UCLA Bruins ©	Ohio State Buckeyes
Played October 2, 1976 at Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
UCLA ©	3	7	2	1	.750	3	2	0	.600	3	0	1	.875	1	0	0	1.000
Ohio State	2	9	2	0	.818	5	0	0	1.000	4	0	0	1.000	0	2	0	.000

 

For the 3^rd time in 12 Belt games, the Ohio State Buckeyes of coach Woody Hayes & UCLA Bruins, this time coached by Terry Donahue, matched-up for the title.  They had split the previous meetings & the rubber match pitted the 4^th ranked, 3-0 Bruins against the 8^th ranked 2-1 Buckeyes in Columbus.  The Buckeyes had clearly been focusing on this game having fallen to Missouri 22-21 the previous week to drop from No. 2 in the nation.  The teams fought a defensive battle to a 10-10 tie with the Bruins retaining The Belt (“To Be The Man, You Have To Beat The Man”).  The teams traded punts throughout the 1^st quarter before Ohio State's CB Ray Griffin returned a punt from All-Pac 8 P Frank Corral 17 yards to the UCLA 46-yard line.  Seven plays later, Buckeyes' RB Pete Johnson scored on a 4-yard run giving Ohio State a 7-0 lead with 8:37 left in the half.  The Bruins finally got on the board in the 3^rd quarter when Corral hit a 47-yard field goal.  Late in the quarter, UCLA used a fake punt with All-Pac 8 RB Theotis Brown gaining 25 yards to the Ohio State 49-yard line to keep a drive alive.  UCLA's QB Jeff Dankworth finished the 14-play, 83-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak that gave the Bruins a 10-7 lead with 13:08 left in the game.  Ohio State's All-Big Ten PK Tom Skladany hit a 25-yard field goal with 7:21 left in the game to tie the score at 10-10.  Neither team was able to move past the opponent’s 44-yard line in the final minutes as both teams opted to play for a tie.  The Bruins chose to punt when faced with a 4^th & inches in Ohio State territory while the Buckeyes punted when faced with a 4^th & 4 in UCLA territory as the game ended in the 10-10 tie.  Dankworth finished with 83 yards passing while Brown rushed for 102 yards & All-American LB Jerry Robinson recorded 21 tackles for the Bruins.  Gerald threw for just 41 yards for the Buckeyes.  UCLA finished the season 9-2-1; ranked 15^th nationally while the Buckeyes finished 9-2-1, ranked 6^th nationally.  Ohio State would play for The Belt again in 1978.