1985 UCLA Bruins football team

The 1985 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their tenth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 9–2–1 record (6–2 Pac-10), finished in first place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and were ranked #7 in the final AP Poll.

1985 UCLA Bruins football
Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 45–28 vs. Iowa
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
Record	9–2–1 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (8th season)
Co-defensive coordinators	Bob Field (4th season) Tom Hayes (4th season)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 UCLA $	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Arizona	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Washington	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
USC	5	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Oregon	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Stanford	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
California	2	–	7	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

UCLA defeated defending national champion BYU 27–24 in Provo to start the season, and tied eventual SEC and Sugar Bowl champion Tennessee. The Bruins opened the Pac-10 season by losing 21–14 at Washington. They later got two key wins, the first against Arizona State, the second at Arizona. For much of the season, the rushing defense was ranked second in the nation, behind Oklahoma.^[1][2] They won the rest of their games leading to the 1985 USC vs UCLA game.

Needing a win against 4–5 USC, UCLA struggled. Gaston Green and Mel Farr Jr. had fumbles in the game. UCLA was leading in the fourth quarter 13–10 when Eric Ball fumbled at the USC 1 as he was about to score what would have been the clinching touchdown.^[3] Freshman quarterback Rodney Peete led USC on a drive, converting a key fourth down along the way. In the last two minutes, USC again faced a fourth down, this time at UCLA's 2-yard line. USC scored to take a 17–13 lead, then intercepted UCLA quarterback David Norrie as he tried to lead a Bruin comeback. UCLA's loss opened the door for Washington to grab the Rose Bowl berth, but they were upset by Washington State the same day, 21–20. Washington lost the advantage due to their upset home loss to Oregon State. This put Arizona State in position to win the conference as they entered their rivalry game with Arizona with only one conference loss (40–17 to UCLA). But later that evening, Arizona defeated Arizona State 16–13 to cause a tie between UCLA, Arizona State, and Arizona.^[4] UCLA won the tiebreaker and the Rose Bowl berth by virtue of its wins over Arizona and Arizona State.^[5][6]

UCLA ended the regular season with a record of 8–2–1, and head coach Terry Donahue had been named Pac-10 Coach of the year.^[7] Five Bruin players were first team All-Pac-10: defensive tackle Mark Walen, offensive tackle Mike Hartmeier, kicker John Lee, nose guard Terry Tumey, and inside linebacker Tommy Taylor. Walen was named Pac-10 defensive player of the year. UCLA finished ranked #1 in the nation in rushing defense, at 70.3 yards per game. Oklahoma was second with 89.9 yards per game.^[8]

The Bruins went on to defeat #4 Iowa in the 1986 Rose Bowl.^[9] Running back Eric Ball was selected as the most valuable player in the 1986 Rose Bowl.

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1985 were quarterback David Norrie with 1,819 passing yards, running back Gaston Green with 712 rushing yards, and wide receiver Karl Dorrell with 565 receiving yards.^[10]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	at No. 8 BYU*	No. 20	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	W 27–24	65,455	[11]
September 14	at Tennessee*	No. 10	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ABC	T 26–26	94,370	[12]
September 21	San Diego State*	No. 12	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 34–16	54,625	[13]
September 28	at Washington	No. 13	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	CBS	L 14–21	60,801	[14]
October 5	Arizona State		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	CBS	W 40–17	50,494	[15]
October 12	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 34–9	63,000	[16]
October 19	at Washington State	No. 18	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	KNBC	W 31–30	32,302	[17]
October 26	California	No. 17	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	TBS	W 34–7	61,530	[18]
November 9	at Arizona	No. 14	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 24–19	57,779	[19]
November 16	Oregon State	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 41–0	45,102	[20]
November 23	at USC	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)		L 13–17	90,064	[21]
January 1, 1986	vs. No. 4 Iowa*	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 45–28	103,292	[22]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

At BYU

At Tennessee

San Diego State

At Washington

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
UCLA	7	7	0	0	14
• Washington	0	11	10	0	21

• Date: September 28
• Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle
• Game attendance: 60,801
• Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C)

Scoring summary

1		UCLA	Sherrard 26-yard pass from Norrie (Lee kick)	UCLA 7-0
2		WASH	Jaeger 31-yard field goal	UCLA 7-3
2		UCLA	Dorrell 26-yard pass from Norrie (Lee kick)	UCLA 14-3
2		WASH	Hill 31-yard pass from Millen (Millen to Trimble pass)	UCLA 14-11
3		WASH	Jaeger 37-yard field goal	Tied 14-14
3		WASH	Toy 1-yard run (Jaeger kick)	WASH 21-14

See also: 1985 Washington Huskies football team

^[23]

Arizona State

At Stanford

At Washington State

California

See also: 1985 California Golden Bears football team and California–UCLA football rivalry

California Golden Bears (3–4) at #17 UCLA Bruins (5–1–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
California	7	0	0	0	7
UCLA	3	17	7	7	34

at Rose Bowl • Pasadena, California

• Date: October 26
• Game attendance: 61,530
• ^[24]

Game information
California Brown 7/15, 78 Yds Barbero 5 Rush, 31 Yds Vince Delgado 6 Rec, 47 Yds, TD UCLA David Norrie 12/19, 191 Yds, TD, INT Eric Ball 14 Rush, 101 Yds Karl Dorrell 2 Rec, 56 Yds

UCLA moved into first place in the Pac-10 with the win.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP CAL UCLA 1 13 76 California Delgado 17-yard touchdown reception from Bedford, Rix kick good 7 0 1 UCLA 46-yard field goal by Lee 7 3 2 UCLA Farr 45-yard touchdown reception from Norrie, Lee kick good 7 10 2 2:33 UCLA Interception returned 21 yards for touchdown by Turner, Lee kick good 7 17 2 0:06 UCLA 29-yard field goal by Lee 7 20 3 12:09 7 80 2:51 UCLA Norrie 3-yard touchdown run, Lee kick good 7 27 4 UCLA Wilson 38-yard touchdown reception from Stevens, Lee kick good 7 34 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 34

At Arizona

Oregon State

At USC

See also: 1985 USC Trojans football team and Victory Bell (UCLA–USC)

#8 UCLA Bruins (8–1–1) at USC Trojans (4–5)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
UCLA	7	6	0	0	13
USC	7	0	3	7	17

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: November 23
• Game attendance: 90,064
• ^[25]

Game information

First quarter UCLA – Eric Ball 1-yard run (John Lee kick). UCLA 7–0. Drive: USC – Joe Cormier 34-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Don Shafer kick). Tie 7–7. Drive: Second quarter UCLA – John Lee 22-yard field goal. UCLA 10–7. Drive: UCLA – John Lee 34-yard field goal. UCLA 13–7. Drive: Third quarter USC – Don Shafer 38-yard field goal. UCLA 13–10. Drive: Fourth quarter USC – Rodney Peete 1-yard run (Don Shafer kick). USC 17–13. Drive: Top passers UCLA – David Norrie – 14/21, 178 yards, 2 INT USC – Rodney Peete – 8/15, 101 yards, TD, INT Top rushers UCLA – Gaston Green – 28 rushes, 145 yards USC – Ryan Knight – 32 rushes, 147 yards Top receivers UCLA – Karl Dorrell – 5 receptions, 61 yards USC – Joe Cormier – 8 receptions, 101 yards

Vs. No. 4 Iowa (Rose Bowl)

#13 UCLA vs. #4 Iowa

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bruins	10	14	7	14	45
Hawkeyes	7	3	7	11	28

• Date: January 1, 1986
• Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
• Game start:
  2:12 p.m. PST
• Elapsed time: 3:18
• Game attendance: 103,292
• Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), Overcast, Wind S 5 mph (8.0 km/h)
• Referee: Tom Quinn
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen

Scoring summary

1	7:02	IOWA	David Hudson 1-yard run (Rob Houghtlin kick)	IOWA 7-0
1	3:23	UCLA	Eric Ball 30-yard run (Lee kick)	Tied 7-7
1	1:11	UCLA	John Lee 42-yard field goal	UCLA 10-7
2	7:43	IOWA	Rob Houghtlin 24-yard field goal	Tied 10-10
2	6:19	UCLA	Eric Ball 40-yard run (Lee kick)	UCLA 17-10
2	1:36	UCLA	Eric Ball 6-yard run (Lee kick)	UCLA 24-10
3	12:19	IOWA	Chuck Long 4-yard run (Rob Houghtlin kick)	UCLA 24-17
3	6:25	UCLA	Mike Sherrard 6-yard pass from Matt Stevens (J. Lee kick)	UCLA 31-17
4	13:25	UCLA	Eric Ball 32-yard run (Lee kick)	UCLA 38-17
4	10:51	IOWA	Rob Houghtlin 52-yard field goal	UCLA 38-20
4	6:38	UCLA	Matt Stevens 1-yard run (Lee kick)	UCLA 45-20
4	3:11	IOWA	Bill Happel 11-yard pass from Chuck Long (Harmon run)	UCLA 45-28

Main article: 1986 Rose Bowl

See also: 1985 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

^[26]

Personnel

1985 UCLA Bruins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 83 Willie Anderson So RB 21 Eric Ball Fr WR Dave Clinton OT 72 Robert Cox WR Paco Craig WR 8 Karl Dorrell Jr FB 22 Mel Farr So RB Greg Francois RB Bob Garabaldi C 69 Joe Goebel RB 44 Gaston Green So RB 45 Marcus Greenwood Jr G 63 Mike Hartmeier OT Robert Jenkins Sr OT 70 John Kidder QB Brendan McCracken G 77 Jim McCullough QB 9 David Norrie Sr TE Jeff Nowinski RB James Primus WR 82 Mike Sherrard Sr QB 11 Matt Stevens Jr TE 81 Derek Tennell Jr RB Danny Thompson OL Jim Warnick WR Al Wilson	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Frank Batchkoff DB Joe Gasser DL Jeff Glasser CB 2 Darryl Henley Fr LB 59 Melvin Jackson LB 99 Steve Jarecki Sr LB 7 Chance Johnson DB 31 Carnell Lake Fr DB 37 Chuckie Miller Jr LB 41 Ken Norton Jr. So DB Dennis Price DB Craig Rutledge LB Eric Smith LB 42 Tommy Taylor Sr NG 40 Terry Tumey So DB 23 Marcus Turner  Fr DL Jim Wahler DT 95 Mark Walen Sr DB James Washington DL Doug Wassel	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Ted Henderson K 25 John Lee Sr	Head coach Terry Donahue Coordinators/assistant coaches Greg Robinson (DL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

1986 NFL draft

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

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Mike Sherrard	Wide receiver	1	18	Dallas Cowboys
John Lee	Kicker	2	32	St. Louis Cardinals
Mark Walen	Defensive tackle	3	74	Dallas Cowboys
Tommy Taylor	Linebacker	4	97	San Diego Chargers
Robert Jenkins	Tackle	6	144	Los Angeles Rams
Steve Jarecki	Linebacker	8	195	Los Angeles Rams

^[27]