CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 UCLA

5–⁠6 (3–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Terry Donahue.

Schedule and results

UCLA in 1979, game by game: lost vs. No. 16 Houston 16–24; won vs. No. 5 Purdue 31–21; won at Wisconsin 37–12; lost vs. No. 14 Ohio State 13–17; lost at Stanford 24–27; lost at Washington State 14–17; won vs. California 28–27; lost vs. No. 20 Washington 14–34; won vs. Arizona State 31–28; won at Oregon 35–0; lost at No. 4 USC 14–49+35−35Lost 16–24 vs. No. 16 Houston-8No. 16 HoustonWon 31–21 vs. No. 5 Purdue+10No. 5 PurdueWon 37–12 at Wisconsin+25WisconsinLost 13–17 vs. No. 14 Ohio State-4No. 14 Ohio StateLost 24–27 at Stanford-3StanfordLost 14–17 at Washington State-3Washington StateWon 28–27 vs. California+1CaliforniaLost 14–34 vs. No. 20 Washington-20No. 20 WashingtonWon 31–28 vs. Arizona State+3Arizona StateWon 35–0 at Oregon+35OregonLost 14–49 at No. 4 USC-35No. 4 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vs16HoustonL 16–⁠2455%
Sep 15vs5PurdueW 31–⁠2155%
Sep 22atWisconsinW 37–⁠1261%
Sep 29vs14Ohio StateL 13–⁠1758%
Oct 6atStanfordL 24–⁠2748%
Oct 13atWashington StateL 14–⁠1771%
Oct 20vsCaliforniaW 28–⁠2762%
Oct 27vs20WashingtonL 14–⁠3453%
Nov 10vsArizona StateW 31–⁠2850%
Nov 17atOregonW 35–⁠049%
Nov 24at4USCL 14–⁠4917%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to USC 49–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 4: 17

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 1979.

Consensus All-AmericanKenny Easley, S

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 7th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 17
Points
257–⁠256
Coach
Terry Donahue
Elo
1584 −21 this season
SP+ rating
13.7 No. 29 of 135; offense No. 14, defense No. 56
SRS
12.1 No. 27 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Jed Hughes

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 3Brent Boyd CMinnesota Vikings

All-Pac-10

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1979 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC6–⁠0–⁠111–⁠0–⁠12
Washington5–⁠29–⁠311
Oregon4–⁠36–⁠5
Arizona4–⁠36–⁠5–⁠1
California5–⁠46–⁠6
Stanford3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Arizona State3–⁠46–⁠6
UCLA3–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠63–⁠8
Oregon State1–⁠71–⁠10

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