“RUDY, RUDY” – By Mike Babcock
His name wasn’t “Rudy.”
But that was the chant by some among the 75,273 remaining at Memorial Stadium when he ran onto the field with about 5 minutes remaining in Nebraska’s fourth game of the 1994 season against Pacific.
His name was Adam Kucera. “Rudy” referred to a 1993 movie about a true story, Rudy Ruettiger’s dream to be on the Notre Dame football team even though he lacked the size or skills.
Until two weeks before the Pacific game, Kucera was a Nebraska student manager. But he had spent those two weeks as a quarterback on the Husker scout team—a 5-foot-8, (probably) 150-pound, quarterback, though he was listed at 180 pounds.
No way was he that heavy. You could tell by looking.
Anyway, he went into the game and directed a handful of plays—four he said—running for 4 yards and throwing an incomplete pass before being replaced by freshman walk-on Ryan Held, who two weeks before had been an aspiring wide receiver. Tom Osborne was concerned about depth at quarterback, hence the addition of Kucera and Held’s position switch.
They got in the game, as 102 other Huskers did, because Nebraska won 70-21, the score when Kucera saw his first, and only, action as a Husker. Nebraska had scored 56 before Pacific finally got on the board with 8:05 remaining in the third quarter.
Tommie Frazier started at quarterback for the Huskers, but played only two series, nine plays, directing two touchdown drives before giving way to Brook Berringer, who almost got his first start. Frazier was nursing what was initially considered a sore calf muscle, a problem proving to be much worse, a blood-clot issue for which he was hospitalized.
Berringer directed seven series, each ending in a touchdown, then gave way to Matt Turman, who passed 24 yards to wide receiver Jeff Lake for Nebraska’s 10th touchdown.
Berringer ran 6 yards for a touchdown and passed for three, 15 yards to wide receiver Clester Johnson, 46 yards to tight end Eric Alford and 18 yards to wide receiver Abdul Muhammad.
Wide receiver Reggie Baul was the only Husker with more than one reception. He had two.Nine other Huskers caught passes, including tight end Todd Carpenter, the first of his Nebraska career. He would catch only one more, also against Pacific in 1995. As recounted in a previous Historical (8-27-24), Pacific dropped football following the 1995 season.
Sixteen Huskers carried the ball, for 510 yards, led by sophomore I-back Lawrence Phillips, who ran nine times for 138 yards, 74 of them for Nebraska’s second touchdown 6 minutes into the game. Phillips rushed for 126 or more yards in each of first three games as well.
I-back Damon Benning rushed for 87 yards on 10 carries and scored the Huskers’ first touchdown from 1 yard out. Fullback Cory Schlesinger was the only player to score two touchdowns, on runs of 8 and 39 yards. I-back Clinton Childs also scored from 1 yard out.
Nebraska’s leading tackler was back-up linebacker Darren Schmadeke, with eight. Rover Octavious McFarlin, who had been pulled from a redshirt the week before, had seven.
Cornerback Barron Miles blocked two punts. And cornerbacks Leslie Dennis and Tyrone Williams intercepted passes. Defensive tackle Terry Connealy had a sack.
Nebraska’s Darin Erstad punted only once, for 47 yards, and kicked three extra points. Tom Sieler kicked the first six. Ted Retzlaff kicked the final one.
The Huskers overwhelmed Pacific. There was little else to be said.
Kucera really wasn’t prepared to direct Nebraska’s offense because he had been on the scout team during the week. Given that, however, he “could have run Pacific’s plays,” Kucera said.
“Rudy, Rudy.”
