1983 UCLA Bruins football team

The 1983 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their eighth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 7–4–1 record (6–1–1 Pac-10), finished in first place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and were ranked #17 in the final AP Poll. The Bruins went on to defeat Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl.^[1] The Bruins began the season 0–3–1 before winning seven of their final eight games of the season.

1983 UCLA Bruins football
Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 45–9 vs. Illinois
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 17
Record	7–4–1 (6–1–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (6th season)
Co-defensive coordinators	Bob Field (2nd season) Tom Hayes (2nd season)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl
Seasons ← 1982 1984 →

1983 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 17 UCLA $	6	–	1	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Washington	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Washington State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
USC	4	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Arizona	4	–	3	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Arizona State	3	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Oregon	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
California	3	–	4	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Stanford	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1983 were quarterback Rick Neuheisel with 2,245 passing yards, running back Kevin Nelson with 898 rushing yards, and wide receiver Mike Sherrard with 709 receiving yards.^[2] Neuheisel was selected as the 1984 Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	at No. 15 Georgia*	No. 20	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	ABC	L 8–19	82,122	[3]
September 17	Arizona State		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	CBS	T 26–26	47,093	[4]
September 24	at No. 1 Nebraska*		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		L 10–42	76,510	[5]
October 1	BYU*		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	Metro	L 35–37	50,044	[6]
October 8	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 39–21	55,804	[7]
October 15	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 24–14	30,000	[8]
October 22	California		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 20–16	58,062	[9]
October 29	No. 11 Washington		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 27–24	60,094	[10]
November 5	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 24–13	24,511	[11]
November 12	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	CBS	L 24–27	42,640	[12]
November 19	at USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)		W 27–17	83,763	[13]
January 2, 1984	vs. No. 4 Illinois*		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 45–9	103,217	[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

USC

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• UCLA	3	3	7	14	27
USC	0	10	0	7	17

• Date: November 19
• Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
• Game attendance: 83,763

Scoring summary

Q1		UCLA	Lee 25 yard field goal	UCLA 3–0
Q2		UCLA	Lee 20 yard field goal	UCLA 6–0
Q2		USC	Spencer 1 yard run (Jordan kick)	USC 7–6
Q2		USC	Jordan 30 yard field goal	USC 10–6
Q3		UCLA	Dorrell 7 yard pass from Neuhiesel (Lee kick)	UCLA 13–10
Q4		UCLA	Nelson 12 yard run (Lee kick)	UCLA 20–10
Q4		UCLA	Wiley 17 yard run (Lee kick)	UCLA 27–10
Q4		USC	Spencer 7 yard run (Jordan kick)	UCLA 27–17

^[15]

1984 NFL draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Don Rogers	Defensive back	1	18	Cleveland Browns
Jay Schroeder	Quarterback	3	83	Washington Redskins

^[16]