1972 California Golden Bears football team

The 1972 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. In their first year under head coach Mike White, the Golden Bears compiled a 3–8 record (3–4 against Pac-8 opponents), finished in fifth place in the Pac-8, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 314 to 228.[1][2]

1972 California Golden Bears football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1972 record	3–8 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach	Mike White (1st season)
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium

1972 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 15 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Washington State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Stanford	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Steve Bartkowski with 944 passing yards, Steve Kemnitzer with 434 rushing yards, and Steve Sweeney with 785 receiving yards.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 9	at No. 2 Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 10–20	50,751[4]
September 16	Washington State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 37–23	30,794[5]
September 23	San Jose State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 10–17	28,691[6]
September 30	at Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	L 27–34	41,000[7]
October 7	No. 3 Ohio State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 18–35	45,000[8]
October 14	at No. 1 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 14–42	56,488[9]
October 21	No. 11 UCLA	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (rivalry)	L 13–49	30,563[10]
October 28	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 21–35	56,300[11]
November 4	Oregon	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 31–12	23,565[12]
November 11	at Oregon State	Civic Stadium Portland, OR	L 23–26	16,624[13]
November 18	Stanford	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)	W 24–21	68,000[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[15]

Roster

1972 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Steve Bartkowski So WR Dave Bateman WR Sammy Burns QB Jay Cruze QB 15 Vince Ferragamo Fr WR Mike Hodgins OL Randy Howard OL Scott Hudgins RB Rick Jones RB Steve Kemnitzer OL Mark Klink OL Steve Lawrence OL Kem Lawyer RB Fred Leathers OL Kevin O'Dorisio TE Steve Oliver TE Randy Schmidt OL Ted Seifert WR Mike Shaughnessy RB J.D. Smith WR Steve Sweeney Sr OL Ray Volker RB Blane Warhurst RB Syl Youngblood	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Bill Armstrong DB Robert Curry DB Clarence Duren DL Dave Frey LB Paul Giroday DL Dave Gleason DB Paul James LB Bill Johnson DB Jerry Jones DB Dave Lawson DT 69 Bob Kampa Sr DL Chris Keyser DE 95 Jeff Sevy So LB Bob Smith DB Scott Stringer DT 90 Bob Swenson So LB 18 Loren Toews Sr DL Fred Weber DL Steve Wendt	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 5 Ray Wersching Sr	Head coach Mike White Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

Stanford

Stanford Cardinals at California Golden Bears

	1	2	3	4	Total
Stanford	7	7	0	7	21
Cal	0	3	8	13	24

at Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

• Date: November 18, 1972
• Game attendance: 68,000
• Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19.

Game information

First quarter STAN – Eric Cross 24-yard pass from Mike Boryla (Steve Murray kick). Stanford 7–0. Drive: Second quarter CAL – Ray Wersching 29-yard field goal. Stanford 7–3. Drive: STAN – Gordon Riegel 71-yard interception return (Steve Murray kick). Stanford 14–3. Third quarter CAL – Syl Youngblood 4-yard run (pass good). Stanford 14–11. Drive: Fourth quarter CAL – Syl Youngblood 6-yard run (Ray Wersching kick). Cal 18–14. Drive: STAN – Reggie Sanderson 3-yard run (Rod Garcia kick), 3:42. Stanford 21–18. Drive: CAL – Steve Sweeney 7-yard pass from Vince Ferragamo, 0:00. Cal 24–21. Drive: 64 yards. Top rushers CAL – Steve Kemnitzer – 15 rushes, 60 yards

• 75th meeting between the schools
• Steve Sweeney set single season conference record for receiving touchdowns, tied the single season school record and set the school career record for receptions. [16]

References

1. "1972 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
2. "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
3. "1972 California Golden Bears Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
4. "Colorado vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
5. '16 Cougar Football (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. p. 81.
6. "California vs San Jose State Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
7. "Missouri vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
8. "California vs Ohio State Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
9. "USC vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
10. "California vs UCLA Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
11. "Washington vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
12. "California vs Oregon Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
13. "Oregon State vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
14. "California vs Stanford Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
15. 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.
16. "Bears upend Stanford with Sweeney as hero." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19. Retrieved 28-Mar-20.