1954 UCLA Bruins football team
| 1954 UCLA Bruins football | |
|---|---|
 | |
National champion (UPI) PCC champion | |
| Conference | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 1 |
| AP | No. 2 |
| 1954 record | 9–0 (6–0 PCC) |
| Head coach | Red Sanders (6th year) |
| Offensive scheme | Single wing |
| Home stadium | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
| 1954 PCC football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #1/2 UCLA $ | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #17 USC | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1954 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the 1954 college football season. They played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and were coached by Henry Russell Sanders. It was Sanders' sixth season as the UCLA head coach. The Bruins finished 9–0 overall, and were Pacific Coast Conference Champions with a 6–0 record.[1] The Bruins compiled 367 points against their opponents in nine games, and allowed only 40 points. The Bruins were not eligible to play in the Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State because of the "no repeat" rule in effect at the time. No team was allowed to participate in consecutive Rose Bowl games, and since UCLA had played in the 1954 Rose Bowl, they were excluded from the 1955 event. USC competed in the Rose Bowl instead, losing to Ohio State. Following the outcome, UCLA and Ohio State split the national championship since UCLA was ranked #1 by the UPI Coaches Poll and Ohio State was ranked #1 by the AP Poll.
Previous season
The Bruins finished the 1953 regular season with a 9–1 overall record, and won the Pacific Coast Conference with a 6–1 record. Their only loss on the season came at Stanford, where they lost 20–21. UCLA participated in the 1954 Rose Bowl, losing to the #5 Michigan State Spartans 20–28.
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 18 | San Diego NTC* | No. 8 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | W 67–0 | |||||
| September 25 | at Kansas* | No. 8 | Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS | W 32–7 | |||||
| October 1 | No. 6 Maryland* | No. 4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | W 12–7 | 73,376 | ||||
| October 9 | at Washington | No. 2 | Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA | W 21–20 | 35,678 | ||||
| October 16 | Stanford | No. 3 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | W 72–0 | |||||
| October 23 | at Oregon State | No. 3 | Parker Stadium • Corvallis, OR | W 61–0 | |||||
| October 30 | at California | No. 3 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | W 27–6 | |||||
| November 6 | Oregon | No. 1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | W 41–0 | |||||
| November 20 | No. 7 USC | No. 2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | W 34–0 | 102,548 | ||||
*Non-conference game.  Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time. | |||||||||
Game notes
USC
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 7 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 34 |
| USC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A 48-yard pass from Primo Villanueva to Bob Heydenfeldt gave UCLA a 7–0 first quarter lead. The Bruins poured on with four touchdowns in the fourth quarter: Bob Davenport scored from the one-yard line, Villanueva passed to Terry Debay for a 12-yard touchdown, Rommie Loudd caught a pass from Doug Bradley for an 8-yard touchdown, and Sam Brown passed to Bruce Ballard for a 17-yard touchdown. USC had only 5 yards rushing.
Awards and honors
- First Team All Americans – Jack Ellena (T, consensus selection), Jim Salsbury (G), Bob Davenport (F)[2]
- All conference first team: Jack Ellena (T), Jim Salsbury (G), Bob Davenport (FB), Primo Villanueva (H), Bob Long (E), Sam Boghosian (G)
References
- ↑ "2011 UCLA Football Media Guide" (PDF). UCLABruins.com. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
- ↑ 1975 UCLA Media Guide, UCLA Athletic News Bureau, 1975