1969 UCLA Bruins football team

1969 UCLA Bruins football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 13
Record	8–1–1 (5–1–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	Tommy Prothro (5th season)
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1969 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 USC $	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	1
No. 13 UCLA	5	–	1	–	1			8	–	1	–	1
No. 19 Stanford	5	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
Oregon State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Oregon	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
California	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Washington	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Washington State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1969 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a member of the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Tommy Prothro, the Bruins compiled an overall record of 8–1–1 with a mark of 5–1–1 in conference play, tying for second place in the Pac-8. UCLA played home game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

Regular season

This was the year Prothro had geared his recruiting efforts towards as he believed this was his best team and was capable of contending for the national championship. The Bruins, quarterbacked by a sensational Jr. College transfer Dennis Dummit discovered by Prothro, were undefeated until they faced #10 Stanford in Palo Alto. Once again, Prothro was let down by now senior kicker Zenon Andrusyshyn as he missed a short field goal late in the game with the score tied 20–20. Suddenly, two long Jim Plunkett passes had Stanford in field goal range in the final seconds, but UCLA blocked Steve Horowitz's attempt to preserve the tie.

Once again, the UCLA-USC game would decide the Pac-8 title and the 1970 Rose Bowl berth. UCLA was ranked 6th with a 5–0–1 record in conference and 8–0–1 overall USC was #5 and was 6–0 in conference and 8–0–1 overall (tied Notre Dame in South Bend, 14–14); UCLA and USC were both unbeaten coming into their rivalry game for the first time since 1952. UCLA scored midway through the fourth quarter to take a 12–7 lead (knowing he need a win and not a tie to advance to the Rose Bowl, Prothro had the Bruins go for two after each touchdown and each attempt failed). USC then drove to the winning touchdown with 1:38 to play to win 14–12. The Trojans were aided by two controversial calls; the first was a dubious pass interference call on UCLA's Danny Graham on a 4th-and-10 incompletion. Secondly, on the winning touchdown pass reception, USC receiver Sam Dickerson appeared to be either out of bounds, out of the back of the end zone, or both. This loss supposedly was harder for Prothro to take than the 1967 loss and the freak officiating calls resembled the debacle at Tennessee in 1965.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	Oregon State	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 37–0	50,091
September 20	Pittsburgh*	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 42–8	35,258	[1]
September 27	at Wisconsin*	No. 14	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 34–23	49,243
October 4	at Northwestern*	No. 11	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 36–0	41,015	[2]
October 11	at Washington State	No. 11	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 46–14	22,100
October 18	California	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 32–0	38,998	[3]
October 25	at No. 19 Stanford	No. 6	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	T 20–20	84,000
November 1	Washington	No. 9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 57–14	34,899
November 15	at Oregon	No. 7	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 13–10	28,500
November 22	at No. 5 USC	No. 6	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	L 12–14	90,814
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[4]

Game summaries

USC

1 2 3 4 Total UCLA 6 0 0 6 12 • USC 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 22 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA Game attendance: 90,814 TV announcers: Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Farmer 41-yard pass from Jones (pass failed) UCLA 6-0 2 USC Davis 13-yard run (Ayala kick) USC 7-6 4 3:07 UCLA Cooper 7-yard pass from Dummit (pass failed) UCLA 12-7 4 1:32 USC Dickerson 32-yard pass from Jones (Ayala kick) USC 14-12

^[5]

Roster

Offense 83 Gwen Cooper LE 79 Gordon Bosserman LT 68 Ron Tretter LG 50 Dave Dalby C 67 Dennis Alumbaugh RG 70 Lee McElroy RT 87 Mike Garratt RE 19 Dennis Dummit QB 43 Greg Jones LH 46 George Farmer RH Mickey Cureon FB

Defense 93 Bob Geddes LE 60 Bruce Jorgensen LT 74 Floyd Reese RT 89 Wesley Grant RE 55 Don Widmer LLB 44 K. Monty Harrison MLB 57 Mike Ballou MLB 92 Jim Ford RLB 28 Doug Huff LC 20 Danny Graham RC 23 Ron Carver LS 27 Dennis Spurling RS

Coaches Tommy Prothro (Head) Earnel Durden Larry Weaver Tony Kopay John Jardine Jerry Long Lew Stueck Norman Dow Jim Camp Bobb McKittrick

References

1. Chapin, D (September 21, 1969). "USC edges 'huskers, 31-21; bruins romp again, 42-8". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 156267495. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
2. Chapin, D. (October 5, 1969). "ozing bruins awaken at half and roll, 36-0". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 156252309. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
3. Chapin, D. (October 19, 1969). "Bruins' 32-0 avalanche wipes out doubt---and california". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 156308312. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
4. College Football @ Sports-Reference.com
5. "Trojans Topple UCLA". The Palm Beach Post. November 23, 1969.