1997 UCLA Bruins football team

1997 UCLA Bruins football
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Cotton Bowl Champions Pacific-10 Conference Co-Champions
Cotton Bowl Classic vs. Texas A&M, W, 29–23
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#5
AP	#5
1997 record	10–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Bob Toledo (2nd year)
Offensive coordinator	Alan Borges (2nd year)
Defensive coordinator	Rocky Long (2nd year)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl (Capacity: 98,636)

1997 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#9 Washington State +		7	–	1					10	–	2
#5 UCLA +		7	–	1					10	–	2
#14 Arizona State		6	–	2					9	–	3
#18 Washington		5	–	3					8	–	4
Arizona		4	–	4					7	–	5
USC		4	–	4					6	–	5
Oregon		3	–	5					7	–	5
Stanford		3	–	5					5	–	6
California		1	–	7					3	–	8
Oregon State		0	–	8					3	–	8
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 UCLA Bruins football team represented UCLA in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and were coached by Bob Toledo. It was Toledo's second season as the UCLA head coach. The Bruins finished 10–2 overall, and were Pac-10 Co-Champions with a 7–1 record. The Bruins were invited to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic vs. Texas A&M on January 1, 1998. Though the Bruins were down 16-7 at the half, Cade McNown, the offensive MVP of the game, led the team to a 29–23 victory. The team was ranked #5 in the final AP Poll and #5 in the final Coaches' Poll.

Pre-Season

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings § Preseason polls

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	12:30 PM	at Washington State		Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA	ABC	L 34–37	26,000
September 6	12:30 PM	#3 Tennessee*		Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	ABC	L 24–30	62,619
September 13	12:30 PM	at #11 Texas*		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX	ABC	W 66–3	77,203
September 27	3:30 PM	Arizona	#24	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	FSN	W 40–27	50,188
October 4	3:30 PM	Houston*	#22	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	FSW2	W 66–10	38,004
October 11	3:30 PM	at Oregon	#18	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR	FX	W 39–31	42,314
October 18	3:30 PM	Oregon State	#17	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	FSN	W 34–10	38,165
October 25	3:30 PM	California	#13	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA		W 35–17	52,858
November 1	3:30 PM	at Stanford	#12	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	FSN	W 27–7	54,332
November 15	12:30 PM	#13 Washington	#9	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 52–28	85,697
November 22	12:30 PM	at USC	#7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 31–24	91,350
January 1	10:30 AM	vs. #20 Texas A&M*	#5	Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 29–23	59,215
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time.

Game notes

Washington State Cougars

See also: 1997 Washington State Cougars football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	21	7	3	3	34
Cougars	14	21	0	2	37

Tennessee Volunteers

See also: 1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 Volunteers	0	24	3	3	30
Bruins	7	7	3	7	24

Texas Longhorns

See also: 1997 Texas Longhorns football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	28	14	21	3	66
#11 Longhorns	0	0	3	0	3

Arizona Wildcats

See also: 1997 Arizona Wildcats football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	20	0	27
#24 Bruins	31	6	0	3	40

Houston Cougars

See also: Houston Cougars football

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	0	0	3	10
#22 Bruins	42	7	7	10	66

Oregon Ducks

See also: 1997 Oregon Ducks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Bruins	27	3	6	3	39
Ducks	21	7	3	0	31

Oregon State Beavers

See also: 1997 Oregon State Beavers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	10	0	0	0	10
#17 Bruins	14	14	3	3	34

California Golden Bears

See also: 1997 California Golden Bears football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	14	3	0	0	17
#13 Bruins	0	14	14	7	35

Stanford Cardinal

See also: 1997 Stanford Cardinal football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Bruins	14	7	3	3	27
Cardinal	0	0	7	0	7

Washington Huskies

See also: 1997 Washington Huskies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Huskies	17	3	8	0	28
#9 Bruins	3	14	21	14	52

USC Trojans

See also: 1997 USC Trojans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Bruins	10	7	7	7	31
Trojans	14	7	3	0	24

The Bruins retained the Victory Bell for the seventh straight year.

Texas A&M Aggies (Cotton Bowl Classic)

See also: 1997 Texas A&M Aggies football team and 1998 Cotton Bowl Classic

UCLA vs. Texas A&M
(Cotton Bowl Classic)

1 2 3 4 Total • #5 UCLA 0 7 14 8 29 #20 Aggies 7 9 7 0 23 Date: January 1 Location: Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX Game attendance: 59,215 Game weather: 53ºF, Cloudy TV announcers (CBS): Gus Johnson and Mike Mayock

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP UCLA Texas A&M 1 4:35 Texas A&M Interception returned 64 yards for touchdown by Brandon Jennings, Kyle Bryant kick good 0 7 2 10:18 Texas A&M Cade McNown tackled in endzone for a safety by Zerick Rollins 0 9 2 5:54 3 90 Texas A&M Dante Hall 74-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bryant kick good 0 16 2 0:02 5 47 UCLA Jim McElroy 22-yard touchdown reception from Cade McNown, Chris Sailer kick good 7 16 3 12:34 3 45 UCLA Skip Hicks 41-yard touchdown reception from Cade McNown, Chris Sailer kick good 14 16 3 8:37 8 65 Texas A&M Chris Cole 43-yard touchdown run, Kyle Bryant kick good 14 23 3 2:44 8 65 UCLA Cade McNown 20-yard touchdown run, Chris Sailer kick good 21 23 4 7:05 8 71 UCLA Ryan Neufeld 5-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good 29 23 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 29 23

Rankings

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	RV	24	24	22	18	17	13	12	10	9	7	6	5	5	5
Coaches'	RV	RV	NR	RV	RV	RV	25	19	18	16	13	11	10	9	7	6	6	5
Harris	Not released																	Not released
BCS	Not released																	Not released

Awards and honors

Skip Hicks, Chad Overhauser, and Chris Sailer were selected to the 1997 College Football All-America Team.

1998 NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Team
Shaun Williams	1	24	Free Safety	New York Giants
Skip Hicks	3	69	Running Back	Washington Redskins
Chad Overhauser	7	217	Offensive Guard	Chicago Bears