The 1975 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. Led by second-year head coach Dick Vermeil, the Bruins won their first Pacific-8 championship in a decade and were 8–2–1 in the regular season. On New Year's Day, UCLA upset previously undefeated and top-ranked Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and climbed to fifth in the final rankings.

Coming off an injury-plagued 1974 season at 6–3–2, UCLA began the season ranked No. 16. A season-opening 37–21 win over Iowa State in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum saw them move up to twelfth; this was followed by a 34–28 win over No. 10 Tennessee. But they stumbled in a turnover-plagued 20–20 tie at Air Force; second-ranked Ohio State traveled west and handed UCLA its first loss of the season, on October 4. After the game, head coach Woody Hayes prophetically told his team that they would be facing UCLA again in the Rose Bowl. UCLA was the only opponent to score more than 14 points in a game all season against Ohio State, and they did it twice.

The Ohio State loss dropped the Bruins out of the top 20, but they returned to No. 13 after wins over Stanford, Washington State, and a key win over California. But another loss, this time to Washington 17–13, dropped them back out of the top 20 and resulted in a five-way tie at the top of the Pac-8 between UCLA, California, Stanford, USC, and Washington.

After a pair of wins over the Oregon schools, the Bruins went into their season-ending game against rival USC needing a win to go to the Rose Bowl; a loss or tie would send California to Pasadena. Despite fumbling 11 times and losing 8, UCLA beat the Trojans 25–22. UCLA ended up tied with California for the Pac-8 championship, but advanced to the Rose Bowl on the strength of their 28–14 win over the Golden Bears.Jeff Prugh – UCLA DROPS BALL BUT HOLDS ROSES; USC Loses in McKay's Farewell. Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1975 The Bruins went into the Rose Bowl ranked No. 11. The 1975 USC–UCLA game was coach John McKay and Vermeil's final game at the Coliseum.

It was the only bowl appearance for Vermeil in his two seasons at UCLA; a month later he left for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League.

Schedule

Game summaries Ohio State

1st quarter scoring: UCLA – James Sarpy 13-yard pass from John Sciarra (Brett White kick); OSU – Greene 2-yard run (Klaban kick)

2nd quarter scoring: OSU – Johnson 3-yard run (Klaban kick); OSU – Johnson 2-yard run (Klaban kick); OSU – Greene 17-yard run (Klaban kick)

3rd quarter scoring: OSU – A. Griffin 17-yard run (Klaban kick); OSU – Klaban 34-yard field goal; UCLA – Eddie Ayers 2-yard run (White kick)

4th quarter scoring: UCLA – Ayers 1-yard run (kick failed); OSU – Klaban 42-yard field goal

Ohio State (Rose Bowl)

1st quarter scoring: Ohio State – Tom Klaban 42-yard field goal

2nd quarter scoring: No score

3rd quarter scoring: UCLA – Brett White 33-yard field goal; UCLA – Wally Henry 16-yard pass from John Sciarra (White kick failed); UCLA – Henry 67-yard pass from Sciarra (White kick)

4th quarter scoring: Ohio State – Pete Johnson 3-yard run (Klaban kick); UCLA – Wendell Tyler 54-yard run (White kick)

Personnel Roster

34 returning lettermen from Coach Dick Vermeil's first team that was 6–3–2 in 1974.UCLA 1975 Press Guide, Compiled by UCLA Athletic News Bureau, Vic Kelley, Manager

Offense 89 Norm Andersen, SE 70 Gus Coppens LT 73 Phil McKinnely, LG 62 Mitch Kahn, C 51 Randy Cross, RG 75 Jack DeMartinis, RT 7 Rick Walker, TE 15 John Sciarra QB 22 Wendell Tyler, LHB 30 Eddie Ayers, RHB 8 Wally Henry, FL

Defense 42 Jeff Smith, S 68 Tim Tennigkeit, LT 56 Terry Tautolo, ILB 59 Pete Pele, NG Kelly Stroich, ILB 90 Bob Crawford, RT 83 Dale Curry, OLB 87 Raymond Burks, OLB 29 Barney Person, LCB 21 Oscar Edwards, RCB Matt Fahl, S 88 Pat Schmidt, S 82 John Terando DB

Specialists 34 Brett White, PK 6 John Sullivan, P

Coaches Dick Vermeil, head coach Lynn Stiles, assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Jim Criner, linebackers/tight ends Terry Donahue, offensive line Rod Dowhower, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/wide receivers Jerry Long, offensive line/defensive line Billie Matthews, running backs Bill McPherson, defensive line Carl Peterson, wide receivers/tight ends Dick Tomey, defensive backs Mike Flores, graduate assistant

Awards and honors John Sciarra, QB, All-Conference, NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship, ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All America, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholarship, NCAA Top Eight Award, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (2014) Randy Cross, G, All-Conference, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (2010) Fulton Kuykendall, LB, All-Conference Head coach Dick Vermeil will be inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2014.Knute Rockne, Dick Vermeil and Ki-Jana Carter to be Inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame , Tournament of Roses Association, August 26, 2014 Barney Person, CB, Lead nation & UCLA in interceptions, made key Rose Bowl interception

1975 team players in the NFL The following players were claimed in the 1975 NFL draft. Fulton Kuykendall Linebacker 6 132 Atlanta Falcons Eugene Clark Offensive guard 9 222 Pittsburgh Steelers Art Kuehn Center 15 384 Washington Redskins Myke Horton Offensive tackle 17 428 New England Patriots The following players were claimed in the 1976 NFL draft. Cliff Frazier Defensive tackle 2 41 Kansas City Chiefs Randy Cross Center 2 42 San Francisco 49ers John Sciarra Defensive back 4 103 Chicago Bears Phil McKinnely Tackle 9 246 Atlanta Falcons Norman Andersen Wide receiver 11 299 Chicago Bears Terry Tautolo Linebacker 13 353 Philadelphia Eagles Brett White Punter 15 412 Philadelphia Eagles Dale Curry Linebacker 15 430 Dallas Cowboys

The following player was claimed in the 1977 NFL draft. Wendell Tyler Running back 3 79 Los Angeles Rams Rick Walker Tight end 4 85 Cincinnati Bengals Ray Burks Linebacker 12 318 Kansas City Chiefs

References

External links Sports Reference - 1975 UCLA football season