1981 UCLA Bruins football team

1981 UCLA Bruins football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, L 14–33 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	7–4–1 (5–2–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (4th season)
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Washington $	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 14 USC	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Washington State	5	–	2	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
UCLA	5	–	2	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Arizona	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
California	2	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 7–4–1 record (5–2–1 Pac-10), finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and lost to Michigan in the 1981 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.^[1]

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1981 were quarterback Tom Ramsey with 1,793 passing yards, running back Kevin Nelson with 883 rushing yards, and wide receiver Cormac Carney with 539 receiving yards.^[2]

This was the Bruins' final season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, their home field since 1928, sharing with the USC Trojans. UCLA moved to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for the 1982 season.

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Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	at Arizona	No. 12	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 35–18	49,311
September 19	at No. 20 Wisconsin*	No. 9	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 31–13	69,212
September 26	at Iowa*	No. 6	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	KTLA	L 7–20	60,004
October 3	Colorado*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 27–7	40,347
October 10	at Stanford	No. 17	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 23–26	70,103
October 17	at No. 18 Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	T 17–17	40,000
October 24	California		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 34–6	41,637
October 31	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 28–11	24,272
November 7	No. 16 Washington		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 31–0	41,818
November 14	No. 9 Arizona State	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 34–24	47,361
November 21	at No. 10 USC	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 21–22	89,432
December 31	vs. No. 16 Michigan*	No. 19	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)		L 14–33	50,107
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1981 UCLA Bruins football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`24`	Danny Andrews	Fr
QB	`12`	Steve Bono	So
RB	`42`	Frank Bruno	Jr
WR	`83`	Cormac Carney	Jr
RB	`46`	Frank Cephous	So
WR	`36`	Ricky Coffman	Sr
WR	`18`	Willie Curran	Sr
G	`59`	Dan Dufour	Jr
TE	`90`	James Forge	Sr
TE		Harper Howell
OT	`67`	Duval Love	Fr
OL	`62`	Dan Mahistedt	So
RB		Terry Morehead
RB	`3`	Kevin Nelson	So
QB	`10`	Rick Neuheisel	So
QB	`9`	David Norrie	Fr
C	`51`	Dave Otey	Sr
QB	`14`	Tom Ramsey	Jr
RB		Toa Saipale
RB	`37`	Burness Scott	So
OT	`67`	Luis Sharpe	Sr
WR	`26`	Jo-Jo Townsell	Jr
RB	`22`	Bryan Wiley	Fr
WR	`30`	Dokie Williams	Jr
OL	`60`	Steve Williams	So
G	`68`	Blake Wingle	Jr
TE	`91`	Tim Wrightman	Sr
OL	`66`	Chris Yelch	So
WR	`82`	Mike Young	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`86`	Ron Butler	So
LB	`39`	Neal Dellocono	Fr
DT	`53`	Joe Gary	Sr
LB	`92`	Ike Gordon	Sr
DB	`2`	Walter Lang	Jr
LB	`27`	Blanchard Montgomery	Jr
DT	`40`	Karl Morgan	Jr
DL	`55`	Martin Moss	Sr
LB		Gene Newborn
LB	`99`	Brad Plemmons	Sr
S	`7`	Don Rogers	So
DB	`21`	Lupe Sanchez	Jr
SS	`32`	Tom Sullivan	Jr
DB	`35`	Jimmy Turner	Jr
LB	`41`	Doug West	So
LB	`87`	Glenn Windom	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`17`	Kevin Buenafe	So
K	`8`	Norm Johnson	Sr

Head coach

Terry Donahue

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Season summary

At USC

#15 UCLA Bruins (7–2–1) at #10 USC Trojans (8–2)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
UCLA	7	11	3	0	21
USC	3	9	0	10	22

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Date: November 21, 1981
Game attendance: 89,432
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles
Eugene Register-Guard, 1981 Nov 22.

Game information

First quarter

USC – Steve Jordan 38-yard field goal. USC 3–0. Drive:
UCLA – Kevin Nelson 11-yard run (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 7–3. Drive:

Second quarter

USC – Steve Jordan 44-yard field goal. UCLA 7–6. Drive:
USC – Marcus Allen 7-yard run (pass failed). USC 12–7. Drive:
UCLA – Ricky Coffman 23-yard pass from Tom Ramsey (pass good). UCLA 15–12. Drive:
UCLA – Norm Johnson 32-yard field goal. UCLA 18–12. Drive:

Third quarter

UCLA – Norm Johnson 28-yard field goal. UCLA 21–12. Drive:

Fourth quarter

USC – Steve Jordan 22-yard field goal. UCLA 21–15. Drive:
USC – Marcus Allen 5-yard run (Steve Jordan kick), 2:14. USC 22–21. Drive:

Top passers

UCLA – Tom Ramsey – 12/25, 154 yards, TD, 2 INT
USC – John Mazur – 9/22, 65 yards, INT

Top rushers

UCLA – Kevin Nelson – 26 rushes, 79 yards, TD
USC – Marcus Allen – 40 rushes, 219 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

UCLA – Jo-Jo Townsell – 5 receptions, 85 yards
USC – Jeff Simmons – 2 receptions, 64 yards

Norm Johnson's game-winning 46-yard field goal attempt was blocked in the final seconds and UCLA lost its opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl.

1982 NFL Draft

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

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Luis Sharpe	Tackle	1	16	St. Louis Cardinals
Tim Wrightman	Tight end	3	62	Chicago Bears

^[3]

References

^ "1981 UCLA Bruins Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
^ "1981 UCLA Bruins Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
^ "1982 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

v t e UCLA Bruins football
Venues	Moore Field (1919–1928) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1926–1981) Rose Bowl (1982–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California USC: Victory Bell
Culture & lore	Joe Bruin "Sons of Westwood" "Mighty Bruins" Marching band 1967 "Game of the Century" 1998 Miami game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold

This page was last edited on 13 December 2023, at 07:59

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