1979 UCLA vs USC

This is the 11/24/1979 UCLA vs USC game. The Bruins as usual had some very talented players but they were not having a great year. USC by contrast had the most talented team in the history of college football. Despite the bitter rivalry it ended up a a mismatch as The Trojans rolled into the Rose Bowl. I claim no rights.

[@Lfg117]

These videos r cfb treasure. Thank u, JC.

[@johnmanier7968]

This game was shown only in Los Angeles, on KABC-7. One or both teams had already hit the (now obsolete) NCAA maximum for TV appearances, but NCAA rules allowed local telecasts as long as the game was sold out and no other college games were being played in the area. ABC showed this game in LA, with BYU at San Diego State being aired to the rest of the nation.

[@user-qu4ey5yy3f]

My goodness it seemed like Yesterday watched that game. Time waits for no one!

[@Lfg117]

Thank u for detailing how horrific the TV broadcasting rules were back then - partly why out west cfb was "Out of sight, out of mind." Yeesh. 🙄

[@davidpegram8483]

Mark Harmon and Pat Haden on the color commentary! Of all the USC-UCLA games I saw growing up, this is the most memorable for all the wrong reasons: it was a complete mismatch. That was rare during the decade of the 70s.

[@ynp1978]

Thank you for this one!

[@jamesfields2916]

Jeff Fisher NFL head coach for 22 years! Oddity HC for just two teams but those two teams played regular seasons in five different cities. Last coach of the Houston Oilers before they relocated to Memphis while Nashville stadium was finished. Then coached the Rams in St.Louis before relocating to Los Angeles.

[@FlintyCobblestone]

THANK YOU!! Do you think you could possibly find the 1978 Washington @ USC game?

[@johnmanier7968]

I imagine that game is relatively difficult to find. It was not a network telecast. It was probably shown live in Seattle, and on tape delay in LA (since it wasn’t a sellout), with local broadcasters for each audience.

[@FlintyCobblestone]

@@johnmanier7968 Thank you for that info. You can't imagine how long I've been looking for that game. I was there with my late brother. Torrential downpour the entire game. We loved it. A wonderful memory.

[@lesliebell4189]

Mark Harmon on camera at 1:23:02. No headslapping here folks.

[@nathaniellathy6559]

Ohio State's win at UCLA didn't look like much by end of regular season.

[@Lfg117]

KennyEasley: kick-returner! Announcer's intro: Donahue's job in jeopardy? Donahue went on to author the best-ever-era in Ucla fb history. 😂. Lupe Sanchez: great Bruin. 'Eyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

[@8avexp]

That sounds like Pat Haden doing color commentary. Was he still playing with the Rams then? You can see the field has been shifted over for this game. The Rams played their final season at the Coliseum that year before moving to Anaheim in 1980.

[@CasperC1451]

He was hurt that year. Is the same season the Rams made the Super Bowl

[@8avexp]

@@CasperC1451 With Vince Ferragamo, as I recall.

[@ynp1978]

And Mark Harmon too!

[@johnmanier7968]

That’s definitely Pat Haden, along with former Bruin Mark Harmon. Play-by-play is Ted Dawson, who was the longtime sports anchor on KABC-7 in LA-the only market to which this game was televised. The Coliseum playing field was shifted towards the center to accommodate a full sellout crowd. During the 1970s, it was usually in that formation only for UCLA-USC, Notre Dame-USC, and Rams playoff games. Otherwise, the field was shifted towards the west end of the stadium, with bleachers between the east end zone and the peristyle. This reduced seating capacity from over 90,000 to under 77,000, with most seats closer to the field of play. When the Raiders moved to the Coliseum in 1982, they never used the bleachers and the football field was always centered-and it couldn’t be moved when the running track was installed for the 1984 Olympics.

[@crgray1979]

At the time, he was on 240-robert on abc costaring Matthew Perry father, John Bennett perry

[@Lfg117]

iirc?: '79 Ucla went on to lose in BluebonnetBowl after the '79 season?

[@davidpegram8483]

The 1979 team did not appear in a bowl. It was a rebuild year for UCLA...Tom Ramsey went on to be a very good QB, and UCLA had better days ahead. But 1979 was a rough season.

[@Lfg117]

​@@davidpegram8483Tyvm.

[@Lfg117]

Announcer: introduced RonnyLott like the viewers would have no idea who Lott was - 😂. Right after that? A dude from S.D.LincolnHS fb made a splash play (still a great hs fb progrum). NFL players all over the field - on both squads.