1972 California Golden Bears football team

American college football season

1972 California Golden Bears football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Record	3–8 (3–4 Pac-8)
Head coach	Mike White (1st season)
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

1972 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
v t e	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 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 in Pac-8, fifth) and were outscored 314 to 228.^[1]^[2] Home games were played on campus at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.

California's statistical leaders on offense were sophomore quarterback 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	Source
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]^[13]^[14]
November 11	at Oregon State	Civic Stadium Portland, OR	L 23–26	16,624	^[15]
November 18	Stanford	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)	W 24–21	68,000	^[16]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[17]

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	Sr
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

Period	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.^[18]

References

^ "1972 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "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.
^ "1972 California Golden Bears Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "Colorado vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ '16 Cougar Football (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. p. 81.
^ "California vs San Jose State Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "Missouri vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "California vs Ohio State Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "USC vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "California vs UCLA Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "Washington vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ Newnham, Blaine (November 5, 1972). "Bears bury Ducks in the mud". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
^ "Cal romps". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 5, 1972. p. 19.
^ "California vs Oregon Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "Oregon State vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ "California vs Stanford Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
^ 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.
^ "Bears upend Stanford with Sweeney as hero." Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19. Retrieved 28-Mar-20.

v t e California Golden Bears football
Venues	California Field (1904–1923) California Memorial Stadium (1923–2010, 2012–present) Oracle Park (2011)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA
Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" "Big C" History Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold