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
Seasons ←  1972 1974  →

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	Time	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	[3]
September 22		Iowa *	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 55–18	34,546	[4]
September 29		at Michigan State *	No. 17	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 34–21	60,850	[5]
October 6		Utah *	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 66–16	32,697	[6]
October 13	1:35 p.m.	at Stanford	No. 15	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 59–13	55,000	[7]
October 20		at Washington State	No. 13	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA		W 24–13	32,200	[8]
October 27	3:00 p.m.	California	No. 13	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		W 61–21	35,492	[9]
November 3		Washington	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 62–13	30,063	[10]
November 10		at Oregon	No. 9	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 27–7	21,200	[11]
November 17		Oregon State	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 56–14	18,540	[12]
November 24		at No. 9 USC	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 13–23	88,037	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^{[14] [15]}

Game summaries

at No. 4 Nebraska

See also: 1973 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

No. 10 UCLA at No. 4 Nebraska

Team	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

Team	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

Team	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

^[16]

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) ^[17]
• 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. "Huskers explode; Rip UCLA 40–13". The Spokesman-Review. September 9, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "UCLA steamrolls Iowa". Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 23, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Johnson's 3 TDs lift UCLA past Spartans". Oakland Tribune. September 30, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "UCLA on 66–16 tear of Utah". Oakland Tribune. October 7, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Bruins get 621 yards rushing in romp at Stanford". Ventura County Star. October 14, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Bruins sputter, but beat WSU 24–13". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. October 21, 1973. p. 2B. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Google News Archive.
9. "UCLA mauls Cal Bears 61–21". The Columbian. October 28, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Fan decrease, point increase in UCLA win". Independent Press-Telegram. November 4, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Oregon rain-soaker; No razzle-dazzle as UCLA beats Ducks". The Fresno Bee. November 11, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Bruins rip OSU 54–14 in rain". Tri-City Herald. November 18, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "For the Roses, it's USC and (choose one)". The Los Angeles Times. November 25, 1973. Retrieved September 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
14. College Football @ Sports-Reference.com
15. "Schedule/Results (1973 UCLA)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved September 23, 2025.
16. "Trojans Triumph, 23-13". The New York Times . November 25, 1973. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
17. 1975 UCLA Media Guide, UCLA Athletic News Bureau, 1975