Nebraska 40
UCLA 13

Sep. 8, 1973 • 3:50 p.m. Central
Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE • ABC
1st 2nd 3rd 4th  T 
UCLA 6 7 0 0 13
Nebraska 14 6 6 14 40 
First quarter
NEBR: Steve Runty 1 run (Rich Sanger kick) 7:53
NEBR: Randy Borg 77 punt return (Sanger kick) 6:13
UCLA: Kermit Johnson 12 run (kick failed) 1:14
Second quarter
NEBR: Frosty Anderson 10 pass from Runty (kick blocked) 13:36
UCLA: Mark Harmon 3 run (Efren Herrera kick) 0:11
Third quarter
NEBR: Tony Davis 1 run (kick blocked) 8:05
Fourth quarter
NEBR: Davis 43 run (Sanger kick) 13:22
NEBR: Jeff Moran 2 run (Sanger kick) 2:19

                    UCLA       NU
First Downs ......... 14       20
  Rushing ........... 11       14
  Passing ............ 1        5
  Penalty ............ 2        1
Rushing, Net .... 52-239   62-305
Passing, Net ........ 20      105
  Comp-Att-Int ... 2-9-0   9-12-2
Total Offense ... 61-259   74-410
Punts ........... 8-42.5   3-31.0
Fumbles-lost ....... 6-3      3-1
Penalties-yards ... 6-58     5-46

Embed from Getty Images

RUSHING
UCLA: Johnson 10-82, McAllister 13-48, Sciarra 10-46, Harmon 10-22, Monahan 1-18, Tyler 1-7, Schuhman 2-6, Ayers 4-6, Charles 1-4.

NEBR: Davis 24-147, Bahe 6-49, Damkroger 8-36, Westbrook 1-22, Runty 8-19, Goeller 8-16, Moran 4-9, Powell 2-6, Everett 1-1.  

PASSING
UCLA: Sciarra 1-4-0 11; Harmon 1-5-0 9.

NEBR: Runty 9-11-1 105; Davis 0-1-1 0.

RECEIVING
UCLA: Anderson 1-11, E.Jones 1-9.

NEBR: Longwell 3-39, Davis 3-32, Anderson 2-23, Bahe 1-11.

MORE INDIVIDUAL STATS

ATTENDANCE: 74,966

NU OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF GAME
  Steve Runty and Tony Davis

NU DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF GAME
  John Dutton

NOTE: Runty and Davis named AP National Backs of the Week.
Game DVD

Coverage

Recap

1973 Nebraska-UCLA Tony Davis photoTony Davis hurdles a Bruin on a run that put the Huskers inside the UCLA one-yard line, setting up Nebraska’s first score. · Hattiesburg (Miss.) American · Newspapers.com

Bruins buried in Osborne’s debut

With 74,966 fans at Memorial Stadium and millions of Americans watching their ABC-TV channels, the Nebraska Cornhuskers gained sweet revenge by clobbering UCLA, 40-13.

It was UCLA that halted NU’s 32-game success streak in the opening game at Los Angeles in 1972, and the Huskers didn’t forget, even though Bob Devaney was gone and Tom Osborne was the new coach.

So convincing was the rout — engineered by alternate quarterback Steve Runty, subbing for injured Dave Humm — that the Huskers vaulted into the No. 2 spot nationally.

The first time Nebraska got the ball, the Huskers drove 56 yards to score, with Runty plunging over from the one. Rich Sanger’s kick made it 7-0, and four plays later UCLA punted. Randy Borg pulled in the ball and raced 77 yards to score, making it 14-0 after Sanger’s kick with 6:13 left in the first quarter.

Nebraska scored again in the second period on a 10-yard pass from Runty to Frosty Anderson, and UCLA scored twice to pull up 20-13 at halftime.

But the Husker defense shut out the UCLA wishbone the rest of the way, and NU scored three more TDs in the second half — Tony Davis ran one yard in the third period and added a 43-yarder in the fourth before Jeff Moran scored the final tally.

Nebraska dominated the statistics, too, amassing 410 yards to 259 for UCLA. Davis was brilliant as a runner, getting 147 yards in his debut, and Runty hit 9 of 11 passes in a great relief performance.

It was a sensational start for new coach Tom Osborne and the 1973 Huskers.

Recap source: 1974 media guide

 

Defense vs UCLA 1973

A Nebraska defender wraps up UCLA quarterback Mark Harmon. | From 1974 media guide
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Pregame & team info
1973 schedule
05/05 Red 35, White 25
09/08 UCLA W 40-13
09/22 N.C. State W 31-14
09/29 Wisconsin W 20-16
10/06 @ Minnesota W 48-7
10/13 @ Missouri L 12-13
10/20 Kansas W 10-9
10/27 @ Oklahoma St. L 17-17
11/03 Colorado W 28-16
11/10 Iowa St. W 31-7
11/17 @ Kansas St. W 50-21
11/23 @ Oklahoma L 0-27
01/01 Texas W 19-3
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