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1975 UCLA Bruins football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1975
team	UCLA Bruins
sport	football
conference	Pacific-8 Conference
short_conf	Pac-8
CoachRank	5
APRank	5
record	9–2–1
conf_record	6–1
head_coach	Dick Vermeil
hc_year	2nd
off_coach	Rod Dowhower
oc_year	2nd
def_coach	Lynn Stiles
dc_year	2nd
stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
champion	Pac-8 co-champion
Rose Bowl champion
bowl	[Rose Bowl](1976-rose-bowl)
bowl_result	W 23–10 vs. [Ohio State](1975-ohio-state-buckeyes-football-team)

Rose Bowl champion 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.

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; this was followed by a 34–28 win over No. 10 Tennessee. But they stumbled in a turnover-plagued 20–20 tie at Air Force; second-ranked Ohio State traveled west and handed UCLA its first loss of the season, 41–20 on October 4. 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, Washington State, 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.

After a pair of wins over the Oregon schools, 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. 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. 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.

Schedule

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Game summaries

Ohio State

1st quarter scoring: UCLA – James Sarpy 13-yard pass from John Sciarra (Brett White kick); OSU – Greene 2-yard run (Klaban kick)

2nd quarter scoring: OSU – Johnson 3-yard run (Klaban kick); OSU – Johnson 2-yard run (Klaban kick); OSU – Greene 17-yard run (Klaban kick)

3rd quarter scoring: OSU – A. Griffin 17-yard run (Klaban kick); OSU – Klaban 34-yard field goal; UCLA – Eddie Ayers 2-yard run (White kick)

4th quarter scoring: UCLA – Ayers 1-yard run (kick failed); OSU – Klaban 42-yard field goal

Ohio State (Rose Bowl)

1st quarter scoring: Ohio State – Tom Klaban 42-yard field goal

2nd quarter scoring: No score

3rd quarter scoring: UCLA – Brett White 33-yard field goal; UCLA – Wally Henry 16-yard pass from John Sciarra (White kick failed); UCLA – Henry 67-yard pass from Sciarra (White kick)

4th quarter scoring: Ohio State – Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Klaban kick); UCLA – Wendell Tyler 54-yard run (White kick)

Personnel

Roster

34 returning lettermen from Coach Dick Vermeil's first team that was 6–3–2 in 1974.

Offense

89 Norm Andersen, SE
70 Gus Coppens LT
73 Phil McKinnely, LG
62 Mitch Kahn, C
51 Randy Cross, RG
75 Jack DeMartinis, RT
7 Rick Walker, TE
15 John Sciarra QB
22 Wendell Tyler, LHB
30 Eddie Ayers, RHB
8 Wally Henry, FL

Defense

42 Jeff Smith, S
68 Tim Tennigkeit, LT
56 Terry Tautolo, ILB
59 Pete Pele, NG
Kelly Stroich, ILB
90 Bob Crawford, RT
83 Dale Curry, OLB
87 Raymond Burks, OLB
29 Barney Person, LCB
21 Oscar Edwards, RCB
Matt Fahl, S
88 Pat Schmidt, S
82 John Terando DB

Specialists

34 Brett White, PK
6 John Sullivan, P

Coaches

Dick Vermeil, head coach
Lynn Stiles, assistant head coach/defensive coordinator
Jim Criner, linebackers/tight ends
Terry Donahue, offensive line
Rod Dowhower, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/wide receivers
Jerry Long, offensive line/defensive line
Billie Matthews, running backs
Bill McPherson, defensive line
Carl Peterson, wide receivers/tight ends
Dick Tomey, defensive backs
Mike Flores, graduate assistant

Awards and honors

John Sciarra, QB, All-Conference, NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship, ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All America, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholarship, NCAA Top Eight Award, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (2014)
Randy Cross, G, All-Conference, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (2010)
Fulton Kuykendall, LB, All-Conference
Head coach Dick Vermeil will be inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2014.
Barney Person, CB, Lead nation & UCLA in interceptions, made key Rose Bowl interception

1975 team players in the NFL

The following players were claimed in the 1975 NFL draft.

The following players were claimed in the 1976 NFL draft.

The following player was claimed in the 1977 NFL draft.

Ray Burks	Linebacker	12	318	[Kansas City Chiefs](1977-kansas-city-chiefs-season)

References

(January 2, 1976). "Dynamite Bruins stagger Ohio St.". Spokesman-Review.
(January 3, 1976). "Sooners poll champions".
(September 14, 1975). "Sciarra scores three as UCLA tops Cyclones". Eugene Register-Guard.
(September 21, 1975). "Bruins stall late bid, upend 10th-rated Vols". Eugene Register-Guard.
(September 28, 1975). "Long field goal ties UCLA at 20". Eugene Register-Guard.
(October 5, 1975). "Greene races by Bruins". Eugene Register-Guard.
(October 12, 1975). "Stanford fans boo as UCLA prevails". Eugene Register-Guard.
Missildine, Harry. (October 19, 1975). "Sciarra, Ayers lead UCLA win". Spokesman-Review.
(October 19, 1975). "Bruin offense just too much". Eugene Register-Guard.
(November 2, 1975). "Suddenly, five Pac-8 teams sniffing roses". Eugene Register-Guard.
Withers, Bud. (November 9, 1975). "The athletes have their say, 50-17". Eugene Register-Guard.
Rausch, Gary. (November 16, 1975). "Dee's day starts badly, gets no better". Eugene Register-Guard.
(November 29, 1975). "Fumbling Bruins Pasadena-bound". Eugene Register-Guard.
Jeff Prugh – UCLA DROPS BALL BUT HOLDS ROSES; USC Loses in McKay's Farewell. Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1975
(February 9, 1976). "Eagles hire Vermeil". Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
(October 26, 1975). "Bruins really wanted this victory". The Daily Breeze.
UCLA 1975 Press Guide, Compiled by UCLA Athletic News Bureau, Vic Kelley, Manager
[http://www.tournamentofroses.com/News/NewsDetail/tabid/132/article/201856/KNUTE-ROCKNE-DICK-VERMEIL-AND-KI-JANA-CARTER-TO-BE-INDUCTED-INTO-THE-ROSE-BOWL-HALL-OF-FAME.aspx Knute Rockne, Dick Vermeil and Ki-Jana Carter to be Inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame] {{Webarchive. link. (2014-08-27 , Tournament of Roses Association, August 26, 2014)
"1976 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com".

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