotton Bowl.
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