1975 UCLA Bruins football team

1975 UCLA Bruins football
Pac-8 co-champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 23–10 vs. Ohio State
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 5
Record9–2–1 (6–1 Pac-8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRod Dowhower (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorLynn Stiles (2nd season)
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 UCLA ^ + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
No. 14 California + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Stanford 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Washington 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. 17 USC 3 – 4 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Oregon 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Oregon State 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Washington State 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. Led by second-year head coach Dick Vermeil, the Bruins won their first Pacific-8 championship in a decade and were 8–2–1 in the regular season. On New Year's Day, UCLA upset previously undefeated and top-ranked Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and climbed to fifth in the final rankings.[1][2]

Coming off an injury-plagued 1974 season at 6–3–2, UCLA began the season ranked No. 16. A season-opening 37–21 win over Iowa State in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum saw them move up to twelfth;[3] this was followed by a 34–28 win over No. 10 Tennessee.[4] But they stumbled in a turnover-plagued 20–20 tie at Air Force;[5] second-ranked Ohio State traveled west and handed UCLA its first loss of the season, 41–20 on October 4.[6] After the game, head coach Woody Hayes prophetically told his team that they would be facing UCLA again in the Rose Bowl. UCLA was the only opponent to score more than 14 points in a game all season against Ohio State, and they did it twice.

The Ohio State loss dropped the Bruins out of the top 20, but they returned to No. 13 after wins over Stanford,[7] Washington State,[8][9] and a key win over California. But another loss, this time to Washington 17–13, dropped them back out of the top 20 and resulted in a five-way tie at the top of the Pac-8 between UCLA, California, Stanford, USC, and Washington.[10]

After a pair of wins over the Oregon schools,[11][12] the Bruins went into their season-ending game against rival USC needing a win to go to the Rose Bowl; a loss or tie would send California to Pasadena. Despite fumbling 11 times and losing 8, UCLA beat the Trojans 25–22.[13] UCLA ended up tied with California for the Pac-8 championship, but advanced to the Rose Bowl on the strength of their 28–14 win over the Golden Bears.[14] The Bruins went into the Rose Bowl ranked No. 11. The 1975 USC–UCLA game was coach John McKay and Vermeil's final game at the Coliseum.

It was the only bowl appearance for Vermeil in his two seasons at UCLA; a month later he left for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.[15]

  1. ^ "Dynamite Bruins stagger Ohio St". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1976. p. 34.
  2. ^ "Sooners poll champions". (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 3, 1976. p. 13.
  3. ^ "Sciarra scores three as UCLA tops Cyclones". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 14, 1975. p. 3C.
  4. ^ "Bruins stall late bid, upend 10th-rated Vols". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 21, 1975.
  5. ^ "Long field goal ties UCLA at 20". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 28, 1975. p. 6B.
  6. ^ "Greene races by Bruins". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 5, 1975. p. 3B.
  7. ^ "Stanford fans boo as UCLA prevails". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 12, 1975. p. 6D.
  8. ^ Missildine, Harry (October 19, 1975). "Sciarra, Ayers lead UCLA win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
  9. ^ "Bruin offense just too much". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 19, 1975. p. 3B.
  10. ^ "Suddenly, five Pac-8 teams sniffing roses". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 2, 1975. p. 3B.
  11. ^ Withers, Bud (November 9, 1975). "The athletes have their say, 50-17". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  12. ^ Rausch, Gary (November 16, 1975). "Dee's day starts badly, gets no better". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  13. ^ "Fumbling Bruins Pasadena-bound". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire reports. November 29, 1975. p. 1B.
  14. ^ Jeff Prugh – UCLA DROPS BALL BUT HOLDS ROSES; USC Loses in McKay's Farewell. Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1975
  15. ^ "Eagles hire Vermeil". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. (South Carolina). Associated Press. February 9, 1976. p. B1.