| 1953UCLA Bruins football | |
|---|---|
PCC champion | |
Rose Bowl, L 20–28 vs.Michigan State | |
| Conference | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 4 |
| AP | No. 5 |
| Record | 8–2 (6–1 PCC) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive scheme | Single-wing |
| Home stadium | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
Seasons | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5UCLA $ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19Stanford | 5 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 4 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 2 | – | 2 | – | 2 | 4 | – | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 2 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 0 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1953 UCLA Bruins football team represented theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in thePacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the1953 college football season. Led by fifth-year head coachRed Sanders, theBruins played their home games at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The team completed the regular season with an 8–1 record (6–1 in PCC, first) for the first of three consecutive conference titles.
UCLA played in theRose Bowl but was defeated 28–20 by eighth-rankedMichigan State and finished at 8–2. The Bruins finished fourth in theCoaches Poll and fifth in theAP Poll, both released prior to thebowl games.[1]
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 18 | Oregon State | No. 4 | W 41–0 | 39,209 | |||
| September 25 | Kansas* | No. 4 |
| W 19–7 | 42,829 | [2] | |
| October 3 | atOregon | No. 5 | W 12–0 | 24,587 | [3] | ||
| October 9 | Wisconsin* | No. 6 |
| W 13–0 | 52,887 | ||
| October 17 | atStanford | No. 4 | L 20–21 | 45,000 | [4] | ||
| October 24 | Washington State | No. 12 |
| W 44–7 | 27,608 | ||
| October 31 | California | No. 10 |
| W 20–7 | 70,073 | [5] | |
| November 14 | Washington | No. 7 |
| W 22–6 | 13,302 | ||
| November 21 | at No. 9USC | No. 5 |
| W 13–0 | 85,366 | ||
| January 1, 1954 | vs. No. 3Michigan State | No. 5 | NBC | L 20–28 | 100,500 | [6] | |
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Conference opponent not played this season:Idaho
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| USC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
By winning this game, the Bruins were the PCC Champions and received theRose Bowl bid. California assisted with a 21–21 tie with Stanford. Bob Heydenfeldt and Paul Cameron scored in the second and fourth quarter respectively.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSU | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| UCLA | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
This was the first meeting between the two schools. It was the first Rose Bowl appearance for the Spartans. They had previously only played in the 1938 Orange Bowl. It was the third bowl appearance for the Bruins. The weather was sunny. The Spartans wore their green home jerseys and the Bruins wore their white road jerseys.
The Spartans fumbled twice in the first half, which allowed the Bruins the first two scores. Michigan State had only one completed pass and 56 yards in the first half. The Spartans scored a touchdown with 4:45 remaining in the first half.
Victor Postula knocked down four Bruin passes. Coach Biggie Munn instituted a "split line offense" against the Bruins.[7]
The Spartans assembled two long drives in the third quarter to pull ahead 21–-14. The Bruins recovered another Spartan fumble and scored to make the score 21–20. But the extra point kick failed. Billy Wells of Michigan State returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown with 4:51 left in the game.