The 1958 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 ...

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 ...

during the

1958 NCAA University Division football season The 1958 NCAA University Division football season was notable in that it was the first to feature the two-point conversion. On January 13, 1958, the eleven-man NCAA Rules Committee unanimously approved a resolution to allow teams to choose betwee ...

. In their first year under head coaches George W. Dickerson (three games) and then Bill Barnes (seven games), the Bruins compiled a 3–6–1 record (2–4–1 in PCC, sixth). UCLA's offensive leaders in 1958 were quarterback Don Long with 395 passing yards, Ray Smith with 307 rushing yards, and John Brown with 259 receiving yards. Five weeks before the first game, 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 ...

died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at age 53 in a Los Angeles hotel room. Dickerson was promoted to head coach several days later, but after two hospitalizations for

nervous exhaustion Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον ''neuron'' "nerve" and ἀσθενής ''asthenés'' "weak") is a term that was first used at least as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves and became a major diagnosis in North ...

, Barnes was named head coach prior to the fourth game, and remained through the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

season.

Schedule

Personnel

Players

* Glen Almquist, end, junior * Harry Baldwin, center, sophomore * Ray Benstead, center, senior * Dean Betts, tackle * John Brown, receiver, senior * Dick Butler, center, senior * Rod Cochran, guard * John Davis, wingback * Rod Fagerholm, tackle * Gene Gaines, fullback * Steve Gertsman, quarterback * Joe Harper, guard * Jim Johnson, receiver * Chuck Kendall, tailback *

Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He w ...

, tailback, sophomore * Bob King, guard, senior * Bill Leeka, guard, senior * Don Long, tailback, senior * Tony Longo, tackle * Marv Luster, end, sophomore * Jack Metcalf, guard, sophomore * Trusse Norris, lineman * Paul Oglesby, tackle, junior * Phil Parslow, wingback, senior * Dave Peterson, quarterback * Art Phillips, junior * John Pierovich, end * Mike Riskas, guard, senior * Ray Smith, fullback, junior * "Skip" Smith, tailback, junior * Jim Steffen, tailback * Ben Treat, center, sophomore * Jim Wallace, defensive tackle *

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 ...

, end * Clint Whitfield, guard * Kirk Wilson, punter

Coaching staff

* George W. Dickerson - head coachUCLA 1959 Southern Campus, Volume 40, p. 224. * Bill Barnes - acting head coach following death of

* Assistant coaches - John Johnson, Bob Bergdahl (frosh coach), Deke Brackett, Sam Boghosian, and Dan Peterson

Other personnel

* Trainer - Ducky Drake * Assistant trainer - Larry Carter * Team physician - Dr. Martin BlazinaUCLA 1959 Southern Campus, Volume 40, p. 225. * Varsity football managers - Tom Naykama, Bob Nishimura, Peter Dalis (senior manager), Perry Gluckman, Tony Giovanazzo, Larry KasindorfUCLA 1959 Southern Campus, Volume 40, p. 226.

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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