Official recap
With 21,003 fans basking in the sun and whooping it up in anticipation of September, the Cornhuskers concluded spring practice with a rousing offensive show.
Thanks to a wild fourth-quarter comeback, the Reds — featuring the top players — stormed from an apparent upset to a 41-40 victory. All the Reds had to do was score three touchdowns in the final quarter and stop a two-point White conversion attempt with 1:20 left.
As the record All Sports Day throng trooped out of the stadium, rehashing the brilliant quarterbacking of Dave Humm, the bruising fullback play of Tony Davis, the shades-of-Johnny Rodgers kick returning of Bobby Thomas and some overall very fine defensive play, Coach Osborne observed: "The offense might be a little sounder than it was at the end of spring a year ago, while defensively maybe we're where we were a year ago. And if we come up with the right people, it could be a real good defense."
The No. 1 Reds scored the first two times they had the ball, but the Whites got back in the game for a 20-20 halftime tie. Quarterbacks Terry Luck and Earl Everett both plunged for third-quarter TDs, giving the Whites a 34-20 lead going into the final period.
But the Reds stormed back with touchdowns from John O'Leary, Tony Davis and Ritch Bahe to go up 41-34. That didn't end things, however. With 1:29 left in the game, the Whites' Jerry Wied blocked a punt and tore 45 yards to score. But the Black Shirts smothered the two-point victory try, and the exciting football afternoon came to a close.
SPRING-GAME HISTORY
SEASON STATS | NU ROSTER
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Red 41
White 40
May 4, 1974
Lincoln, NERed 13 7 0 21 — 41
White 0 20 14 6 — 40
First quarter
RED — Dave Humm, 1 run (Mike Coyle
kick failed) 11:19
RED — John O'Leary, 5 run (Coyle kick) 6:30
Second quarter
WHI — Jack Kelly, 6 run (Al Eveland kick) 9:17
WHI — Chester Tally, 2 run (Eveland kick) 2:32
RED — Tony Davis, 4 run (Coyle kick) 1:10
WHI — Dave Gillespie, 2 run (Eveland
kick failed) 0:32
Third quarter
WHI — Terry Luck, 1 run (Eveland kick) 8:19
WHI — Earl Everett, 1 run (Rick Lemerond kick) 3:45
Fourth quarter
RED — John O'Leary, 8 run (Mike Houser kick) 14:05
RED — Tony Davis, 4 run (Houser kick failed) 13:27
RED — Ritch Bahe, 3 run (run good) 10:33
WHI — Jerry Wied, 45 blocked punt return
(run failed) 1:20
Attendance — 21,003
Whites Reds
First Downs Rushing ................. 15 12
First Downs Passing .................. 6 7
First Downs by Penalties ............. 2 1
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS ................... 23 20
Number Attempts Rushing ............ 63 52
Yards Gained Rushing .............. 257 291
Yards Lost Rushing .................. 13 6
NET YARDS GAINED RUSHING .......... 244 285
Number Passes Attempted ............. 18 17
Number Passes Completed ............. 9 8
Number Passes Had Intercepted ....... 2 2
NET YARDS GAINED PASSING ........... 125 148
Number Plays Rushing and Passing .... 81 69
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDAGE .............. 369 433
Number Interceptions ................ 2 2
NET YARDS INTERCEPTIONS RETURNED .... 43 47
Number Times Punted ................. 2 3
Number of Punts Had Blocked ......... 0 1
PUNTING AVERAGE ..................... 36 47
PUNT RETURNS (Number-Yards) ...... 3-90 0-0
KICKOFF RETURNS (Number-Yards) ... 7-159 5-101
PENALTIES (Number-Yards) .......... 5-51 6-74
FUMBLES (Number-Own Lost) .......... 2-2 2-2
WHITE
RUSHING Att. Gain Loss Net TD Long
Everett 10 64 6 58 1 19
Justice 4 12 0 12 0 6
Kucera 1 3 0 4 0 3
Heiser 3 12 0 12 0 8
Luck 3 7 5 2 1 6
Gilllespie 8 29 0 29 1 9
Higgs 16 56 2 54 0 9
Kelley 8 26 0 26 1 6
Lemerond 3 9 0 0 0 6
Talley 7 39 0 39 1 11
PASSING Comp. Att. Int. Yds. Long
Luck 5 10 2 74 22
Everett 3 6 0 36 15
Lemerond 3 2 0 15 15
RECEIVING No. Yds. TD Long
Thomas 2 41 0 22
Heiser 2 24 0 15
Folsom 1 13 0 13
Peterson 1 12 0 12
Malito 1 22 0 22
Kelley 1 15 0 15
Kucera 1 -2 0 -2
PUNTING No. Yds. Avg. Long
Lessman 2 72 36 46
RETURNS Punts K-offs Intcp.
Thomas 2-44 3-89 -
Wied 1-45 - -
Burrow - - 1-0
Eichelberger - - 1-49
Kucera - 1-0 -
Gillespie - 2-50 -
McWhorter - 1-20 -
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RED
RUSHING Att. Gain Loss Net TD Long
Humm 6 44 0 44 1 28
Davis 9 33 0 33 2 13
O'Leary 9 56 0 56 2 10
Bahe 3 16 0 16 1 12
Moran 4 20 0 20 0 9
Westbrook 4 63 0 63 0 43
Zabrocki 7 21 2 19 0 7
Belka 4 16 1 15 0 9
Burns 3 12 3 9 0 7
Williams 2 8 0 8 0 6
Ray 1 2 0 2 0 2
PASSING Comp. Att. Int. Yds. Long
Humm 6 13 2 88 29
Burns 1 1 0 16 16
Ray 1 3 0 44 44
RECEIVING No. Yds. TD Long
Shamblin 2 61 0 44
Davis 1 11 0 11
Bahe 3 51 0 29
Panneton 1 16 0 16
Moran 1 9 0 9
PUNTING No. Yds. Avg. Long
Ray 2 95 47 59
Team 1 0 — —
RETURNS Punts K-offs Intcp.
Nelson - - 1-0
Young - - 1-47
Bahe - 2-37 -
O'Leary - 1-23 -
Westbrook - 1-24 -
Belka - 1-17 -
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