1973 UCLA Bruins football team
American college football season
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The 1973 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. Members of the Pacific-8 Conference, the Bruins were led by third-year head coach Pepper Rodgers and played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
| 1973 UCLA Bruins football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Pacific-8 Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 9 |
| AP | No. 12 |
| Record | 9–2 (6–1 Pac-8) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Homer Smith (2nd season) |
| Offensive scheme | Wishbone |
| Home stadium | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 USC $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 UCLA | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quarterbacks Mark Harmon and John Sciarra ran the wishbone offense, and the Bruins were 9–2 overall and 6–1 on the Pac-8. After an opening loss at fourth-ranked Nebraska,[1] the Bruins won nine straight, but lost again to USC in the season finale.[2] UCLA repeated as conference runner-up, but the Pac-8 did not allow a second bowl team until the 1975 season. They were ranked twelfth in the final AP poll, ninth in the UPI coaches poll.
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 8 | at No. 4 Nebraska* | No. 10 | ABC | L 13–40 | 74,966 | [3] | ||
| September 22 | Iowa* | No. 18 | W 55–18 | 34,546 | [4] | |||
| September 29 | at Michigan State* | No. 17 | W 34–21 | 60,850 | [5] | |||
| October 6 | Utah* | No. 16 |
| W 66–16 | 32,697 | [6] | ||
| October 13 | 1:35 p.m. | at Stanford | No. 15 | W 59–13 | 55,000 | [7] | ||
| October 20 | at Washington State | No. 13 | W 24–13 | 32,200 | [8] | |||
| October 27 | 3:00 p.m. | California | No. 13 |
| W 61–21 | 35,492 | [9] | |
| November 3 | Washington | No. 10 |
| W 62–13 | 30,063 | [10] | ||
| November 10 | at Oregon | No. 9 | W 27–7 | 21,200 | [11] | |||
| November 17 | Oregon State | No. 8 |
| W 56–14 | 18,540 | [12] | ||
| November 24 | at No. 9 USC | No. 8 |
| ABC | L 13–23 | 88,037 | [13] | |
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Game summaries
at No. 4 Nebraska
No. 10 UCLA at No. 4 Nebraska
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10 Bruins | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • No. 4 Cornhuskers | 14 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 40 |
- Date: September 8, 1973
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Game attendance: 74,966
Iowa
Iowa at No. 18 UCLA
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawkeyes | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 18 |
| • No. 18 Bruins | 3 | 21 | 10 | 21 | 55 |
- Date: September 22, 1973
- Location:
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, CA - Game attendance: 34,456
- Source: Box Score
| 1 | UCLA | Herrera 24-yard field goal | UCLA 3–0 | |
| Iowa | Kokolus 45-yard field goal | Tied 3–3 | ||
| Iowa | Rollins 11-yard pass from Skogman (Kokolus kick) | Iowa 10–3 | ||
| 2 | UCLA | James McAlister 1-yard run (Herrera kick) | Tied 10–10 | |
| UCLA | Harmon 1-yard run (Herrera kick) | UCLA 17–10 | ||
| UCLA | John Sciarra 2-yard run (Herrera kick) | UCLA 24–10 | ||
| 3 | UCLA | Kermit Johnson 9-yard run (Herrera kick) | UCLA 31–10 | |
| UCLA | Herrera 44-yard field goal | UCLA 34–10 | ||
| 4 | UCLA | Tyler 4-yard run (Lantry kick) | UCLA 41–10 | |
| Iowa | Skogman 5-yard run (Jenson pass from Skogman) | UCLA 41–18 | ||
| UCLA | Raymond Burks 46-yard pass from John Sciarra (Herrera kick) | UCLA 48–18 | ||
| UCLA | John Sciarra 7-yard run (Herrera kick) | UCLA 55–18 | ||
vs. No. 9 USC
No. 8 UCLA vs. No. 9 USC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 8 Bruins | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| • No. 9 Trojans | 7 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
- Date: November 24, 1973
- Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, CA - Game attendance: 88,037
| 1 | USC | Davis 4 yard run (Limahelu kick) | USC 7–0 | |
| UCLA | Herrera 42 yard field goal | USC 7–3 | ||
| 2 | USC | McKay 16 yard pass from Haden (Limahelu kick) | USC 14–3 | |
| UCLA | Johnson 3 yard run (Herrera kick) | USC 14–10 | ||
| USC | Limahelu 35 yard field goal | USC 17–10 | ||
| 3 | USC | Limahelu 32 yard field goal | USC 20–10 | |
| 4 | 4:30 | UCLA | Herrera 27 yard field goal | USC 20–13 |
| 1:07 | USC | Limahelu 28 yard field goal | USC 23–13 | |
Roster
- QB Mark Harmon
- PK Efrén Herrera
- RB Kermit Johnson
- FB James McAlister
- QB John Sciarra
- C Randy Cross
- OG Eugene Clark
- TE Gene Bleymaier
- FS Jim Bright
- LB Jack Jorgensen
- LB Terry Tautolo
- LB Fulton Kuykendall
Awards and honors
- First Team All Americans: Jimmy Allen (DB), Efrén Herrera (K), Kermit Johnson (RB, Consensus selection), James McAlister (RB), Fred McNeill (DE)[17]
- All Conference First Team: Jimmy Allen (DB), James Bright (DB), Kermit Johnson (RB), Ed Kezirian (OT), Steve Klosterman (OG), Fulton Kuykendall (LB), Fred McNeill (DE), John Nanoski (DB), Al Oliver (OT), Cal Peterson (DE)