1973 UCLA Bruins football team

1973 UCLA Bruins football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 12
Record	9–2 (6–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	Pepper Rodgers (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

1973 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
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
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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.

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	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	at No. 4 Nebraska*	No. 10	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ABC	L 13–40	74,966	[1]
September 22	Iowa*	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 55–18	34,456
September 29	at Michigan State*	No. 17	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 34–21	60,850
October 6	Utah*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 66–16	32,697	[3]
October 13	at Stanford	No. 15	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 59–13	55,000	[4]
October 20	at Washington State	No. 13	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA		W 24–13	32,200	[5]
October 27	California	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		W 61–21	35,492
November 3	Washington	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 62–13	30,000
November 10	at Oregon	No. 9	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 27–7	21,200
November 17	Oregon State	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 56–14	18,540
November 24	at No. 9 USC	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 13–23	88,037	[2]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[6]

Game summaries

at No. 4 Nebraska

See also: 1973 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

No. 10 UCLA at No. 4 Nebraska

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

See also: 1973 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Iowa at No. 18 UCLA

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

Scoring summary 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

See also: 1973 USC Trojans football team

No. 8 UCLA vs. No. 9 USC

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

Scoring summary 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

^[7]

Roster

• QB Mark Harmon
• PK Efrén Herrera
• RB Kermit Johnson
• FB James McAlister
• QB John Sciarra
• FS Jim Bright
• LB Jack Jorgensen
• LB Terry Tautolo
• C Randy Cross
• OG Eugene Clark
• 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)^[8]
• 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)

References

1. "Cornhuskers too much for Bruins". Eugene Register-Guard. (location). Associated Press. September 9, 1973. p. 1C.
2. "Another Pasadena visit for USC..." Eugene Register-Guard. (location). Associated Press. November 25, 1973. p. 1D.
3. "UCLA on 66–16 tear of Utah". Oakland Tribune. October 7, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "How They Scored". Los Angeles Times. October 14, 1973. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
5. "Bruins sputter, but beat WSU 24-13". Eugene Register-Guard. (location). Associated Press. October 21, 1973. p. 2B.
6. College Football @ Sports-Reference.com
7. "Trojans Triumph, 23-13". The New York Times. November 25, 1973. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
8. 1975 UCLA Media Guide, UCLA Athletic News Bureau, 1975