After junior quarterback Matt Senneca got smacked by Wildcats linebacker Napoleon Harris, Mills grabbed his helmet and ran to the huddle. That's where the 19-year-old Mills worked his magic.

"He came over really calm and said 'Hey what's up, you guys ready to go score?'" Joe Iorio said. "My heart was racing."

The Nittany Lions offense had to race down the field, too. Mills had to take Penn State 52 yards in 1:39 and score a touchdown. He came into the game without taking a snap all day but marched down into Northwestern territory without missing a beat. Mills' first play from scrimmage was a completion to tailback Omar Easy for nine yards. The freshman then scrambled to the Northwestern 40-yard line for a first down. After an incomplete pass, Mills connected with wide receiver Bryant Johnson for 11 yards and the chains moved again.

But Mills and the Lions offense wasn't even close to finished.

"I was a little nervous," Mills admitted. "But I didn't have time to be nervous."

Mills didn't show any of his anxiety during the entire drive down the field. Following another incomplete pass, this time to sophomore Tony Johnson, Mills once again found Bryant Johnson, putting the ball on the 17-yard line. But as the Wildcat faithful started to get behind their team, fearing an upset by a Penn State offense led by a freshman, Mills persevered. He threw two incomplete passes to his new favorite target, Bryant Johnson. It was third down, 10 yards to go and the Penn State comeback was falling through the offense's fingers. But Mills was there to revive the Lions for a final time.

Mills, for the third time on the drive, connected with Bryant Johnson, as he threw a perfect pass to the receiver at the Wildcats four-yard line. On the very next play, he completed perhaps the greatest drive since Kerry Collins led the 1994 Lions down the field to beat Illinois. Mills hit tailback Eric McCoo for a four-yard touchdown pass to put the Lions up for good, 38-35, and leave the Northwestern defense stunned.

"That was great the way Zack went in there could and got the job done," coach Joe Paterno said. "He's a very unusual kid. He's going to be a really good one."

Mills said that he hadn't thrown the ball all night, only tossing it a few times on the sidelines during the third quarter. The quarterback said he never expected to get in the game that late and lead the team down field for the winning score. But Mills made the most of his opportunity, not groveling about not playing all game. He came in, did his job and led the Lions to their first win of the season.

"It's just a great feeling," Mills said. "It's just awesome."

Mills added that when he went into the huddle with less than two minutes to play after the starting quarterback was knocked out with an injury, he said players were becoming nervous. But he went in there, calmly told the team they were going to score and backed up his words. In the final drive, Mills was 5 for 8 passing for 54 yards.

But most importantly, the freshmen came in, settled down the Lions and put six points on the scoreboard to upset Northwestern.

"I gave him the biggest hug afterwards," Senneca said. "I didn't have any doubt he could do it."