Every Northwestern fan has come to fear and sometimes expect heartbreak on a weekly basis, but even that didn't make Saturday's game any less unbelievable.
Ron Kellogg III's 49-yard Hail Mary was tipped at the goal line and fell into the hands of Jordan Westerkamp as time expired, giving Northwestern (4-5, 0-5 Big Ten) a heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Nebraska (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. The loss gives Northwestern its first 0-5 start to conference play since 2006, during head coach Pat Fitzgerald's first season in charge.
"It's a tough deal," Fitzgerald said. "I really feel for our guys."
Junior running back Treyvon Green fought through injury for 149 yards and three touchdowns as the only remaining viable option at the position after an injury to freshman Stephen Buckley. Senior quarterback Kain Colter added 86 yards on the ground.
An interception from senior defensive end Tyler Scott with just 2:25 remaining set up a 21-yard field goal from senior Jeff Budzien, putting the 'Cats up 24-21 with just over a minute left. If that wasn't reassuring enough for the Wildcats, Nebraska had a 4th-and-15 on its own 24-yard line with under a minute remaining, but somehow, running back Ameer Abdullah fought his way through several Wildcat defenders for a first down.
The Huskers got down to the Northwestern 49, and after an incomplete pass, the Wildcats called a timeout with four seconds left. They knew what was coming. Everyone knew what was coming. It was something they practice every Thursday. But still, it happened.
Kellogg dropped back to pass as time ran out, then let fly on a bomb toward the end zone. A scrum of Huskers and Wildcats were waiting for it on the goal line. It bounced off them and into the arms of a wide-open, uncovered Westerkamp who was deeper than the deepest NU player. The capacity crowd of over 91,000, which had already been basically shouting the entire game, went ballistic.
"Just a tough way to lose."
Quite an understatement from Fitzgerald. It was a ridiculous offensive play to cap off a second half that had been full of defensive plays. There were four sacks, four interceptions and 11 punts in the third and fourth quarters. Until the final three minutes of the game, there hadn't been any offensive scores in the half. The only points came on an interception by Nebraska's Avery Moss that he returned 25 yards for a touchdown. Junior right tackle couldn't keep Moss's arms down while blocking him, so Moss was able to pick Siemian off.
The first half saw a lot more offensive action. Nebraska diced up the Northwestern defense to open the scoring. Northwestern responded with a ridiculous run from Colter, which led to a Green touchdown. After getting the ball back, Green found a hole up the middle and went 39 yards. Two plays later, he took a perfectly-executed option pitch from Colter in for another touchdown.
Junior linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo picked off Kellogg early in the second quarter, leading to Green's third touchdown of the day, but Nebraska answered right back on the next possession. From that point, there were five straight punts to finish off the half.
As if the offense wasn't struggling enough, Green went out with a knee injury in the fourth quarter. He returned on the next drive with a brace, but while he was out Northwestern had to go with sixth-string running back Tim Hanrahan, and that position is just one of many that's been hit by injuries.
"There's not one [injury] that doesn't concern me," Fitzgerald said. "It's been that kind of year."
And this was that kind of game that Northwestern has seen all too often. A great defensive performance was rightfully overshadowed by an "Are-you-kidding-me?" play. A season marked by tremendous anticipation continues to tumble to more disappointing depths than the week before.
At this point, there's not much that can be said. Green tried to put it into words, but he simply couldn't.
"There's no words to describe it, honestly," he said.
Northwestern will have a bye week to lick its wounds before taking on Michigan at home.