Frank Jordan's 38-yarder ended the 1977 Pac-8 race and UCLA's season, 29-27
Dropbox link for 1977 UCLA Bruins Cards for Strat-O-Matic College Football
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The 1977 Pac-8 wasn’t supposed to be very close. Coach John Robinson’s USC Trojans had finished the previous year at 11-1, had beaten Michigan in the Rose Bowl, and finished ranked #2 in the country behind the undefeated Pitt Panthers. The 1978 USC Trojans would also finish 11-1, also beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, and would tie for a split National Championship with the Alabama Crimson Tide. All three teams from all three seasons were loaded with NFL level talent, and yet this year, 1977, USC could only play the role of spoiler in the wacky Pac-8.
A staple play in USC's scheme, Student Body Right.
USC featured QB Rob Hertel, also the Trojan baseball team’s second baseman, RB Charles White, who carried on the tradition of USC tailbacks, and WR Randy Simrin, who at this stage of his career had already surpassed some of Lynn Swann’s receiving records. But Notre Dame would don Green Jerseys in South Bend facing the #5 Trojans, and more importantly they would expose USC’s special teams by faking a FG attempt for a first down (and one play later a touchdown), blocking a punt, and running a muffed extra point in for two. A terminal malaise set in after that, and USC would drop 2 of their next three in-conference games, opening the door for several newcomers.
Of the rest, UCLA had shared the conference in 1975 with Cal, and had finished 9-2-1 in 1976 under first year coach Terry Donahue, but they were seen as at least a year away in 1977. UCLA did have a lot of talent, with RBs Theotis Brown and James Owens, OL Bruce Davis and Max Montoya, LBs Jerry Robinson and Manu Tuiasosopo, and Kenny Easley in the secondary. Mike White’s Cal team seemed to be next best bet. Cal had only finished 5-6 the previous year in an injury-marred effort, but had finished 8-3 in 1975 and seemed poised to regain a Bowl bid. Cal featured QB Charlie Young, RB Paul Jones, and WRs Jesse Freitas and Jesse Thompson, along with Kicker Jim Breech. Even back then, before ’81 and The Catch and the wins in Super Bowls in 1981, 1984 and 1988 in the NFL, everyone seemed to know what Bill Walsh would be capable of at Stanford. He had come to college football to coach after having been a very successful passing game assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he had top-tier talent available to him in passer Guy Benjamin, WR James Lofton, and HB Darrin Nelson. They did not have a lot of depth nor did they play a lot of defense, But Walsh promised to make Stanford games interesting by filling the sky with footballs.
The last team on the list was the Washington Huskies. The Huskies had finished 6-5 in 1975 and 5-6 in 1976, and they hadn’t won a Rose Bowl since 1960, but opposing coaches knew they could move the ball with the best teams in the conference. Not much was expected of them, and a 1-3 start in non-conference games did not inspire confidence in Seattle. Meanwhile USC and Stanford were undefeated at the top of the conference at 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
Pac-8 Conference Records, by Week
On October 8, Washington won their conference opener while Stanford topped UCLA in a 32-29 barnburner in Stanford Stadium to knock them back to 2-3 overall. Cal had come into the weekend ranked 17th and 4-0, but got upset at Martin Stadium in Pullman by Washington State, 17-14. This left three leaders, Washington, Stanford, and USC, who at this point had only lost one game by one point to Alabama. A week later, Washington did not play gracious hosts to Stanford, whipping them 45-21 to make it a two-horse race.
Or so we thought.
USC suffered their Green Jersey beat down on October 22, the same weekend UCLA beat Cal at the Coliseum 21-19 and effectively ended their conference hopes, even though they were 5-2 overall. It was a shocking fall for a team that had been ranked 15th in the country. The next weekend the Golden Bears took out their frustrations on the hapless Trojans up in Berkeley. Still reeling from their caning at the hands of The Jeweled Shillelagh, USC dropped a close one 17-14 to the Bears and when UCLA beat the Huskies 20-12 at the LA Coliseum four teams could look at the Sunday papers on October 30th tied for the lead with only one loss in the Pac-8.
A week later, on November 5th, Washington definitively ended Cal’s glimmering hopes 50-31 up in Berkeley, and by now the rest of the conference knew they were in trouble. Still, USC regrouped and beat Stanford 49-0 to make it a three-horse race, USC, UCLA, and Washington. This set up the big showdown up in Husky Stadium between the Trojans and the Huskies, which the Huskies dominated 28-10. The Huskies had now won five of six to tie them with their co-leader UCLA, but their problem was their lone Pac-8 loss was to the Bruins. They needed help to stop UCLA.
Terry Donnelly was poised to do something special at UCLA. But rivalry games are funny, sometimes the lesser team, the team with their backs up against the wall, is like a cockroach- it’s not what they can carry away, it’s what they might fall into, and ruin.
Stanford won their last conference game over reeling Cal 21-3, and at 8-3 they were poised to claim a Sun Bowl berth. For Washington, a USC win would give the Huskies the sole one loss PAC-8 record and the Rose Bowl, denying the Bruins a Bowl, while the Bruins would go to the Rose Bowl with a win, possibly denying USC a bowl berth altogether. Everything was at stake in that last game.
And Washington won the 1977 Pac-8 title because USC made sure UCLA didn’t claim it. If the Bruins could have taken down USC, they would have earned a spot in the 1978 Rose Bowl against Michigan. Donahue and UCLA might have gained an even firmer foothold in Los Angeles, changing the trajectory of this series in the late 1970s. But it was not to be. Even with four losses, USC was able to ruin the Bruins’ season. (This game is available on YouTube and it is a classic back and forth matchup between these teams. It looks like UCLA is going to win a heartbreaker but the USC pulls off one last drive.)
USC kicker Frank Jordan made a number of huge kicks in his career at USC. He made a last-second field goal in 1978 to beat Notre Dame and keep the Trojans on course for a national championship.
But on a late November day one year earlier — inside the very same Los Angeles Coliseum — Jordan booted UCLA out of the Granddaddy, and gifted a four-loss Washington team with a ticket to Pasadena. Jordan hit a 38-yard field goal with two seconds left to give the Trojans more than a 29-27 rivalry win over UCLA; it also made sure that USC remained in charge of this rivalry, and that Donahue’s ascendancy would have to wait. The victory also carried USC into its bowl game, a Bluebonnet Bowl blowout of Texas A&M, which reset the Trojans’ outlook for 1978. UCLA did not make a bowl in 1977, and they would have to wait until the next year, and the Fiesta Bowl. Washington changed their trajectory, as they made their first of fourteen bowls under coach Don James, culminating eventually in the 1991 National Championship.
UCLA (7-4)
Offense (Split-Back Veer) – The heart of the Bruin offense is their strong running game. UCLA averages 4.3 yds/carry led primarily by the LHB combination of James Owens and Freeman McNeil. This duo contributes over 1,300 yards at a 5.2 average per clip, along with 7 TDs. RHB Theotis Brown and Glen Cannon kick in another 877 yards for a 4.7 average and 6 TDs. The QBs, Rick Bashore and Steve Bukich, grind it out for a 2.4-yard average (3.9 yds after sack adjustments) and 6 TDs. The Bruin passing attack is not awe-inspiring, but it is functional with a 51.1% completion percentage and 14 yds/reception. The main deep threat at wide-out is FL Homer Butler who averages 22.8 yds/catch and leads the team with 4 TDs.
Defense (3-4) – UCLA’s 3-4 defense highlights 3 notable All-Americans—DT Manu Tuiasosopo, FS Kenny Easley and LB Jerry Robinson (consensus All-American). The Bruins are tough against the run, only allowing 3.2 yds/carry (3.6 after sack adjustments), but they occasionally struggle vs. the pass. The Bruins allow a 56% completion percentage for opposing QBs and the UCLA front three is sometimes challenged in sustaining a consistent pass rush, resulting in only 23 sacks on the year. On a positive note, the UCLA defense intercepted 15 passes and averaged over 19 yards per return with 3 “pick sixes.”
Special Teams/Intangibles – PK Frank Corral is a “50-50” kicker who connected on 13 of 27 attempts. He will drive coaches crazy when the Bruins are in scoring position because he is so erratic. The Bruin return teams don’t provide a lot of value either as they only average 16.2 on kick returns and 3.8 on punt returns. On the punt coverage side, UCLA only allows 6.1 yds/return but do give up a “long gain” opportunity.
Fred Bobberts, Albuquerque, NM, Original Date of Publication 9/11/2022
Cards by Chris Stewart, Republished with Permission
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