Nov. 2, 2013

Nebraska appeared to be without a prayer.

Coming off a loss at Minnesota the week before, the Huskers found themselves trailing Northwestern 24-21 with 4 seconds remaining at Memorial Stadium.

But a final prayer was answered when a 49-yard touchdown pass from Ron Kellogg was tipped at the goal line by a Northwestern defender before falling into the arms of freshman Jordan Westerkamp.

The play, giving Nebraska a 27-24 victory, set off an explosion within the stadium.

“It was a roar that …” Husker coach Bo Pelini said, searching for the words to describe the jolt of noise. “It kind of reminds me of the Colorado game (in 2008). It was very similar.”

Said Kellogg: “It sounded like thunder.”

As the thunder echoed, the walk-on quarterback took off his helmet and ran in the other direction, while teammates mobbed Westerkamp.

 “I saw Westy kind of flash and then I saw the crowd react, and when I looked down and the referee put his arms up, I was a little bit in disbelief,” Pelini said. “Pretty cool.”

— Clark Grell