1997 UCLA Bruins football

Pac-10 co-champion Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 29–23 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5
Record	10–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Bob Toledo (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Al Borges (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Rocky Long (2nd season)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 9 Washington State +	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 5 UCLA +	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 14 Arizona State	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 18 Washington	5	–	3	8	–	4
Arizona	4	–	4	7	–	5
USC	4	–	4	6	–	5
Oregon	3	–	5	7	–	5
Stanford	3	–	5	5	–	6
California	1	–	7	3	–	8
Oregon State	0	–	8	3	–	8

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and were coached by Bob Toledo. It was Toledo's second season as the UCLA head coach. The Bruins finished 10–2 overall, and were Pacific-10 Conference co-champions with a 7–1 record. The Bruins were invited to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic against Texas A&M on January 1, 1998. Though the Bruins were down 16–7 at the half, Cade McNown, the offensive MVP of the game, led the team to a 29–23 victory. The team was ranked #5 in the final AP Poll and #5 in the final Coaches' Poll.

Pre-season

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	12:30 pm	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	L 34–37	26,000
September 6	12:30 pm	No. 3 Tennessee*		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	L 24–30	62,619
September 13	12:30 pm	at No. 11 Texas*		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	W 66–3	77,203
September 27	3:30 pm	Arizona	No. 24	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSN	W 40–27	50,188
October 4	3:30 pm	Houston*	No. 22	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSW2	W 66–10	38,004
October 11	3:30 pm	at Oregon	No. 18	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	FX	W 39–31	42,314
October 18	3:30 pm	Oregon State	No. 17	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSN	W 34–10	38,165
October 25	3:30 pm	California	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 35–17	52,858
November 1	3:30 pm	at Stanford	No. 12	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	FSN	W 27–7	54,332
November 15	12:30 pm	No. 13 Washington	No. 9	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 52–28	85,697
November 22	12:30 pm	at USC	No. 7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 31–24	91,350
January 1	10:30 am	vs. No. 20 Texas A&M*	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 29–23	59,215
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1997 UCLA Bruins football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`87`	Danny Farmer	So
OT	`71`	Kris Farris	Jr
RB	`20`	Skip Hicks	Sr
QB	`18`	Cade McNown	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`35`	Larry Atkins	Jr
LB	`50`	Brendon Ayanbadejo	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`2`	Chris Sailer

Head coach

Bob Toledo

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

At Washington State

UCLA at Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	7	7	13	7	34
• Cougars	3	27	7	0	37

Date: August 30, 1997
Location: Martin Stadium
Pullman, WA
Game attendance: 26,000
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson (play-by-play), Bob Griese (analyst), and Lynn Swann (sideline)

Scoring summary

1		UCLA	Skip Hicks 2-yard run (Chris Sailer kick)	UCLA 7–0
1		WSU	Rian Lindell ?-yard field goal	UCLA 7–3

2	14:43	UCLA	Skip Hicks 9-yard run (Chris Sailer kick)	UCLA 14–3
	11:07	WSU	Michael Black 17-yard run (Rian Lindell kick)	UCLA 14–10
	8:13	WSU	Nian Talor 57-yard pass from Ryan Leaf (Rian Lindell kick failed)	WSU 16–14
	4:35	WSU	Ryan Leaf 1-yard run (Rian Lindell kick)	WSU 23–14
	0:54	WSU	Nian Talor 29-yard pass from Ryan Leaf (Rian Lindell kick failed)	WSU 30–14

3	12:50	UCLA	Skip Hicks 2-yard run (kick failed)	WSU 30–21
	11:51	WSU	Chris Jackson 78-yard pass from Ryan Leaf (Rian Lindell kick)	WSU 37–21
	2:22	UCLA	Danny Farmer 6-yard pass from Cade McNown (pass failed)	WSU 37–27

4	14:13	UCLA	Skip Hicks 4-yard run (Chris Sailer kick)	WSU 37–34

^[1]

No. 3 Tennessee

Tennessee at UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 3 Volunteers	9	15	3	3	30
Bruins	0	3	3	18	24

Date: September 6
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Game start: 12:35 pm PDT
Elapsed time: 3:41
Game attendance: 62,619

*Source: Box score

^[2]

At Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	10	28	21	7	66
#11 Longhorns	0	0	3	0	3

^[3]

Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	20	0	27
#24 Bruins	31	6	0	3	40

Houston

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	0	0	3	10
#22 Bruins	42	7	7	10	66

At Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Bruins	27	3	6	3	39
Ducks	21	7	3	0	31

Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	10	0	0	0	10
#17 Bruins	14	14	3	3	34

California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	14	3	0	0	17
#13 Bruins	0	14	14	7	35

At Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Bruins	14	7	3	3	27
Cardinal	0	0	7	0	7

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Huskies	17	3	8	0	28
#9 Bruins	3	14	21	14	52

At USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Bruins	10	7	7	7	31
Trojans	14	7	3	0	24

The Bruins retained the Victory Bell for the seventh straight year.

Vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Cotton Bowl Classic)

UCLA vs. Texas A&M
(Cotton Bowl Classic)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 5 Bruins	0	7	14	8	29
No. 20 Aggies	7	9	7	0	23

Date: January 1
Location: Cotton Bowl
Dallas, TX
Game attendance: 59,215
Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), Cloudy
Referee: Tom Robinson
TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson and Mike Mayock

Main article: 1998 Cotton Bowl Classic

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	UCLA	Texas A&M
1	4:35				Texas A&M	Interception returned 64 yards for touchdown by Brandon Jennings, Kyle Bryant kick good	0	7
2	10:18				Texas A&M	Cade McNown tackled in end zone for a safety by Zerick Rollins	0	9
2	5:54	3	90		Texas A&M	Dante Hall 74-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bryant kick good	0	16
2	0:02	5	47		UCLA	Jim McElroy 22-yard touchdown reception from Cade McNown, Chris Sailer kick good	7	16
3	12:34	3	45		UCLA	Skip Hicks 41-yard touchdown reception from Cade McNown, Chris Sailer kick good	14	16
3	8:37	8	65		Texas A&M	Chris Cole 43-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bryant kick good	14	23
3	2:44	8	65		UCLA	Cade McNown 20-yard touchdown run, Chris Sailer kick good	21	23
4	7:05	8	71		UCLA	Ryan Neufeld 5-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good	29	23
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							29	23

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	—	—	—	RV	24	24	22	18	17	13	12	10	9	7	6	5	5	5
Coaches	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	25	19	18	16	13	11	10	9	7	6	6	5
Harris	Not released																	Not released
BCS	Not released																	Not released

Awards and honors

Skip Hicks, Chad Overhauser, and Chris Sailer were selected to the 1997 College Football All-America Team.

1998 NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Team
Shaun Williams	1	24	Free Safety	New York Giants
Skip Hicks	3	69	Running back	Washington Redskins
Chad Overhauser	7	217	Offensive guard	Chicago Bears

References

^ "No More Please, Bruins Stuffed". The Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1997. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
^ "Home Groan / Tennessee 30, UCLA 24". The Los Angeles Times. September 7, 1997. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
^ "UCLA 66, No. 11 Texas 3". AP News. September 13, 1997. Retrieved September 24, 2022.

v t e UCLA Bruins football
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