1983 UCLA Bruins football team

1983 UCLA Bruins football
Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 45–9 vs. Illinois
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 17
Record	7–4–1 (6–1–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (6th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Bob Field (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tom Hayes (2nd season)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl

1983 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 17 UCLA $	6	–	1	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Washington	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Washington State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
USC	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Arizona	4	–	3	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Arizona State	3	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Oregon	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
California	3	–	4	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Stanford	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their eighth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 7–4–1 record (6–1–1 Pac-10), finished in first place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and were ranked #17 in the final AP Poll. The Bruins went on to defeat Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl.^[1] The Bruins began the season 0–3–1 before winning seven of their final eight games of the season.

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1983 were quarterback Rick Neuheisel with 2,245 passing yards, running back Kevin Nelson with 898 rushing yards, and wide receiver Mike Sherrard with 709 receiving yards.^[2] Neuheisel was selected as the 1984 Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	at No. 15 Georgia*	No. 20	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	ABC	L 8–19	82,122	[3]
September 17	Arizona State		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	CBS	T 26–26	47,093
September 24	at No. 1 Nebraska*		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		L 10–42	76,510
October 1	BYU*		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	Metro	L 35–37	50,044
October 8	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 39–21	55,804
October 15	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 24–14	30,000
October 22	California		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 20–16	58,062
October 29	No. 11 Washington		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 27–24	60,094
November 5	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 24–13	24,511
November 12	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	CBS	L 24–27	42,640
November 19	at USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)		W 27–17	83,763
January 2, 1984	vs. No. 4 Illinois*		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 45–9	103,217
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

USC

1 2 3 4 Total • UCLA 3 3 7 14 27 USC 0 10 0 7 17 Date: November 19 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA Game attendance: 83,763

Scoring summary Q1 UCLA Lee 25 yard field goal UCLA 3–0 Q2 UCLA Lee 20 yard field goal UCLA 6–0 Q2 USC Spencer 1 yard run (Jordan kick) USC 7–6 Q2 USC Jordan 30 yard field goal USC 10–6 Q3 UCLA Dorrell 7 yard pass from Neuhiesel (Lee kick) UCLA 13–10 Q4 UCLA Nelson 12 yard run (Lee kick) UCLA 20–10 Q4 UCLA Wiley 17 yard run (Lee kick) UCLA 27–10 Q4 USC Spencer 7 yard run (Jordan kick) UCLA 27–17

^[4]

1984 NFL Draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Don Rogers	Defensive back	1	18	Cleveland Browns
Jay Schroeder	Quarterback	3	83	Washington Redskins

^[5]

References

1. "1983 UCLA Bruins Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
2. "1983 UCLA Bruins Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
3. "Interception seals Georgia victory, 19–8". The Los Angeles Times. September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Gainesville Sun. 1982 Nov 20.
5. "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.