Teams' Belt Records

                            Previous Belt Meetings:       None

In the first ever Belt match-up, champion Nebraska traveled to Los Angeles as 21-point favorites to defeat the UCLA Bruins.  The top-ranked Cornhuskers coached by Bob Devaney were riding a 32-game winning streak while UCLA was coming off a disappointing 1971 season with a record of 2-7-1 in Coach Pepper Rodgers first season.  Coach Rodgers installed & unveiled a new wishbone offense against Nebraska led by Bruins' QB Mark Harmon.  While the Cornhuskers were starting a new quarterback in David Humm, they still had Heisman Trophy winning, All-American WR Johnny Rodgers.  UCLA stunned the defending Belt holders in the first-ever title defense with PK Efren Herrera hitting a 29-yard field goal with just 0:20 to play for a 20-17 upset of the Cornhuskers.  Herrera hit a 27-yard field goal for the only points of the 1^st quarter.  Early in the 2^nd quarter, UCLA's DE Cal Peterson recovered a fumble by Nebraska’s RB Gary Dixon.  On the next play, Harmon completed his first college pass -- a 46-yard scoring strike to WR Brad Lyman giving the Bruins a 10-0 lead.  Rodgers set-up the first Cornhuskers' score with a 50-yard punt return leading to a 28-yard field goal by PK Rich Sanger.  Late in the quarter, Nebraska drove 78 yards in 6 plays helped by a 42-yard pass interference penalty.  Rodgers carried the final 11 yards for the touchdown to tie the game at 10-10 as the teams went to halftime.  In the 3^rd quarter, UCLA's CB Jimmy Allen intercepted Humm before returning the ball to the Nebraska 15-yard line.  Five plays later, Harmon scored on a 2-yard touchdown run giving the Bruins a 17-10 lead midway through the 3^rd quarter.  The Cornhuskers scored early in the 4^th quarter when Humm found TE Jerry List open on a 44-yard touchdown pass tying the game at 17-17 with 14:01 left in the game.  UCLA’s defense was able to keep the powerful Cornhusker offense from scoring the rest of the game as they forced 5 turnovers in the game including 2 interceptions by Allen to keep Nebraska off-balance.  The final Bruins' drive covered 47 yards, including a critical 3^rd down completion from Harmon to TE Jack Lassner for 15 yards, before Herrera’s kick gave the Cornhuskers their first loss since October 11, 1969.  Harmon finished with 65 yards passing with a touchdown & 71 yards rushing with a touchdown to lead the Bruins.  Humm threw for 146 yards with a touchdown but 2 interceptions while Rodgers rushed for 43 yards with a touchdown & had 3 catches for 63 yards in the loss.  The Bruins finished 8-3 for the season; ranked 15^th nationally while the Cornhuskers finished at 9-2-1, Big Eight Champions & ranked 4^th nationally.  Nebraska would play for The Belt again in 1978.