| 1972 East Texas State Lions football | |
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NAIA Division I champion | |
NAIA Division I Football Championship, W 21–18 vs. Carson–Newman | |
| Conference | Lone Star Conference |
| Record | 10–2 (7–1 LSC) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Ernest Hawkins |
| Defensive coordinator | Bobby Fox |
| Home stadium | Memorial Stadium |
Seasons
← 1971
1973 →
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Conf | Overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No.1East Texas State $^ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No.12Angelo State | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Texas State | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard Payne | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&I | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston State | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sul Ross | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton State | 0 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McMurry * | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian * | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* – did not complete for conference title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1972 East Texas State Lions football team represented East Texas State University in the 1972 NAIA Division I football season. They were led by head coach Ernest Hawkins, who was in his ninth season at East Texas State. The Lions played their home games at Memorial Stadium and were members of the Lone Star Conference. The Lions won the Lone Star Conference, the NAIA District IV, and the NAIA Division I National Championship.
Heading into the 1972 season, the Lions were picked to finish fourth in the conference,[citation needed] and started out the season with 14–12 loss to rival Abilene Christian, but then racked up six straight wins to climb into the national polls. Then The Lions were upset by Sul Ross, dropping them out of the top five in the rankings. The Lions finished the season with wins over Angelo State and Tarleton State. When the final national rankings came out, the Lions were ranked fourth in the nation and invited to the NAIA Division I playoffs. In the semifinal round the Lions faced the top-ranked team in the nation, the Central State BronchosofOklahoma. The Lions routed Central State, 54–0 in the earning them a spot in Champion Bowl against the second-ranked Carson–Newman. The title game was determined to be played in Commerce. On a bitterly cold December day in front of a packed Memorial Stadium, Hawkins's Lions defeated Carson–Newman, 21–18, to claim the national title. Among the players on the team were future National Football League (NFL) players Will Cureton, Harvey Martin, Autry Beamon, Aundra Thompson, and Tim Collier. The Lions were named the National Team of the Year and Hawkins was named both Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Source |
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| September 9 | 2:00 p.m. | atAbilene Christian* |
| L 12–14 | [1] | |
| September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | atEast Central* |
| W 37–14 | [2] | |
| September 23 | 6:00 p.m. | atSam Houston State |
| W 23–0 | [3] | |
| September 30 | 6:00 p.m. | Howard Payne |
| W 35–15 | [4] | |
| October 7 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 12Texas A&I |
| W 29–17 | [5] | |
| October 21 | 2:00 pm | atStephen F. Austin |
| W 21–9 | [6] | |
| October 28 | 2:00 pm | No. 1Southwest Texas State | No. 7 |
| W 32–29 | [7] |
| November 4 | 2:00 p.m. | atSul Ross | No. 4 |
| L 14–15 | [8] |
| November 11 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 14Angelo State | No. 6 |
| W 24–14 | [9] |
| November 18 | 2:00 p.m. | atTarleton State | No. 5 |
| W 27–6 | [10] |
| November 25 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 1Central State (OK)* | No. 6 |
| W 54–0 | [11] |
| December 9 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 2Carson–Newman* | No. 6 |
| W 21–18 | [12] |
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National championship seasons in bold | |
