L   16 - 34 

Iowa arrived a day early into Los Angeles to help with jet-lag, but it didn't seem to work. The Hawks fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter. James Owens, a hurdler in track, who finished 6th in the 1976 Olympics, ran for 134 yards on 16 carries for the Bruins.

Iowa finally got on the board with a 42-yard FG by Dave Holsclaw at the end of the first half. Iowa changed QBs early in the second half, replacing Bob Commings, Jr with Tom McLaughlin. After getting down 27-3, Iowa finally mounted a comeback. McLaughlin choreographed an 11-play, 84-yard touchdown drive, ending with a 6-yard TD run by RB Rod Morton. Mike Brady caught a TD pass later in the game to close the gap to 27-16 in the 4th quarter, but that's as close as Iowa would get. UCLA added the final touchdown to end the comeback.

UCLA racked up 481 total yards of offense. Tom Rusk led both teams with 20 tackles.

UCLA later forfeited all their wins in 1977 due to two unnamed players who used fake school transcripts. This officially gave Iowa a 5-6 final record on the year.

	1	2	3	4	F
Iowa	0	3	7	6	16
UCLA	17	3	7	7	34