# 1997 UCLA Bruins football team

The 1997 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles 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 Pacific-10 Conference co-champions with a 7–1 record. The Bruins were invited to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic against 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 12:30 pm | at Washington State | | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | ABC | L 34–37 | 26,000 |
| September 6 | 12:30 pm | No. 3 Tennessee* | | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | ABC | L 24–30 | 62,619 |
| September 13 | 12:30 pm | at No. 11 Texas* | | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | ABC, FSW | W 66–3 | 77,203 |
| September 27 | 3:30 pm | Arizona | No. 24 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | FSN | W 40–27 | 50,188 |
| October 4 | 3:30 pm | Houston* | No. 22 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | FSW2 | W 66–10 | 38,004 |
| October 11 | 3:30 pm | at Oregon | No. 18 | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | FX | W 39–31 | 42,314 |
| October 18 | 3:30 pm | Oregon State | No. 17 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | FSN | W 34–10 | 38,165 |
| October 25 | 3:30 pm | California | No. 13 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | | W 35–17 | 52,858 |
| November 1 | 3:30 pm | at Stanford | No. 12 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | FSN | W 27–7 | 54,332 |
| November 15 | 12:30 pm | No. 13 Washington | No. 9 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | ABC | W 52–28 | 85,697 |
| November 22 | 12:30 pm | at USC | No. 7 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA (Victory Bell) | ABC, FSW2 | W 31–24 | 91,350 |
| January 1 | 10:30 am | vs. No. 20 Texas A&M* | No. 5 | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic) | CBS | W 29–23 | 59,215 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Washington State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bruins | 7 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 34 |
| • Cougars | 3 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 37 |

### No. 3 Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 3 Volunteers | 9 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
| Bruins | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 24 |

### At Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bruins | 10 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 66 |
| #11 Longhorns | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |

### Arizona

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

### Houston

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

### At Oregon

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

### Oregon State

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

### California

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

### At Stanford

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

### Washington

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

### At USC

| | 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.

### Vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Cotton Bowl Classic)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 5 Bruins | 0 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 29 |
| No. 20 Aggies | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 23 |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | 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 end zone 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. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 29 | 23 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | 24 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 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 |