COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Donahue Coaching Milestones

With the perpetual tan and short-sleeved knit shirt, UCLA Coach Terry Donahue looks like college football’s Dick Clark.

Here are some key moments on that Donahue hit parade on the way to a record 98 Pacific 10 victories.

PAC-10 VICTORY NO. 25, OCT. 30, 1980

The Bruins go all the way to Tokyo and beat Oregon State, 34-3, in something called the Mirage Bowl.

Some 80,000 watch the Bruins build a 31-0 lead at the half, but not before hundreds of doves are released from Olympic Stadium and fly out to Tokyo Bay as bells chime and bands play.

Donahue has the good sense to instruct quarterback Jay Schroeder to give the ball to tailback Freeman McNeil, who runs for 109 yards. That breaks Wendell Tyler’s school rushing record with 3,195 yards.

PAC-10 VICTORY NO. 50, OCT. 26, 1985

It is a smoggy Saturday in the Rose Bowl, but the 61,530 who manage to see through the haze witness a 34-7 blowout of California.

The Bruins have 468 total yards, hold Cal to 191 and improve their record to 4-1 in the Pac-10.

Fullback Mel Farr Jr. breaks the game open on a 45-yard pass play from quarterback David Norrie.

Afterward, Cal Coach Joe Kapp says he is impressed with Donahue’s team.

“UCLA is a very, very good football team,” Kapp says. “They have the best team in our conference. I’ll be surprised if anyone else beats them.”

Maybe so, but USC does, 17-13. The Bruins go to the Rose Bowl anyway and defeat fourth-ranked Iowa, 45-13.

100TH VICTORY, SEPT. 10, 1988

In front of 84,086 in the Rose Bowl, UCLA builds a 28-0 lead over Nebraska and wins, 41-28, much to Donahue’s delight, mainly because UCLA had lost its previous two games to the Cornhuskers by a combined 84-13.

“I think this victory puts our football program on a different plateau,” he said at the time. “It removes the stigma that we couldn’t beat Nebraska.”

PAC-10 VICTORY NO. 75, OCT. 27, 1990

It is homecoming at the Rose Bowl and only 42,427 see the Bruins struggle to a 26-17 victory over Oregon State.

The Bruins are on their way to a 5-6 season, but after this game, Donahue said he isn’t about to downgrade a victory of any kind.

“I made a pact with myself not to be critical,” Donahue says. “I want to enjoy this.”

It doesn’t last long. The next week, UCLA loses to Oregon, then to USC two weeks after that.

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Winners’ Circle

Terry Donahue became the winningest coach in Pacific 10 Conference history Saturday. A look at the all-time leaders: *--*

Coach, Team Yrs W-L-T Pct. Terry Donahue, UCLA 20 98-51-5 .653 Don James, Washington 18 97-38-2 .715 John McKay, USC 16 70-17-3 .794 Howard Jones, USC 16 65-23-12 .710 O.E. Hollingberry, Wash. St. 17 64-43-10 .590 Larry Smith, Arizona, USC 13 63-34-4 .644 John Robinson, USC 10 58-15-3 .783 Jim Owens, Washington 18 54-57-2 .487 James Phelan, Washington 12 51-31-8 .611

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Note: Donahue is 11th all-time when ranked by winning percentage.