Team 1 has stormed back to tie the series at 3-3 with a six-vote victory in last week’s Mount Rushmore of NUWB wins. It was the first Rushmore where the same team didn’t win both the X and InsideNU.com polls — Team 1 on X and Team 2 on the site — and Team 2 is disputing the result, maintaining that the only “real” Northwestern fans are in the INU comment sections.

We have one more Rushmore remaining after this one. While we have a tentative final category listed at the bottom, feel free to drop some more suggestions in the comments. Also as a side note, it’s been fun to see commenters draft their own teams in the comments — the 18-22-year-old staff here at Inside very much appreciates the old-head knowledge.

As a refresher, there are two teams made up of four writers each, and the goal is to select the best four-pick squad for each category. You can vote on which team you think is best on @InsideNU on X and in a poll at the bottom of this article until the next Mount Rushmore piece gets introduced next Wednesday.

Team 1: Harris Horowitz, Brendan Preisman, Matt Campbell and Calvin Kaplan

Team 2: Miguel Muñoz, Yanyan Li, Sai Trivedi and Charlie Jacobs

This week’s category is: Individual plays in NU sports history

1.01: Team 1 selects the buzzer beater over Michigan in 2017

We saw the comments a few weeks ago, so this play wasn’t getting past 1.01 by any stretch of the imagination. Amid an already-successful season, Northwestern’s tournament hopes in 2017 were finally realized after a Hail Mary pass from Nathan Taphorn and a buzzer-beating layup from Dererk Pardon.

The Michigan buzzer-beating play was an incredible moment on its own, but its broader significance just means more. Up to that point, Wildcat men’s basketball had a historically woeful track record, having gone its entire history without an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. 2016-2017 finally put head coach Chris Collins’ squads on the map, and after a shot for the ages, every celebrating fan in Welsh-Ryan Arena knew the ‘Cats were finally going dancing that year.

The Pardon shot was a game-changer that truly elevated the 2016-2017 season into Northwestern lore. Enough said.

1.02: Team 2 selects the forced fumble against No. 14 Notre Dame in 2014

Northwestern entered this matchup in a perilous spot: a 3-6 record, one loss away from losing bowl eligibility for the second straight season, facing a No. 18 Notre Dame team in its home stadium — a notoriously difficult place to play.

NU found itself down 40-37 in a thrilling, momentum shifting matchup. Notre Dame had the ball on 2nd-and-8 with 1:36 left to play, needing a first down to ward off the upset with Northwestern out of timeouts.

After a handoff to running back Cam McDaniel, Cornerback Ibraheim Campbell went straight for the ball, ripping it out of running back Cam McDaniel and enabling safety Jimmy Hall to jump on top of it. A stunning turnaround that resulted in quarterback Trevor Sienman marching down the field and kicker Jack Mitchell hitting a 45 yard field goal to send the game to overtime. Northwestern would go on to win the game and keep their bowl hopes alive.

Back in 2018, Inside NU published a deep dive reflection into this play alone, embedded with phone interviews from players taking us inside their minds during the fumble recovery and recognizing its implications. If that doesn’t all but confirm this as an iconic play in Northwestern sports history, what else does?

2.01: Team 2 selects Chase Audige’s go-ahead three in 2023 win over No. 1 Purdue

With just under five minutes left in a hard-fought effort againt No. 1, Northwestern looked all but dead in the water. After another unstoppable baby hook from eventual two-time NPOY Zach Edey, the ‘Cats found themselves down 55-47 and without any real momentum amidst a chance to grab a program-defining win.

Enter Chase Audige. The senior guard had just five points up until that point, but came alive at just the right time. After clawing the Wildcats back within three with seven straight points, his opportunity to flip the game on its head came with 1:40 left, with NU now down just 57-56 and with the ball in its hands. Audige drove down the baseline before passing to Brooks Barnhizer, curling around him and splashing a corner three to put the ‘Cats up two, resulting in arguably the biggest crowd pop Welsh-Ryan Arena has seen.

Even though it was still just a one-possession game, the energy in Welsh-Ryan from then on felt like victory for NU. A steal and score would all but seal the game, and the ‘Cats would go onto defeat the top-ranked Boilermakers en route to their second-ever tournament appearance. Without Audige’s clutch shot, we may not have one of the greatest wins in Northwestern men’s basketball history nor one of the most successful programs enjoyed by NU athletics today.

2.02: Team 1 selects the forced fumble against Michigan in 2000

My favorite part of this Mount Rushmore series has been learning more about these awesome moments in Northwestern sports history from well before my team here. This Michigan game was absurd. There’s the 54-51 scoreline, the national stakes, the game’s importance in the emergence of the spread offense. We covered all that when we wrote about this game a month ago, but before this week’s draft, I still didn’t quite understand the bedlam that was the final two minutes of this game.

After a rare Michigan punt, Northwestern gets the ball back trailing 51-46 with 3:35 to play in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Zak Kustok marches the ‘Cats to the red zone with a 21-yard run and a 36-yard completion to wide receiver Teddy Johnson. The Wolverine defense forces a fourth-and-goal from the seven, and Johnson puts the ‘Cats in front with a touchdown on a wide receiver screen. The senior gets tripped up at the four but channels his inner-Space Jam-Michael Jordan to reach the ball over the goal line. Ryan Field loses its mind, but there’s flag down. It’s an ineligible man downfield. Northwestern has to do it all over again, this time from the 12.

Heisman finalist Damien Anderson slips open on wheel route. There is nobody within ten yards of the running back. For the newer Wildcat crowd, it’s the Ben Bryant-to-Charlie Mangieri game-winner against Minnesota. The ball sits in the air for what feels like ten seconds. It’s the lollipop of all lollipops. Except Anderson, who would go on to rush for a Northwestern 1,914 yards in 2000, drops it. He can’t believe it. Anderson had 262 yards on the ground up to that point. Michigan players are consoling him on the field. It’s the lone drop of his entire junior season.

Michigan takes over at the 12 with 1:38 remaining. Northwestern has two timeouts, so the Wolverines need a first down to seal it. Running back Anthony Thomas gains seven on first down. They call him the A-Train. Brent Musberger, on play-by-play duties for ABC, is already writing the eulogy. “This has been a wonderful college football game,” he says.

Thomas gets it again on second down, and he has space between the tackles. First down. If he goes down, the game is over, but A-Train has his eyes set on the end zone. There’s so much space. Two Wolverine blockers pancake the Northwestern defensive backs in front of him. Thomas brushes by them, takes maybe two steps and then, inexplicably, he drops the ball behind him. Former-walk-on safety Sean Wieber, as he was, in his words, “getting pile-driven by the guard and fullback,” had forced the ball loose with a swipe from his right hand. Wildcat cornerback Raheem Covington has it. Northwestern football.

The ‘Cats would take the lead thirty seconds later. Kustok later told the New York Times (their oral history of this game is required reading) that “every single person in the stands…knew we were gonna go down and score.” Michigan gets it back with 20 seconds remaining, but the Wolverines can’t engineer the night’s second miracle. 54-51, Northwestern wins.

The whole game is on Youtube, and I watched that fumble maybe 20 times this week on the corner of my monitor at my office. On first watch, it looks like Thomas just drops the ball. I had to put the video on 0.25 speed to see Wieber lodge it free. I’m going to watch it at least ten times more again tonight.

3.01: Team 1 selects Sammy White’s caused turnover over Michigan in the 2023 NCAA lacrosse tournament second round

No. 1 Northwestern’s second round contest against Michigan in the 2023 NCAA tournament featured the most dramatic moment of the return-to-glory title run. The ‘Cats would win their next three matchups by an average of 9.67 goals, capped by an 18-6 trouncing of No. 3 Boston College in the national championship game.

Carleigh Mahoney scored to make it 8-6 Northwestern with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but it was pins-and-needles the rest of the way for Wildcat fans. Michigan’s Julia Schwabe cut the deficit to one with five minutes remaining. Northwestern controlled possession for the majority of the next four minutes of play, but an Erin Coykendall turnover gave the Wolverines a window to tie in the final 20 seconds. Sammy White would not have it. The Wildcat defender broke early on a downfield pass from Michigan’s Mariana Lopez-Ona and forced the ball free with an excellently timed stick-check to seal the Wildcat victory.

3.02: Team 2 selects Dianna Lee’s national championship-clinching putt in 2025

Does it get any better than the Lee’s putt on 18 to win complete the upset over No. 1 Stanford and win Northwestern women’s golf’s first ever national title?

Lee was the last Wildcat golfer on the course, and with the score tied at 2-2, Northwestern’s national championship hopes rested solely on her shoulders. She had led by three going into the 13th hole, but Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta won 14 and 15 to cut the deficit to one. Lee and Reveulta both went bogey-par on 16 and 17. Lee had a 12-footer for birdie to win in one the 17th, but she missed it long.

Lee and Reveulta both reached the green in regulation, and both had about 18-feet on their birdie putts. Lee nearly won it from distance, her ball rolling off the left-lip, leaving her with five-feet remaining for par. Reveulta’s own-birdie attempt was short. Lee had her third putt to win the national championship in two holes. And of course, she drilled it.

4.01: Team 2 selects Lauren Wadas’ game-winner against No. 3 Iowa in the 2021 NCAA field hockey tournament

The Wildcats entered the 2021 NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed and were playing on the road at No. 3 Iowa, which won the Big Ten that season. Although they beat the Hawkeyes once previously that year, pulling off the beat again was a tall task.

It was a tall task indeed for most of the game, where both teams were scoreless and held to under six shots on goal. But in the 59th minute, Lauren Wadas pulled through, escaping a triple team and making an incredible backhanded shot from beyond the arc. It was a goal that sent Northwestern to its first Final Four since 1994 — it won its first national championship two games later, concluding a Cinderella run but beginning the start of an ongoing streak of four consecutive national title game appearances.

Had it not been for this play, Northwestern field hockey may not have been the powerhouse it is today. But not only was the goal monumental for the trajectory of the program, but it was also in itself a pure highlight reel. You can check it out here:

It was also not the first time that Wadas would score to send Northwestern to the Final Four, as she later did the same thing in the 2023 and 2024 NCAA quarterfinals.

4.02: Team 1 selects the fourth-quarter trick-play touchdown in the 1949 Rose Bowl

Perhaps the biggest win in Northwestern football history was decided by some trickery from the Wildcat offense. Northwestern had the ball in Cal territory trailing 14-13 with under five minutes remaining after a 17-yard completion to wide receiver Don Stonestifer. It was the lone completed pass of the game for the ‘Cats.

With a passing attack fit for the 18th century and no points since the midway point of the second quarter, head coach Bob Voigts dug into his bag of tricks. He pulled out a direct snap to running back Ed Tunnicliff, who scamped 34-yards for the go-ahead score as the Golden Bear defense bit on a statue-of-liberty esque fake throw from quarterback Don Burson.

Dererk Pardon’s 2017 buzzer beater against MichiganSean Wieber’s forced fumble in Northwestern’s 2000 win over No. 12 MichiganSammy White’s caused turnover against Michigan in the 2023 NCAA tournamentEd Tunnicliff’s trick play go-ahead touchdown in the 1949 Rose Bowl win.The fourth quarter fumble-recovery in Northwestern’s 2014 win over No. 18 Notre DameChase Audige’s go-ahead three in the 2023 win over No. 1 PurdueDianna Lee’s 2025 national championship-winning puttLauren Wadas’ game-winner against No. 3 Iowa in the 2021 NCAA tournament

Vote on X at @InsideNU, and let us know anything you think we missed in the comments. Please also add suggestions for future categories! We haven’t decided the final Mount Rushmore yet — we’re thinking something football related ahead of the Tulane game — and would love some good ideas.