Nebraska was down to its very last play.
Down 24-21 to Northwestern with just four seconds left in regulation, the Cornhuskers were in complete desperation mode and dialed up a Hail Mary. From the Northwestern 49 yard-line, Huskers backup quarterback Ron Kellogg III, a former walk-on, dropped back to pass, rolled right, stepped up and fired a bomb nearly 60 yards through the air toward the end zone as the clock ticked down to zero.
The ball approached a crowd of Huskers and Wildcats near the goal line, deflected off a Wildcat defender and improbably fell right into the waiting arms of redshirt freshman Jordan Westerkamp for the winning touchdown, the first of Westerkamp’s career.
That play doesn’t tell the story of what was a strong comeback effort by the Cornhuskers. Northwestern led 21-7 late in the second quarter until Nebraska clawed back to within a touchdown with a Quincy Enunwa touchdown catch.
The Huskers defense struck in the third quarter when Avery Moss picked off a Trevor Siemian pass for a 25-yard touchdown to notch things up at 21-21. The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle before Nebraska starter Tommy Armstrong made what appeared to be a colossal mistake, throwing an interception to Northwestern’s Tyler Scott with 2:25 to go.
Scott returned the interception to the Nebraska seven yard-line, but the Husker defense stood tall, and limited the Wildcats to just a 21-yard Jeff Budzien field goal, which ultimately set up Kellogg and Westerkamp’s heroics.
The Huskers took over with just 1:20 to go with no timeouts remaining. Kellogg replaced Armstrong, but after a Max Chapman sack, Nebraska faced a fourth and 15 from their own 24. Kellogg found Ameer Abdullah, who made a fantastic individual effort to dive for the crucial first down.
After two short completions, Kellogg unleashed his mighty throw to cap the improbable win and improve the Cornhuskers record to 6-2.
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H/T BTN.com
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