CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 UCLA

10–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Pac-10), coached by Bob Toledo, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

UCLA in 1997, game by game: lost at Washington State 34–37; lost vs. No. 3 Tennessee 24–30; won at No. 11 Texas 66–3; won vs. Arizona 40–27; won vs. Houston 66–10; won at Oregon 39–31; won vs. Oregon State 34–10; won vs. California 35–17; won at Stanford 27–7; won vs. No. 13 Washington 52–28; won at USC 31–24; won vs. No. 20 Texas A&M 29–23+63−6Lost 34–37 at Washington State-3Washington StateLost 24–30 vs. No. 3 Tennessee-6No. 3 TennesseeWon 66–3 at No. 11 Texas+63No. 11 TexasWon 40–27 vs. Arizona+13ArizonaWon 66–10 vs. Houston+56HoustonWon 39–31 at Oregon+8OregonWon 34–10 vs. Oregon State+24Oregon StateWon 35–17 vs. California+18CaliforniaWon 27–7 at Stanford+20StanfordWon 52–28 vs. No. 13 Washington+24No. 13 WashingtonWon 31–24 at USC+7USCWon 29–23 vs. No. 20 Texas A&M+6No. 20 Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atWashington StateL 34–⁠3752%
Sep 6vs3TennesseeL 24–⁠3034%
Sep 13at11TexasW 66–⁠327%
Sep 27vsArizonaW 40–⁠2768%
Oct 4vsHoustonW 66–⁠1080%
Oct 11atOregonW 39–⁠3154%
Oct 18vsOregon StateW 34–⁠1082%
Oct 25vsCaliforniaW 35–⁠1782%
Nov 1atStanfordW 27–⁠756%
Nov 15vs13WashingtonW 52–⁠2853%
Nov 22atUSCW 31–⁠2459%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs20Texas A&MCotton BowlW 29–⁠2363%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas A&M 29–⁠23 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Pac-10 champions.

In program history: The 6th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 24
  2. Wk 6: 24
  3. Wk 7: 22
  4. Wk 8: 18
  5. Wk 9: 17
  6. Wk 10: 13
  7. Wk 11: 12
  8. Wk 12: 10
  9. Wk 13: 9
  10. Wk 14: 7
  11. Wk 15: 6
  12. Wk 16: 5
  13. Wk 17: 5
  14. Final: 5

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 1997.

Pac-10 champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Washington State

Led the nationCade McNown: passer rating (168.6); Randy Moss: points (156 pts); Skip Hicks: points per game (13)

Consensus All-AmericanChad Overhauser, OL

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Pac-10
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 5
Points
477–⁠247
Coach
Bob Toledo
Elo
1740 +197 this season
SP+ rating
25.8 No. 9 of 112; offense No. 3, defense No. 31
SRS
21.4 No. 8 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Al Borges
Defensive coordinator
Rocky Long
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 1Shaun Williams DBNew York Giants
Rd 3Skip Hicks RBWashington Redskins
Rd 7Chad Overhauser OGChicago Bears

All-Pac-10

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington State7–⁠110–⁠29
UCLA7–⁠110–⁠25
Arizona State6–⁠29–⁠314
Washington5–⁠38–⁠418
Arizona4–⁠47–⁠5
USC4–⁠46–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠57–⁠5
Stanford3–⁠55–⁠6
California1–⁠73–⁠8
Oregon State0–⁠83–⁠8

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