1980 UCLA Bruins football team

American college football season

1980 UCLA Bruins football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 13
Record	9–2 (5–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jed Hughes (4th season)
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 16 Washington $	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 11 USC	4	–	2	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Arizona State	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Oregon	4	–	3	–	1	6	–	3	–	2
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
California	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 9–2 record (5–2 Pac-10), finished in second place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and were ranked No. 13 in the final AP Poll.

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1980 were quarterback Tom Ramsey with 1,116 passing yards, running back Freeman McNeil with 1,105 rushing yards, and wide receiver Cormac Carney with 591 receiving yards.^[1]

Schedule

[edit ]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	Colorado *	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 56–14	37,250	^[2]
September 20	at Purdue *	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 23–14	69,333	^[3]
September 27	Wisconsin *	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 35–0	40,018	^[4]
October 4	at No. 2 Ohio State *	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 17–0	88,084	^[5]
October 11	No. 16 Stanford	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 35–21	64,175	^[6]
October 25	at California	No. 3	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 32–9	53,000	^[7]
November 1	at Arizona	No. 2	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	L 17–23	42,876	^[8]
November 8	Oregon	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 14–20	40,907	^[9]
November 15	at Arizona State	No. 17	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	W 23–14	65,640	^[10]
November 22	No. 12 USC	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 20–17	83,491	^[11]
November 30	vs. Oregon State	No. 14	National Stadium Tokyo, Japan (Mirage Bowl)	KTLA	W 34–3	80,000	^[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[13]

Game summaries

[edit ]

Colorado

[edit ]

1	2	3	4	Total
Colorado	0	0	7	7	14
• UCLA	28	28	0	0	56

Date: September 13
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Game attendance: 37,250

Scoring summary
Q1	UCLA	Ramsey 6 yard run (Johnson kick)	UCLA 7–0
Q1	UCLA	Townsell 15 yard pass from Ramsey (Johnson kick)	UCLA 14–0
Q1	UCLA	Ramsey 1 yard run (Johnson kick)	UCLA 21–0
Q1	UCLA	Penaranda 19 yard run (Johnson kick)	UCLA 28–0
Q2	UCLA	Schroeder 12 yard run (Reeves kick)	UCLA 35–0
Q2	UCLA	Penaranda 1 yard run (Potter kick)	UCLA 42–0
Q2	UCLA	D. Green 8 yard run (Reeves kick)	UCLA 49–0
Q2	UCLA	Nelson 2 yard run (Reeves kick)	UCLA 56–0
Q3	COL	Hawkins 9 yard run (Field kick)	UCLA 56–7
Q4	COL	Olander 25 yard pass from C. Davis (Field kick)	UCLA 56–14

^[14]

At Ohio State

[edit ]

1	2	3	4	Total
• UCLA	3	0	14	0	17
Ohio State	0	0	0	0	0

Date: October 4
Location: Ohio Stadium

USC

[edit ]

#12 USC Trojans (7–1–1) at #18 UCLA Bruins (7–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	3	0	7	7	17
UCLA	0	7	7	6	20

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Date: November 22, 1980
Game attendance: 83,491
Eugene Register-Guard, 1980 Nov 23.

Game information

First quarter

USC – Eric Hipp 32-yard field goal. USC 3–0. Drive:

Second quarter

UCLA – Freeman McNeil 6-yard run (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 7–3. Drive: 80 yards.

Third quarter

USC – Jeff Simmons 12-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (Eric Hipp kick), 12:05. USC 10–7. Drive:
UCLA – Michael Brant 25-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 14–10. Drive:

Fourth quarter

USC – Marcus Allen 1-yard run (Eric Hipp kick), 12:33. USC 17–14. Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards.
UCLA – Freeman McNeil 58-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (kick failed), 2:07. UCLA 20–17. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards.

Top passers

USC – Scott Tinsley – 15/27, 146 yards, TD, INT
UCLA – Jay Schroeder – 9/11, 165 yards, 2 TD, INT

Top rushers

USC – Marcus Allen – 37 rushes, 72 yards, TD
UCLA – Freeman McNeil – 24 rushes, 111 yards, TD

Top receivers

USC – Jeff Simmons – 5 receptions, 53 yards, TD
UCLA – Freeman McNeil – 2 receptions, 74 yards, TD

Terry Donahue's first win versus USC

Personnel

[edit ]

1980 UCLA Bruins football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`15`	Michael Brant	Sr
RB	`42`	Frank Bruno	So
WR	`83`	Cormac Carney	So
OL	`70`	Gregg Charitiansen	Sr
WR	`36`	Ricky Coffman	Jr
WR	`18`	Willie Curran	Jr
TE	`85`	Ronnie DeBose	Sr
G	`59`	Dan Dufour	So
TE	`90`	James Forge	Jr
RB		Chester Goynes
RB		Daryl Green
G	`77`	Larry Lee	Sr
RB	`24`	Freeman McNeil	Sr
OT	`79`	Curt Mohl	Sr
RB	`3`	Kevin Nelson
C	`51`	Dave Otey	Jr
RB	`22`	Jairo Penaranda	Sr
QB	`14`	Tom Ramsey	So
QB	`7`	Jay Schroeder	So
OL	`67`	Luis Sharpe	Jr
G	`66`	John Tautolo	Sr
WR	`26`	JoJo Townsell	So
WR	`30`	Dokie Williams	So
TE	`91`	Tim Wrightman	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`39`	Arthur Akers	Sr
DL		Mike Barbee
DB	`29`	Mike Durden	So
CB	`5`	Kenny Easley	Sr
DT	`75`	Irv Eatman	So
LB	`98`	Chris Elias	Sr
DE		Joe Gary	Jr
LB	`41`	Larry Hall	So
DL	`40`	Karl Morgan	So
DL		Martin Moss
LB	`27`	Blanchard Montgomery	So
LB	`99`	Brad Plummerons	Jr
LB	`9`	Avon Riley	Sr
DB	`21`	Lupe Sanchez	So
LB	`44`	Scott Stauch	Sr
SS	`32`	Tom Sullivan	So
DB	`35`	Jimmy Turner	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`8`	Norm Johnson	Jr
P	`37`	Matt McFarland	Sr
K		Doug Reeves

Head coach

Terry Donahue

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured Injured
Redshirt Redshirt

Awards and honors

[edit ]

Kenny Easley, S, All American (consensus), All-Conference Honor
Irv Eatman, DT, All-Conference Honor
Avon Riley, LB, All-Conference Honor
Tim Wrightman, TE, All-Conference Honor
Larry Lee, OG, All-Conference Honor

Team players in the NFL

[edit ]

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

Player Position Round Pick Franchise

Freeman McNeil Running back 1 3 New York Jets

Kenny Easley Defensive back 1 4 Seattle Seahawks

Larry Lee Guard 5 129 Detroit Lions

Avon Riley Linebacker 9 243 Houston Oilers

Curt Mohl Tackle 9 248 Oakland Raiders

Rob DeBose Tight end 11 286 San Francisco 49ers

Jairo Penaranda Running back 12 328 Los Angeles Rams

^[15]

Freeman McNeil, TB, All American, All-Conference Honor

References

[edit ]

^ "1980 UCLA Bruins Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
^ "UCLA romps; Bruins sit on Colorado and on 56 points". The Los Angeles Times. September 14, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UCLA wins 23–14 as mistakes prove costly for Purdue". The Courier-Journal. September 21, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Wisconsin goes hungry". The Journal Times. September 28, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UCLA brings Buckeyes back to earth". Wisconsin State Journal. October 5, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UCLA, McNeil rip Cards". The Victoria Advocate. October 12, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UCLA keeps rolling with 32–9 victory". Wisconsin State Journal. October 26, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Arizona shocks second-ranked UCLA 23–17". The Idaho Statesman. November 2, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Ogburn stars as Oregon stuns UCLA, 20–14". The Tampa Tribune-Times. November 9, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Sophomore QB leads Bruins past Sun Devils". The Sunday Oregonian. November 16, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "A victory worth the world; Bruins rally vs. USC". The Daily Breeze. November 23, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Beavers lose in Japan, finish 0–11 for season". Albany Democrat-Herald. December 1, 1980. Retrieved January 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1980 UCLA Bruins Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
^ "Bruins go on a Buffalo hunt." Eugene Register-Guard. 1980 Sept 14.
^ "1981 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference . Retrieved December 1, 2019.

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 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold