Dec. 5—GRAND FORKS — Lamain Rucker feels like he’s looking in the mirror sometimes when he sees UND edge and his son Lance Rucker.
Lamain Rucker was a 300-pound defensive lineman for Northern Illinois in college, who signed with the Miami Dolphins and played for the Barcelona Dragons in NFL Europe.
“It’s kind of a told-you-so moment,” Lamain said. “I knew he was special. I knew one day he’d do something like this. I chuckle sometimes because I see myself in him. A smaller version of me.”
Lance Rucker, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound junior, is coming off one of the greatest individual defensive efforts in UND football history, notching three strip-sacks at Tennessee Tech in the first round of the FCS Playoffs, willing the Fighting Hawks to a 31-6 victory.
As UND approaches a second-round matchup with Tarleton State at noon Saturday in Stephenville, Texas, Lance Rucker is one sack away from UND’s single-season record, which is held in a tie by current head coach Eric Schmidt, who had 10.5 sacks in UND’s 2001 Division II national championship run.
All eyes were on Lance Rucker last Saturday, but he bucks the spotlight. When speaking to the media, the Omaha native is brief.
When it comes to bragging up the all-Missouri Valley Football Conference first team selection, his teammates, coaches and parents had to do the talking for him this week.
“He isn’t one who talks a whole lot,” his mom Enes Rucker said. “He’s not loud and robust. He keeps a small circle. He’s not out and about in big crowds.”
UND nickel Jonnie Wiltshire is more of a vocal leader on the defense. As Lance Rucker dominated last Saturday in Cookeville, Wiltshire saw a relentless attitude.
“He’s a silent killer,” Wiltshire said. “He is going to look at you, get his check and do his job. He’s going to make a play and yell and then do it all over again. I congratulated him after his plays (last Saturday) and he’d be like ‘Come on, let’s do it again.’ That’s the kind of guy he is. He’s doesn’t overdo it. It keeps him the same way every time.”
UND senior cornerback Bennett Walker, however, sees a lighter side off the field.
“If you see Lance play, you think he’s the biggest, meanest dude,” Walker said. “He plays with his head on fire. In person, though, he’s a goofy, nice, funny, all-around good guy.”
UND linebacker Malachi McNeal said the lines of communication are great with Rucker.
“He accepts a challenge,” said McNeal, a veteran captain. “I’ll go up to him and say, ‘Zero, we need you get a big play.’ He won’t argue with me. He just says, ‘Yes sir’ and then goes and does it. I can challenge him and he can challenge me. We can help out the family when the family needs it most.”
Schmidt said UND hasn’t been scheming up any defensive X’s and O’s to free up Rucker recently.
“Everyone in the stadium knew it … the quarterback knew it, the tackle knew it … he just went out there and won 1-on-1’s consistently,” Schmidt said. “We aren’t trying to get him in a bunch of patterns that limit his natural ability to rush the passer.
“He was breathing on tackles every play. He’s an elite player. You have to have those players to have a championship football team. That’s saying something when you start getting those production numbers. That hasn’t been done here in a long, long time.”
Rucker’s 10.5 sacks are one away from breaking a school record. Schmidt and Wes Atkinson (1999) each had 11.0 sacks. Rucker stands alone in the Division I era at UND, ahead of the school’s recent top pass rushers Mason Bennett (9.0 sacks in 2018) and Jaxson Turner (22.0 sacks in career with a single-season high of 6.0 in 2021).
Rucker started his career at outside linebacker in UND’s previous 3-4 defensive alignment, then took off under Schmidt’s 4-2-5 scheme as an edge.
When speaking to the media, Rucker, who’s still just 20 years old, keeps answers short and to the point.
“I wouldn’t even call it soft-spoken,” Lamain said. “He’s quiet. He lets his play and actions speak for him. He’s not one to get in a big talking match with you. He’d rather show you.”
The Rucker family has put on the miles this year to see two of the family’s three sons play ball in North Dakota. Lance’s brother, Lamar Rucker, is a basketball player at Mayville State.
“They’re 15 months apart, so if you look them you think they’re twins,” Lamain said. “Until they start talking, then they’re going in opposite directions.”
The Ruckers have no problem putting in the time to see their sons. They were in Cookeville, Tenn., last weekend and will be in Stephenville, Texas this weekend, with a stop in Mayville, N.D., in between.
“(Lance) is my monster I always say … I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” Lamain said. “I enjoy seeing my kids grow up. If I’ve got to take a 12-hour car ride to do it, I will. If I have to turn around and be back at home to go to work at 5 a.m., that’s what I’m doing.”
Enes agrees.
“That’s why they have cars, right?” she said.
