Primo Villanueva
| Date of birth | December 2, 1931 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Tucumcari, New Mexico |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| College | UCLA |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1955–1960 | BC Lions |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Awards | 1954 College Football All-America Team, 2nd team |
Primo Villanueva (born December 2, 1931) is an American former gridiron football player. He played college football at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), leading the led the national championship 1954 UCLA Bruins football team in total offense. He subsequently played for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL). After his football career ended, Villanueva became a successful restaurateur in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Villanueva is a Mexican-American who grew up in Calexico in California's Imperial Valley. He had eleven siblings, and his father, Primitivo, fought against Pancho Villa in 1916 and was granted immunity to enter the United States. He attended Calexico High School where he gained recognition as the best athlete in Imperial Valley prep sports history, after earning All-CIF honors for three straight years in three sports: football, basketball, baseball)\. He also ran track.
Villanueva accepted a football scholarship to play for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), over offers from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.
Villanueva played halfback and defensive back for coach Henry Russell Sanders's UCLA Bruins from 1952 to 1954 and was known as the "Calexico Kid". He was a member of the 1953 Bruins team that played in the 1954 Rose Bowl and the 1954 team went 9–and was named national champions by the FWAA and the United Press International (UPI). In a nine-game season, Villanueva led the 1954 Bruins in total offense with 886 yards—486 yards rushing and 400 yards passing. He also had 106 yards on punt returns, 80 yards on four kickoff returns, and 21 yards on two pass interceptions. He scored nine rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns and was considered "a clutch defender." He helped save UCLA's undefeated season with a pass deflection late in a 21–20 win over the Washington Huskies. After he rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another in a UCLA victory over Cal, the headline in the Los Angeles Times sports section read: "VILLANUEVA SPARKS BRUINS TO 27-6 WIN: Calexico Kid Bests Larson, Cal."
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