The 1956 UCLA Bruins football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

during the

1956 NCAA University Division football season The 1956 NCAA University Division football season saw the University of Oklahoma Sooners finish a third consecutive season unbeaten and untied to again win the national championship. The 1956 season saw the NCAA split member schools into two divi ...

. In their eighth year under head coach

Red Sanders Henry Russell "Red" Sanders (May 7, 1905 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He was head coach at Vanderbilt University (1940–1942, 1946–1948) and the University of California at Los Angeles (1949–1957), compili ...

, the Bruins compiled a 7–3 record (5–2 conference) and finished in third place in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

. UCLA's offensive leaders in 1956 were quarterback Doug Bradley with 293 passing yards each, Barry Billington with 399 rushing yards, and

Dick Wallen Richard “Dick” Wallen (born c. 1937) is a former American football player who was a consensus All-American at the end position in 1957 while playing for UCLA. He was awarded the 1957 W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy as the outstanding football pl ...

with 308 receiving yards.

Schedule

Personnel

Players

* Bob Bergdahl * Barry Billington, fullback * Don Birren * Doug Bradley, halfback * Dick Butler, center * Jim Dawson, tackle * Preston Dills, senior * Dennis Dressel, center, sophomore * Don Duncan, halfback, sophomore * Bob Dutcher * Lou Elias, wingback * Bob Enger, quarterback, junior * Steve Gertsman, quarterback * Edison Griffin, safety/halfback junior * Joe Harper, guard * Esker Harris, guard * Chuck Holloway, halfback * Bill Leeka, sophomore * Don Long * Jim Matheny, junior * Pete O'Garro, end * Phil Parslow, halfback * Jerry Penner, tackle * Dan Peterson * Dave Peterson, fullback * Pat Pinkston, end * Don Shinnick * Hal Smith, junior *

, end * Clint Whitfield, guard, sophomore * Kirk Wilson, punter * Gary Yurosek, tackle

Coaching staff

* Head coach - Red Sanders * Assistant coaches - Bill Barns, Deke Brackett, Ray Nagle, George Dickerson, Jim Myers, Johnny Johnson

Other personnel

* Managers - Ted Manos, Frances Helstein, Jim Walker, Ted Dallas, and Barry SnookeUCLA Southern Campus 1957, p. 222. * Head trainer - Ducky DrakeUCLA Southern Campus 1957, p. 223.

References

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

UCLA Bruins football seasons

UCLA Bruins football The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football as members of the Pac-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Bruins play their home games at the ...

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