It was a game that Rutgers seemingly had in hand.
Midway through the third quarter, Rutgers had a 15-7 lead and appeared headed to an upset win that would silence Chris Ash's critics and perhaps redirect a season that had gone off the rails.
And then Northwestern woke up, using a field goal, touchdown and a two-point conversion to rally for an 18-15 win.
Ash wasn't in the mood to employ the moral-victory card afterwards, saying he was "really happy about'' his team's "competitive spirit'' while adding in the same breath: "I'm disappointed that we weren't able to make the plays we needed to to let those guys celebrate in that locker room.