1988 UCLA Bruins football
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 17–3 vs. Arkansas
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
Record	10–2 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (13th season)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Axman (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Bob Field (7th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tom Hayes (7th season)
Home stadium	Rose Bowl
Seasons ←  1987 1989 →

1988 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 USC $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Washington State	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Arizona	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Washington	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Stanford	1	–	5	–	2			3	–	6	–	2
California	1	–	5	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by 13th-year head coach Terry Donahue and played its home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. They were members of the Pacific-10 Conference. Senior QB Troy Aikman was taken #1 overall in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 3	San Diego State*	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	W 59–6	46,487
September 10	No. 2 Nebraska*	No. 5	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	W 41–28	84,086
September 17	Long Beach State*	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	W 56–3	42,464
October 1	at No. 16 Washington	No. 2	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 24–17	71,224
October 8	Oregon State	No. 2	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	W 38–21	46,550
October 15	at California	No. 2	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 38–21	58,000
October 22	at Arizona	No. 1	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	W 24–3	49,922
October 29	Washington State	No. 1	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	L 30–34	51,970
November 5	at Oregon	No. 6	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 16–6	42,509
November 12	Stanford	No. 6	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	W 27–17	70,552
November 19	No. 2 USC	No. 6	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA ( Victory Bell)	L 22–31	100,741
January 2	vs. No. 8 Arkansas*	No. 9	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX ( Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 17–3	74,304
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Roster

1988 UCLA Bruins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 8 Troy Aikman Sr TE 81 Charles Arbuckle Jr RB 21 Eric Ball Sr C 68 Frank Cornish Jr RB 22 Mel Farr Jr. Sr WR 9 Mike Farr Jr WR 4 Reggie Moore So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 7 Chance Johnson CB 2 Darryl Henley Sr DB 31 Carnell Lake Sr DB 23 Jeff O'Flannagan Jr DB 23 Marcus Turner Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 25 Alfredo Velasco Jr	Head coach Terry Donahue Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total #2 Nebraska 0 13 7 8 28 • #5 UCLA 28 10 3 0 41 Date: September 10 Location: Rose Bowl Game attendance: 84,086 Referee: Jim Springer TV announcers ( ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, and Mike Adamle

Scoring summary Q1 12:39 UCLA Arbuckle 57-yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 7–0 Q1 8:22 UCLA Wills 50-yard run (Velasco kick) UCLA 14–0 Q1 5:05 UCLA Arbuckle 3-yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 21–0 Q1 1:00 UCLA Henly 75-yard punt return (Velasco kick) UCLA 28–0 Q2 Neb Mark Blazek 75-yard interception return (kick) UCLA 28–7 Q2 UCLA Keating 11-yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 35–7 Q2 UCLA Velasco 42-yard field goal UCLA 38–7 Q2 1:21 Neb Gregory 8-yard pass from S. Taylor (PAT failed) UCLA 38–13 Q3 UCLA Velasco 34-yard field goal UCLA 41–13 Q3 Neb S. Taylor 1-yard run (kick) UCLA 41–20 Q4 Neb Millikan 1-yard pass from S. Taylor (S. Taylor run) UCLA 41–28

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Oregon State

1 2 3 4 Total Oregon St 0 14 0 7 21 • #2 UCLA 14 7 3 14 38 Date: October 8 Location: Rose Bowl Game attendance: 46,550

Scoring summary Q1 UCLA Anthony 7 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 7–0 Q1 UCLA Keating 21 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 14–0 Q2 UCLA Ball 12 yard run (Velasco kick) UCLA 21–0 Q2 ORST Chaffney 69 yard pass from Wilhelm (Bussonich kick) UCLA 21–7 Q2 ORST Thomas 52 yard pass from Wilhelm (Bussonich kick) UCLA 21–14 Q3 UCLA Velasco 37 yard field goal UCLA 24–14 Q4 UCLA R. Moore 6 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 31–14 Q4 ORST Thomas 12 yard pass from Wilhelm (Bussonich kick) UCLA 31–21 Q4 UCLA Anthony 1 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 38–21

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At Oregon

1 2 3 4 Total • #6 UCLA 3 0 7 6 16 Oregon 0 3 0 3 6 Date: November 5 Location: Autzen Stadium Game attendance: 42,509

Scoring summary Q1 3:45 UCLA Velasco 53 yard field goal UCLA 3–0 Q2 0:09 ORE Dennis 23 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q3 3:41 UCLA Keating 11 yard pass from Aikman (Velasco kick) UCLA 10–3 Q4 14:15 ORE Dennis 43 yard field goal UCLA 10–6 Q4 13:22 UCLA Brown 68 yard run (pass failed) UCLA 16–6

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USC

Vs. Arkansas (Cotton Bowl)

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Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	5 (2)	5 (2)	5 (2)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (1)	1 (33)	1 (35)	6	6	6	9	8	9	6
Coaches	9 (2)	9 (2)	5	2 (13)	2 (5)	2 (7)	2 (6)	2 (5)	1 (37)	1 (41)	6	6	6	9	9	9	6

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Awards and honors

• Troy Aikman, Davey O'Brien Award

NFL draftees

The following players were selected in the 1989 NFL Draft. ^[8]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Troy Aikman	Quarterback	1	1	Dallas Cowboys
Carnell Lake	Defensive back	2	34	Pittsburgh Steelers
Eric Ball	Running back	2	35	Cincinnati Bengals
Darryl Henley	Defensive back	2	53	Los Angeles Rams
Jim Wahler	Defensive tackle	4	94	Phoenix Cardinals
Marcus Turner	Defensive back	11	283	Kansas City Chiefs
Eric Smith	Tackle	12	326	New York Giants

References