CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 UCLA

8–⁠3–⁠1 (6–⁠2 Pac-10), coached by Terry Donahue, finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

UCLA in 1978, game by game: won at No. 11 Washington 10–7; won at Tennessee 13–0; lost at Kansas 24–28; won vs. Minnesota 17–3; won vs. No. 17 Stanford 27–26; won vs. Washington State 45–31; won at California 45–0; won vs. Arizona 24–14; won vs. Oregon 23–21; lost at Oregon State 13–15; lost vs. No. 5 USC 10–17; tied vs. No. 8 Arkansas 10–10+45−7Won 10–7 at No. 11 Washington+3No. 11 WashingtonWon 13–0 at Tennessee+13TennesseeLost 24–28 at Kansas-4KansasWon 17–3 vs. Minnesota+14MinnesotaWon 27–26 vs. No. 17 Stanford+1No. 17 StanfordWon 45–31 vs. Washington State+14Washington StateWon 45–0 at California+45CaliforniaWon 24–14 vs. Arizona+10ArizonaWon 23–21 vs. Oregon+2OregonLost 13–15 at Oregon State-2Oregon StateLost 10–17 vs. No. 5 USC-7No. 5 USCTied 10–10 vs. No. 8 Arkansas0No. 8 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9at11WashingtonW 10–⁠740%
Sep 16atTennesseeW 13–⁠059%
Sep 23atKansasL 24–⁠2870%
Sep 30vsMinnesotaW 17–⁠373%
Oct 7vs17StanfordW 27–⁠2661%
Oct 14vsWashington StateW 45–⁠3168%
Oct 21atCaliforniaW 45–⁠047%
Oct 27vsArizonaW 24–⁠1481%
Nov 4vsOregonW 23–⁠2190%
Nov 11atOregon StateL 13–⁠1584%
Nov 18vs5USCL 10–⁠1749%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvs8ArkansasFiesta BowlT 10–⁠1039%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied Arkansas 10–⁠10 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 18
  5. Wk 5: 16
  6. Wk 6: 14
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 10
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 9
  11. Wk 11: 14
  12. Wk 12: 17
  13. Wk 13: 15
  14. Wk 14: 15
  15. Final: 14

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

2 consensus All-AmericansJerry Robinson, LB; Kenny Easley, S

Record
8–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Pac-10
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 8
Points
261–⁠172
Coach
Terry Donahue
Elo
1656 +62 this season
SP+ rating
14.1 No. 25 of 133; offense No. 46, defense No. 13
SRS
15.6 No. 18 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Jed Hughes

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Manu Tuiasosopo DTSeattle Seahawks
Rd 1Jerry Robinson LBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 2James Owens RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 2Theotis Brown RBSt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 4Johnny Lynn DBNew York Jets
Rd 7Max Montoya OTCincinnati Bengals

All-Pac-10

5 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC6–⁠112–⁠12
UCLA6–⁠28–⁠3–⁠114
Washington6–⁠27–⁠4
Arizona State4–⁠39–⁠3
Stanford4–⁠38–⁠417
California3–⁠46–⁠5
Arizona3–⁠45–⁠6
Oregon2–⁠52–⁠9
Oregon State2–⁠63–⁠7–⁠1
Washington State1–⁠73–⁠7–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.