1980 UCLA Bruins football team

The 1980 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 9–2 record (5–2 Pac-10), finished in second place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and were ranked #13 in the final AP Poll.^[1]

1980 UCLA Bruins football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 13
Record	9–2 (5–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (3rd season)
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Seasons ← 1979 1981 →

1980 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 16 Washington $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 11 USC	4	–	2	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
Arizona State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Oregon	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Stanford	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
California	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1980 were quarterback Tom Ramsey with 1,116 passing yards, running back Freeman McNeil with 1,105 rushing yards, and wide receiver Cormac Carney with 591 receiving yards.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	Colorado*		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 56–14	37,250
September 20	at Purdue*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 23–14	69,333
September 27	Wisconsin*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 35–0	40,018
October 4	at No. 2 Ohio State*	No. 11	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 17–0	88,084
October 11	No. 16 Stanford	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 35–21	64,175
October 25	at California	No. 3	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 32–9	53,000
November 1	at Arizona	No. 2	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		L 17–23	42,876
November 8	Oregon	No. 8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 14–20	40,907
November 15	at Arizona State	No. 17	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		W 23–14	65,640
November 22	No. 12 USC	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	W 20–17	83,491
November 30	vs. Oregon State	No. 14	National Stadium Tokyo, Japan (Mirage Bowl)	KTLA	W 34–3	80,000	^[3]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1980 UCLA Bruins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 15 Michael Brant Sr RB 42 Frank Bruno So WR 83 Cormac Carney So OL 70 Gregg Charitiansen Sr WR 36 Ricky Coffman Jr WR 18 Willie Curran Jr TE 85 Ronnie DeBose Sr G 59 Dan Dufour So TE 90 James Forge Jr RB Chester Goynes RB Daryl Green G 77 Larry Lee Sr RB 24 Freeman McNeil Sr OT 79 Curt Mohl Sr RB 3 Kevin Nelson C 51 Dave Otey Jr RB 22 Jairo Penaranda Sr QB 14 Tom Ramsey So QB 7 Jay Schroeder So OL 67 Luis Sharpe Jr G 66 John Tautolo Sr WR 26 JoJo Townsell So WR 30 Dokie Williams So TE 91 Tim Wrightman Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 39 Arthur Akers Sr DL Mike Barbee DB 29 Mike Durden So CB 5 Kenny Easley Sr DT 75 Irv Eatman So LB 98 Chris Elias Sr DE Joe Gary Jr LB 41 Larry Hall So DL 40 Karl Morgan So DL Martin Moss LB 27 Blanchard Montgomery So LB 99 Brad Plummerons Jr LB 9 Avon Riley Sr DB 21 Lupe Sanchez So LB 44 Scott Stauch Sr SS 32 Tom Sullivan So DB 35 Jimmy Turner So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 8 Norm Johnson Jr P 37 Matt McFarland Sr K Doug Reeves	Head coach Terry Donahue Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Game summaries

Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 0 0 7 7 14 • UCLA 28 28 0 0 56 Date: September 13 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA Game attendance: 37,250

Scoring summary Q1 UCLA Ramsey 6 yard run (Johnson kick) UCLA 7–0 Q1 UCLA Townsell 15 yard pass from Ramsey (Johnson kick) UCLA 14–0 Q1 UCLA Ramsey 1 yard run (Johnson kick) UCLA 21–0 Q1 UCLA Penaranda 19 yard run (Johnson kick) UCLA 28–0 Q2 UCLA Schroeder 12 yard run (Reeves kick) UCLA 35–0 Q2 UCLA Penaranda 1 yard run (Potter kick) UCLA 42–0 Q2 UCLA D. Green 8 yard run (Reeves kick) UCLA 49–0 Q2 UCLA Nelson 2 yard run (Reeves kick) UCLA 56–0 Q3 COL Hawkins 9 yard run (Field kick) UCLA 56–7 Q4 COL Olander 25 yard pass from C. Davis (Field kick) UCLA 56–14

See also: 1980 Colorado Buffaloes football team

^[4]

At Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total • UCLA 3 0 14 0 17 Ohio State 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 4 Location: Ohio Stadium

See also: 1980 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

USC

See also: 1980 USC Trojans football team and The Victory Bell (UCLA–USC)

#12 USC Trojans (7–1–1) at #18 UCLA Bruins (7–2)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	3	0	7	7	17
UCLA	0	7	7	6	20

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Date: November 22, 1980
• Game attendance: 83,491
• Eugene Register-Guard, 1980 Nov 23.

Game information

First quarter USC – Eric Hipp 32-yard field goal. USC 3–0. Drive: Second quarter UCLA – Freeman McNeil 6-yard run (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 7–3. Drive: 80 yards. Third quarter USC – Jeff Simmons 12-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (Eric Hipp kick), 12:05. USC 10–7. Drive: UCLA – Michael Brant 25-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Norm Johnson kick). UCLA 14–10. Drive: Fourth quarter USC – Marcus Allen 1-yard run (Eric Hipp kick), 12:33. USC 17–14. Drive: 10 plays, 43 yards. UCLA – Freeman McNeil 58-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (kick failed), 2:07. UCLA 20–17. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards. Top passers USC – Scott Tinsley – 15/27, 146 yards, TD, INT UCLA – Jay Schroeder – 9/11, 165 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers USC – Marcus Allen – 37 rushes, 72 yards, TD UCLA – Freeman McNeil – 24 rushes, 111 yards, TD Top receivers USC – Jeff Simmons – 5 receptions, 53 yards, TD UCLA – Freeman McNeil – 2 receptions, 74 yards, TD

Terry Donahue's first win versus USC

Team players in the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Freeman McNeil	Running back	1	3	New York Jets
Kenny Easley	Defensive back	1	4	Seattle Seahawks
Larry Lee	Guard	5	129	Detroit Lions
Avon Riley	Linebacker	9	243	Houston Oilers
Curt Mohl	Tackle	9	248	Oakland Raiders
Rob DeBose	Tight end	11	286	San Francisco 49ers
Jairo Penaranda	Running back	12	328	Los Angeles Rams

^[5]

Awards and honors

• Kenny Easley, S, All American (consensus), All-Conference Honor
• Irv Eatman, DT, All-Conference Honor
• Avon Riley, LB, All-Conference Honor
• Tim Wrightman, TE, All-Conference Honor
• Larry Lee, OG, All-Conference Honor
• Freeman McNeil, TB, All American, All-Conference Honor

References

1. "1980 UCLA Bruins Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
2. "1980 UCLA Bruins Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
3. "Beavers lose in Japan, finish 0–11 for season". Albany Democrat-Herald. December 1, 1980. Retrieved January 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Bruins go on a Buffalo hunt." Eugene Register-Guard. 1980 Sept 14.
5. "1981 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved December 1, 2019.