Playing his rush

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000 | 9:44 a.m.

Next up

Who: UNLV vs. New Mexico

When: Saturday, noon

Where: Sam Boyd Stadium

TV: Metro, Ch. 48

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

As a senior at Apopka (Fla.) High School, Jeremi Rudolph was the runner-up for Florida's Mr. Football Award to a quarterback named Daunte Culpepper.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder also finished second in state history to Emmitt Smith in career touchdowns. So it probably shouldn't be much of a surprise to find Rudolph ranked second among Mountain West Conference rushing leaders this week with a 75.1 yards per game average.

Rudolph was one of the few UNLV bright spots in Saturday's 38-16 loss at Utah. He rushed for a game-high 110 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown, the third straight game he's topped the 100-yard mark and the fourth time this season.

"He's just playing his (butt) off," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "And he seems to be getting stronger as the year goes on.

"Jeremi is an excellent runner. You give him something and he can find a place to go."

Rudolph didn't seemed overly impressed when asked about his 100-yard rushing streak.

"I don't really pay any attention to it," he said. "I just try and go out and do my job. (Getting) 100 yards and a loss doesn't mix. Where we want to be is getting 100 yards and a win."

Despite his small stature, Rudolph has deceptive strength and has made a specialty of making long gains on plays that seemed to be stopped for little or no gain.

"He runs hard and he's difficult to keep down," said UNLV running backs coach John Jackson, who coached Heisman Trophy winners Marcus Allen and Charles White at USC. "His effort, his heart ... He's got a big, big heart."

Rudolph's numbers would probably be even more impressive if he carried the ball more. He splits time with senior Kevin Brown, who is fourth in the MWC this week with a 67.1 yards per game average.

"I'm very pleased with the way both of them have performed and conducted themselves," Jackson said. "They both are unselfish and help each other out. I couldn't ask for anything more of them."

Rudolph, who rushed for a team-high 693 yards and four touchdowns as a junior despite being plagued by a partially torn groin muscle the last half of the season, credits the improvement of the Rebel offensive line as well as the presence of sophomore quarterback Jason Thomas for the improvement in UNLV's rushing game this year. The Rebels rank second in the Mountain West and 13th nationally in rushing offense with an average of 225.7 yards per game.

"We've come a long ways from last year," Rudolph said. "The offensive line keeps improving each game. That makes it easier for me to do my job. And (fullbacks) James (Wofford) and Steve (Costa) have also been doing a good job of blocking. And with Jason Thomas in the backfield, it helps out a lot because a lot of defenses key on him. That opens things up more for me and Kevin."

Rudolph also said he's learned a lot about the art of running from Jackson, one of the nation's premier running back coaches.

"He's kind of like a father figure to me," Rudolph said. "He's always talking to me about the little things both on and off the field, making sure my head is in the right place and that I graduate from here. He's still teaching me a lot of things I didn't learn in high school or junior college. And he's always keeping on top of me about running hard and keeping my legs moving to get that extra yard."

"We've had the ball 18 times on the opponents' seven and in," Robinson said. "We've scored 16 touchdowns and two field goals. That's pretty good."

Black, who had 10 tackles last week despite playing with a broken right hand, currently has 284 career tackles while Pickens had 289.

"He's a real test of courage," Robinson said of Black's performance Saturday at Utah.