1987 UCLA Bruins football
Pac-10 co-champion
Aloha Bowl, W 20–16 vs. Florida
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 9
Record	10–2 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (12th season)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Axman (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Bob Field (6th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tom Hayes (6th season)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 18 USC +	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 9 UCLA +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
No. 20 Arizona State	3	–	3	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Oregon	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Arizona	2	–	3	–	3			4	–	4	–	3
California	2	–	3	–	2			3	–	6	–	2
Washington State	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their 12th year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 10–2 record (7–1 Pac-10), finished in a tie for first place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and were ranked #9 in the final AP Poll. The team's sole losses were against #2-ranked Nebraska (33-42) and USC (13-17). The Bruins went on to defeat Florida in the 1987 Aloha Bowl.^[1]

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1987 were quarterback Troy Aikman with 2,527 passing yards, running back Gaston Green with 1,098 rushing yards, and wide receiver Flipper Anderson with 903 receiving yards.^[2]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	San Diego State*	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	PPV	W 47–14	54,287
September 12	at No. 2 Nebraska*	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN	L 33–42	76,313
September 19	Fresno State*	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 17–0	49,264
September 26	Arizona	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		W 34–24	55,823
October 3	at Stanford	No. 11	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ABC	W 49–0	57,500
October 17	No. 16 Oregon	No. 9	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	PPV	W 41–10	53,320
October 24	California	No. 8	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 42–18	51,107
October 31	at Arizona State	No. 7	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	ABC	W 31–23	70,754
November 7	at Oregon State	No. 7	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 52–17	20,104
November 14	Washington	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 47–14	70,332
November 21	at USC	No. 5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 13–17	92,516
December 25	vs. Florida*	No. 10	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ABC	W 20–16	24,839	[3]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

1987 UCLA Bruins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 8 Troy Aikman Jr WR 83 Flipper Anderson Sr TE 81 Charles Arbuckle So RB 21 Eric Ball Jr QB Ron Caragher So WR 9 Mike Farr So RB 44 Gaston Green Sr WR 4 Reggie Moore Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 2 Darryl Henley Jr S 3 James Washington Sr LB Ben Hummel Sr DB 31 Carnell Lake Jr LB 41 Ken Norton Jr. Sr DB 23 Jeff O'Flannagan DB 23 Marcus Turner Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 25 Alfredo Velasco So	Head coach Terry Donahue Coordinators/assistant coaches Steve Axman – Offensive coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	3 (1)	3 (1)	13	13	11	11	9	8	7	7	5	5	11	10	10	9
Coaches	4	3 (1)	15 т	13	11	11	9	8	7	7	5	5	10	11	10	11

^[4]

San Diego State at No. 3 UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total Aztecs 0 7 0 7 14 • No. 3 Bruins 14 17 10 6 47 Date: September 5 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game attendance: 54,287

^[5]

No. 3 UCLA at No. 2 Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total No. 3 Bruins 7 3 7 16 33 • No. 2 Cornhuskers 0 14 14 14 42 Date: September 12 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,313

^[6]

San Diego State at No. 13 UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 13 Bruins 7 3 7 0 17 Date: September 19 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game attendance: 49,264

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Gaston Green 33-yard run (Alfredo Velasco kick) UCLA 7–0 2 UCLA Alfredo Velasco 41-yard field goal UCLA 10–0 3 UCLA Flipper Anderson 26-yard pass from Troy Aikman (Alfredo Velasco kick) UCLA 17–0

^[7]

^[8]

^[9]

No. 16 Oregon at No. 9 UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total No. 16 Ducks 0 7 3 0 10 • No. 9 Bruins 7 10 7 17 41 Date: October 17 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game attendance: 53,320

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Brown 1-yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 7–0 2 ORE Loville 1-yard run (Dennis kick) Tied 7–7 UCLA Anderson 2-yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 14–7 UCLA Velasco 35-yard field goal UCLA 17–7 3 UCLA Austin 34-yard run (Velasco kick) UCLA 24–7 ORE Dennis 32-yard field goal UCLA 24–10 4 UCLA Velasco 26-yard field goal UCLA 27–10 UCLA Green 1-yard run (Velasco kick) UCLA 34–10 UCLA M. Turner 65-yard interception return (Velasco kick) UCLA 41–10

^[10]

^[11]

^[12]

UCLA had 618 yards of total offense, evenly split with 315 yards passing and 303 yards rushing. Flipper Anderson caught 7 passes for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns in the blowout win over the Beavers.^[13]

Washington at No. 3 UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 0 14 0 0 14 • No. 5 Bruins 13 3 17 14 47 Date: November 14 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game attendance: 70,332 Television network: ABC

^[14]

No. 5 UCLA at USC

1 2 3 4 Total No. 5 Bruins 7 3 3 0 13 • Trojans 0 0 3 14 17 Date: November 21 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA Game attendance: 92,516 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Gaston Green 6-yard run (Alfredo Velasco kick) UCLA 7–0 2 UCLA Alfredo Velasco 32-yard field goal UCLA 10–0 2 UCLA Alfredo Velasco 38-yard field goal UCLA 13–0 3 USC Quin Rodriguez 26-yard field goal UCLA 13–3 4 14:09 USC Randy Tanner 6-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Quin Rodriguez kick) UCLA 13–10 4 7:59 USC Erik Affholter 33-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Quin Rodriguez kick) USC 17–13

USC clinched a berth in the Rose Bowl with the win.^[15]

No. 10 UCLA vs. Florida

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 10 Bruins 3 7 7 3 20 Gators 7 3 0 6 16 Date: December 25 Location: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii Game attendance: 24,839 Referee: Mike Pereira TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

Scoring summary 1 UCLA Alfredo Velasco 34-yard field goal UCLA 3–0 UF Stacey Simmons 7-yard pass from Kerwin Bell (Robert McGinty kick) UF 7–3 2 UF Robert McGinty 32-yard field goal UF 10–3 UCLA Brian Brown 1-yard run (Alfredo Velasco kick) Tied 10–10 3 UCLA Danny Thompson 5-yard pass from Troy Aikman (Alfredo Velasco kick) UCLA 17–10 4 UCLA Alfredo Velasco 32-yard field goal UCLA 20–10 UF Anthony Williams 14-yard pass from Kerwin Bell (kick blocked) UCLA 20–16

^[16]

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Gaston Green	Running back	1	14	Los Angeles Rams
Ken Norton Jr.	Linebacker	2	41	Dallas Cowboys
Flipper Anderson	Wide receiver	2	46	Los Angeles Rams
David Richards	Guard	4	98	San Diego Chargers
Dennis Price	Defensive back	5	131	Los Angeles Raiders
James Washington	Defensive back	5	137	Los Angeles Rams
James Primus	Running back	9	222	Atlanta Falcons
Mel Farr	Running back	9	248	Denver Broncos
Paco Craig	Wide receiver	10	254	Detroit Lions
Ben Hummel	Linebacker	12	317	Dallas Cowboys

^[17]