PASADENA, Calif. — There’s something unique about being the original.
First kiss. First car. First speeding ticket. First love.
BYU’s first win over UCLA — at the Rose Bowl no less — certainly fits into that mold.
Steve Young and company had their moment in the sun, as BYU beat UCLA 37-35 in the Cougars’ first-ever trip to the Rose Bowl on Oct. 1, 1983, the first game between the two schools.
"It showed that BYU could play with the big teams," former BYU linebacker Leon White said of that 1983 contest, before the No. 19 Cougars' Saturday night tilt at No. 10 UCLA, the 11th meeting between the two schools. "UCLA at that time was a top team in the Pac-10. Coming in here and beating them was a big boost. It set off the eyes of the nation to see how good BYU was."
Young threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns that day, while also tossing three interceptions. Still, the Cougars took the lead early and never trailed, ending the first quarter with a 14-0 lead on the back of a Young 9-yard touchdown pass to Mike Eddo and a Waymon Hamilton 5-yard run.
BYU's defense also came up clutch with three fumble recoveries and eight sacks, counteracting the three interceptions thrown by Young.
White also had a personal score to settle. A former high school teammate, wide receiver Karl Dorrell, played for UCLA.
"We had a bet going on before the season started to see who would win the game. That was exciting playing against him and winning that bet," White said.
While UCLA was winless heading into that game, it turned out to be a strength-of-schedule building victory as the Bruins went on to win the Pac-10 title and the Rose Bowl that season, using the BYU loss as a springboard to success.
The Cougars, too, used that inaugural victory at the Rose Bowl to vault their way to winning a national championship in 1984. That win was the third of the year for BYU in a 11-1 season, then the Cougars went 14-0 the next year en route to the national title.
"BYU was not a known team," White said. "We weren't respected like a ton of teams in the Pac-10 were. They were 0-2 with one tie, but their two losses were against two Top 20 teams. Nebraska was No. 1 or 2, and Georgia was No. 14. It really looked good for us to beat them just because of the teams they had played."
White still keeps tabs with the Cougar program and tries to get to a game in Provo every year. He's a standard spectator anytime the Cougars travel to his native San Diego. White also has a rooting interest in BYU junior wide receiver Nick Kurtz.
"I'm here to watch Nick Kurtz tonight," said White, who traveled north to Pasadena to catch the top-20 matchup Saturday. "He's a local kid from San Diego, and we know him and his family. We're excited to see him do big things this year. ... He asked me before he signed with BYU if it would be a good choice and I definitely gave him the OK."
He also sees a lot of things he likes in the way Bronco Mendenhall's program is heading in 2015.
"I had really high hopes and then (Taysom) Hill got hurt and really scared me a lot. But the backup quarterback (Tanner Mangum) seems like he's going to be able to handle it. He's a young kid, but he has the skills to do well," White said.
"If their offensive line and running game hold up, we think BYU's going to be alright."
A defender himself, White had to stress the importance of the players on that side of the ball.
"Defense is going to have to come to play every game, though," he said. "They are going to have to make sure they keep BYU in the game."
Like the Cougars' 1983 team made a statement with their win over UCLA, White said it's important that BYU keeps scheduling big games against the likes of the Bruins, Nebraska, Boise State and Michigan, et al.
"With the new (playoff) format, it's very important to play these top-rated teams to show that we can compete and we deserve to be along with those top teams at the end of the year," he said.
"Those are the teams that we need to play and do well against."
Email: bjudd@deseretdigital.com; Twitter: @brandonljudd