Nickels and Dimes: 1975 UCLA

As DICK VERMEIL'S tenure as UCLA kicked off in the fall of 1974, not many people were focused on football. After all, star QB MARK HARMON (yes, THAT Mark Harmon) had moved on. And despite former HC Pepper Rodgers' (he had left for Georgia Tech, his, um, Alma Otter) rebuilding job (2-7-1 to 8-3 to 9-2), the Bruins still couldn't get past a rebuilding-year USC, losing 23-13 in a winner-goes-to-the-Rose Bowl showdown. How was rookie HC Vermeil going to get UCLA over the hump without Leroy Jethro Gibbs?

Plus, UCLA was a basketball school, and '74-'75 saw the Bruins at a crossroads. The streak of national titles had ended at seven in the famous Final Four loss to David Thompson and North Carolina State. And BILL WALTON was no longer around to anchor things for the Bruins.

Honestly, people were right not to focus so much on UCLA football. The Bruins went 6-3-2 in '74 (losing a non-conference game to an Iowa squad that would go 3-8), which was good for a tie for third in the Pac-8, but clearly a step back. And the hoopsters rode a balanced, and still quite talented, roster to a national title in JOHN WOODEN'S final year as head coach.

But this article isn't about 1974 UCLA, it's about 1975 UCLA.

If your knowledge of Dick Vermeil is mostly the Greatest Show on Turf with the Rams, and the (former Hoosier) Trent Green/PRIEST HOLMES Chiefs of the early 2000s, it might surprise you to know that the Bruins ran the Veer offense in 75. But: 1) Vermeil was never averse to the run (I mentioned Priest Holmes, you know about MARSHALL FAULK, and you might want to look up WILBERT MONTGOMERY), 2) Vermeil had WENDELL TYLER.

So the Bruins ran the ball almost 700 times in 1975 (against 129 passes, of which fewer than half were completed) and, behind Tyler's 1216 yards and 6.5 ypc, it worked pretty well! The Bruins opened with wins over Iowa State (coached by eventual WOODY HAYES successor EARLE BRUCE) and #10 Tennessee, sending the Bruins into the top 10. But then they stumbled hard, tying a bad Air Force team and getting blown out by #2 Ohio State, 41-20. That said, Hayes allegedly told his team that they'd be seeing UCLA again in the Rose Bowl.

Obviously Hayes proved prophetic. UCLA started Pac-8 play with three straight victories, including a 28-14 win over California in the game the ultimately decided the conference race. In that game Tyler, with 143 rushing yards, more than held his own against Cal's CHUCK MUNCIE, who deserved the the Heisman that year.

As October ended, things looked typical for a Pac-8 season in the 70's. USC, fresh off a win in South Bend, was undefeated and sitting in the top 5 and UCLA was hanging around, also 3-0, despite some inconsistency in the non-conference. But then things got unusual.

On Nov. 1, the Bruins were upset by Washington, AND USC fell to Cal. When play ended that day, there was a five-way tie in the loss column for first among the California schools and Washington (Cal was 4-1; everybody else 3-1). It seemed we were headed for a frantic finish, but with the most likely scenario still being that the season would come down to USC and UCLA (who had victories over Stanford and Cal already in hand). However, neither of those things happened.

The next week Cal beat Washington, meaning UCLA's loss to Washington didn't matter as long as they kept winning. And USC fell to Stanford in the Coliseum, meaning it was now UCLA, Stanford, and Cal tied for first at 4-1. With only two weeks to play, and Stanford and Cal slated to face each other, USC had gone from being in the national title mix to being a Rose Bowl longshot in the space of eight days.

USC's skid continued the next week as they fell to Washington in Seattle by the thoroughly awesome score of 8-7. Stanford held off an upset bid by Oregon, 33-30, and Cal won a non-conference matchup with Air Force (who, see above, had tied UCLA) reducing USC to playing spoiler. To end the season, Cal would visit the Farm and the winner would cheer for USC to upend UCLA.

The Golden Bears' offense--one of the nation's best that year behind future Illinois HC MIKE WHITE (where he would make a Rose Bowl...ask Illinois fans all about it)--overwhelmed Stanford 48-15. However, UCLA punched their Rose Bowl ticket with a 25-22 victory over USC DESPITE LOSING 8 FUMBLES. Please read that sentence again. UCLA lost eight fumbles and still beat USC. Incidentally, that was legendary Trojan HC JOHN MCKAY'S last regular-season game with the Bruins as he was off to the NFL as the initial HC in Tampa Bay Buccaneer history.

[Quick note on how much the bowl system used to suck. 1975 was the first year B1G and Pac-8 teams other than the champs could go to a bowl game. Did USC, on a four-game losing streak get a bowl game? Yes. Did conference co-champ Cal and their thrilling offense? No.]

So, Woody Hayes was a prophet and it was Buckeyes vs. Bruins in the 1976 Rose Bowl. All Ohio State had to do to get Woody one more national title was beat a team they had already beaten by 21 (and had led by 30 plus) and were favored to beat by 15.5. And, unlike the last time Ohio State blew a natty in the Rose Bowl (to Stanford and Heisman winner Jim Plunkett), it wasn't like UCLA was running some newfangled passing attack. Just get ready to stop a Veer offense, again, and the Buckeyes should be fine. Of course, they weren't.

Things to know about the early going of the 1976 Rose Bowl:

1. Both teams wore their home uniforms and it was glorious.
2. Ohio State totally shut down UCLA in the first half, holding the Bruins without a first down until well into the second quarter.
3. Ohio State outrushed UCLA 155-9 in the first half and held the ball for more than 20 minutes.
4. Ohio State only led 3-0 at halftime owing to a 4th down stop by UCLA late in the first and a fumble inside the red zone in the second. Of note, OSU decided to throw on 4th and 2. It did not go well. Keep this in mind.
5. Heavily favored Ohio State respected UCLA's veer enough that they brought a safety up for run support.
6. Seeing this, at halftime Vermeil decided to open things up a bit. From there it was an entirely different game.

UCLA took the opening possession of the second half and put together a sustained drive, mostly behind a couple of chunk runs from Tyler, to tie things at three. But after stopping the Buckeyes, the Bruins' second drive clearly showed the evidence of Vermeil's adjustments. The Bruins missed the PAT, but led 9-3.

Totally not overreacting, Hayes called three consecutive pass plays on the Buckeyes' ensuing possession. One scramble and two incompletions later, OSU punted. UCLA put together another strong drive--just missing on a bomb that would have broken things open--but it came to nothing after a fumble of their own inside the OSU red zone. Given a reprieve, the Buckeyes could do next to nothing, and punted.

This time, UCLA didn't miss when attempting a long pass, and the Bruins led a shellshocked Ohio State 16-3.

Ohio State continued to lean on the pass, but was able to complete a couple to get into UCLA territory as the game moved to the fourth. For the rest of the drive, the Buckeyes moved back more to the run. And it worked. Two consecutive Pete Johnson carries (who did NOT win back-to-back Heisman trophies) converted a crucial 4th down and then cut the Bruin lead to 16-10.

At this point remember that style points don't matter for OSU. The only other undefeated FBS team (Arizona State) was in the WAC. A win is all OSU needs. Heck, a tie would probably get the Buckeyes the natty, but UCLA's missed PAT seemed to already take care of that possibility. Despite taking a couple of huge uppercuts in the third, OSU had most of the fourth quarter to play and just needed the defense to make a play.

They did.

Set up at the UCLA 35 following the INT runback and a personal foul on the Bruins, having quietly told some people this might be your best team ever (as Hayes allegedly had), armed with the B1G's all-time leading rusher, AND an absolute bulldozer at FB, what do you do?

Here's what Ohio State, inexplicably, did:

UCLA took over near midfield and ran about three minutes off the clock before shanking a 13 yard punt that set OSU up around their own 30, again, needing only a TD to win, and having about five minutes or so to get it. After a couple of runs had pushed the ball to the 40, Cornelius Greene threw another pick. Two plays later, Wendell Tyler delivered the coup de grace:

At this point it was all over but the crying. UCLA won 23-10. Woody crossed the field to congratulate Vermeil with eight seconds still on the clock.

He would not return to the Rose Bowl as HC of Ohio State.

Vermeil was off to Philly to revitalize the moribund Eagles, and OL coach Terry Donahue took of UCLA for the next 20 years. USC reasserted themselves for a while under John Robinson, and Don James created a power at Washington, but UCLA still won three Rose Bowls in a four-year span from '82-'85 behind Donahue. Still, January 1, 1976 may have been the biggest win in Bruin history.