1973 UCLA Bruins football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 12
Record9–2 (6–1 Pac-8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorHomer Smith (2nd season)
Offensive schemeWishbone
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons
← 1972
1974 →
1973 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
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

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 8at No. 4 Nebraska*No. 10
ABCL 13–4074,966[1]
September 22Iowa*No. 18
W 55–1834,456
September 29at Michigan State*No. 17
W 34–2160,850
October 6Utah*No. 16
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 66–1632,697
October 13at StanfordNo. 15
W 59–1355,000[3]
October 20at Washington StateNo. 13
W 24–1332,200[4]
October 27CaliforniaNo. 13
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
W 61–2135,492
November 3WashingtonNo. 10
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 62–1330,000
November 10at OregonNo. 9
W 27–721,200
November 17Oregon StateNo. 8
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
W 56–1418,540
November 24at No. 9 USCNo. 8
ABCL 13–2388,037[2]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[5]

Roster

Game summaries

at No. 4 Nebraska

See also: 1973 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
No. 10 UCLA at No. 4 Nebraska
1 234Total
No. 10 Bruins 6 700 13
• No. 4 Cornhuskers 14 6614 40

Iowa

See also: 1973 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
Iowa at No. 18 UCLA
1 234Total
Hawkeyes 10 008 18
• No. 18 Bruins 3 211021 55
        
Scoring summary
1UCLAHerrera 24-yard field goalUCLA 3–0
IowaKokolus 45-yard field goalTied 3–3
IowaRollins 11-yard pass from Skogman (Kokolus kick)Iowa 10–3
2UCLAJames McAlister 1-yard run (Herrera kick)Tied 10–10
UCLAHarmon 1-yard run (Herrera kick)UCLA 17–10
UCLAJohn Sciarra 2-yard run (Herrera kick)UCLA 24–10
3UCLAKermit Johnson 9-yard run (Herrera kick)UCLA 31–10
UCLAHerrera 44-yard field goalUCLA 34–10
4UCLATyler 4-yard run (Lantry kick)UCLA 41–10
IowaSkogman 5-yard run (Jenson pass from Skogman)UCLA 41–18
UCLARaymond Burks 46-yard pass from John Sciarra (Herrera kick)UCLA 48–18
UCLAJohn 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 234Total
No. 8 Bruins 3 703 13
• No. 9 Trojans 7 1033 23
  • Date: November 24, 1973
  • Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
    Los Angeles, CA
  • Game attendance: 88,037
    
Scoring summary
1USCDavis 4 yard run (Limahelu kick)USC 7–0
UCLAHerrera 42 yard field goalUSC 7–3
2USCMcKay 16 yard pass from Haden (Limahelu kick)USC 14–3
UCLAJohnson 3 yard run (Herrera kick)USC 14–10
USCLimahelu 35 yard field goalUSC 17–10
3USCLimahelu 32 yard field goalUSC 20–10
44:30UCLAHerrera 27 yard field goalUSC 20–13
1:07USCLimahelu 28 yard field goalUSC 23–13

[6]

Awards and honors

References

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