UCLA Bruins ©	California Golden Bears
Played October 23, 1976 at Memorial Stadium Berkeley, California

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
UCLA ©	3	9	2	2	.769	5	2	0	.714	3	0	2	.800	1	0	0	1.000
California	0

 

                          Previous Belt Meetings:       None

 

 

At 3-3, the California Golden Bears of coach Mike White prepared to host the 4^th ranked, 5-0-1 UCLA Bruins of coach Terry Donahue.  All-Pac 8 OT Ted Albrecht & All-Pac 8 C Duane Williams anchored the line but the Bears played without QB Joe Roth & WR Wesley Walker both out due to injury.  This California team had been Pac-8 Co-Champs in 1975 but graduation had hit the Golden Bears hard but the Bruins were not sympathetic.  UCLA's QB Jeff Dankworth rushed for 107 yards with a touchdown & threw for another score as the Bruins overcame 6 turnovers to retain The Belt in a 35-19 victory over California.  The Bruins opened the scoring with a Dankworth getting the touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.  They pushed the lead to 14-0 when Dankworth threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to WR Wally Henry & it looked like the rout might be on.  In the 2^nd quarter, the Bruins appeared to be driving for another score when RB Wendell Tyler fumbled & California's S Anthony Green recovered for the Golden Bears at the California 40-yard line.  The Golden Bears' 60-yard drive for the touchdown was highlighted by a 33-yard run from RB Tom Newton before QB Fred Besana, filling in for the injured Roth, scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak making the score UCLA 14 California 7.  Things got more nerve-racking for the Bruins when Dankworth left the game with back spasms & back-up QB Steve Bukich fumbled twice resulting in two 41-yard field goals from California’s All-Pac 8 PK Jim Breech leaving the Golden Bears trailing by just a point at 14-13 as the teams went to their locker rooms for halftime.  Dankworth returned after intermission to lead a 70-yard scoring drive that knocked the Golden Bears off-balance again.  On successive plays, Dankworth threw a 17-yard pass to Henry & ran 28 yards to set-up All-Pac 8 RB Theotis Brown for a 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Bruins a 21-13 advantage.  California resorted to some trickery as the tried to stay close when RB John Dixon took the snap on a fake punt & ran 19 yards for the first down but when he tried to pitch to P Steve Maehl for some more yards, UCLA's LB Lou Mascola recovered for the Bruins.  Tyler finished the scoring for the Bruins with 2 touchdowns in the 4^th quarter.  The first came on a 33-yard run while the other came on a 13-yard run.  California’s final score came when Besana threw a touchdown pass to WR Jesse Thompson with just 0:32 left in the game.  Dankworth threw for 83 yards with a touchdown to go with his 107 yards rushing with a score while Tyler added 131 yards rushing to his 2 scores.  Besana finished with 175 yards passing with a touchdown but an interception while filling in for Roth.  UCLA finished the season 9-2-1; ranked 15^th nationally while the Golden Bears finished 5-6.  California would play for The Belt again in 1979.