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Nebraska 'Hail Mary' stuns Northwestern on final play

It was a rough week for Nebraska coach Bo Pelini. His team was dominated physically last week by Minnesota, and his brother, Carl, stepped down as Florida Atlantic's coach after allegations of illegal drug use. His week sure ended well, though.

Freshman wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp caught a last-play "Hail Mary" from Ron Kellogg to give the Huskers a 27-24 win over Northwestern. The ball was tipped into the air in the end zone by Northwestern's Anthony Walker, and Westerkamp -- who was standing all along about 2 yards behind a large group of Wildcats and Huskers -- caught it to complete the 49-yard play.

It was the first TD reception of Westerkamp's career.

The winning pass finished off a drive that began at Nebraska's 17 with 1:20 left and no timeouts. Tailback Ameer Abdullah gained 15 yards on a screen on a fourth-and-15 to keep the drive alive.

It was Northwestern's fifth consecutive loss after opening the season 4-0.

Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.