In 41 games spanning two colleges and four coaches, Nate Boerkircher was the epitome of a grinder, worker bee and trench man. His pass protection gave the quarterback time to throw. His route-running would clear space for teammates to make the catch. His contributions led to victories, but wouldn’t directly get his name on the marquee.
Until Sept. 13, 2025.
Sixteenth-ranked Texas A&M vs. No. 8 Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line.
Nineteen seconds remaining.
Irish leading 40-34.
Boerkircher, playing his third game for A&M after transferring from Nebraska, ran a route to the left side and caught quarterback Marcel Reed’s pass for the game-winning touchdown (41-40) literally in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus.
It may
not have been a life-changing moment for Boerkircher — that came a few months later when he was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ second-round draft pick. But it was certainly career-defining and career-changing. Working for The Chance to make a crucial catch, he was able to make The Play.
“I would say it was a very, very special moment,” Boerkircher told me after practice on Sept. 2. “It felt like a long time coming. It felt like I had proven myself as an Aggie.”
It doesn’t feel like a long time ago for Boerkircher, but when the Jaguars open the season against the Cleveland Browns, it will be exactly one year. The pre-play sideline discussion. The route combination. The aftermath. Every last bit of it.
Vivid memories tend to stay that way, right?
Before the play
Following four years at Nebraska, including three as a walk-on, he entered the transfer portal and was immediately contacted by A&M, which was impressed with his blocking ability, but also believed he was underutilized as a receiver. Through two games and 59 minutes, 40 seconds of a third, Boerkircher had totaled two catches for the Aggies.
“I would want to rip my hair out at times (at Nebraska) thinking, ‘Throw the kid the ball,’” said Ian Boerkircher, Nate’s older brother and former Nebraska teammate. “I feel he runs fairly crisp routes and knows how to get open and he’ll get yards after the catch and run through contact.”
Thing was, the Aggies were loaded at receiver. KC Concepcion would be a first-round pick by Cleveland and Mario Craver was on his way to a seven-catch, 207-yard game against Notre Dame.
A&M started its final possession at its 26-yard line and 2:35 remaining. Gains of 3, 34, 5, 7, 2, 9 and 4 yards moved the Aggies to the Notre Dame 15 with 54 seconds remaining. But consecutive false start penalties moved them backward. An Irish penalty gave the Aggies a first down from the 10, but Reed lost a yard and followed with two incompletions.
During A&M’s fall camp, the Aggies’ coaches deliberated end-of-game situations. A&M general manager Derek Miller planted an idea in the mind of tight ends coach Christian Ellsworth.
“He walked over to me and said, ‘You should put Nate out there in this situation; I think he has the hands and long arms to make a play for you,’” said Ellsworth, now the quarterbacks coach at Kansas State.
On third down, Ellsworth had Theo Melin Ohrstrom at tight end while Boerkircher got a quick breather. Irish coach Marcus Freeman called timeout before fourth down.
The Aggies’ coaches figured Notre Dame would play two safeties at the goal-line to account for the receivers, leaving Boerkircher in man coverage.
“I looked at Nate and said, ‘It’s your turn, let’s go,’” Ellsworth said.
During the play
Boerkircher looked down at my phone and immediately returned to the moment.
“OK, here we go,” he said. “I just remember thinking I didn’t have a doubt we were going to win the game. I don’t know why I was so confident, but I just knew.”
Boerkircher lined up in a two-point stance at left tight end, a step behind the line of scrimmage. Concepcion motioned right to left to give A&M a “3x1” formation (two receivers/one tight end on the left). Notre Dame rushed four players.
“Double post and a wheel,” Boerkircher said of the routes of the three players on the left side.
Receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman ran a deep post in hopes of clearing room for Concepcion (the primary target) on the underneath post. But the Irish had five defenders in the area. No dice for Reed to throw into that area.
As the A&M coaches predicted, Boerkircher got man coverage against linebacker Drayk Bowen.
At the snap, he ran outside and parallel to the line of scrimmage before turning up the field. He had inside position on Bowen and Reed delivered the pass to where only Boerkircher could jump to catch it.
“Right before the play, we talked to Marcel about going to KC on the outside post first, but that he would probably have go to Nate,” Ellsworth said. “Sure enough, that’s what happened. Marcel pumped to KC and then decided to give Nate a chance. The rest is history.”
As soon as he got off the turf, the 250-pound Boerkircher was semi-tackled/semi-pushed to the ground by the 180-pound Craver.
“I had both feet off the ground,” Boerkircher said with a laugh, while also presenting compelling evidence for why he fell down after Craver’s celebration.
Said Nate’s dad, Matt: “We still chuckle about how Nate was holding the ball up and Mario came over and knocked him on his butt.”
Nate would finish the season with three touchdowns (compared to one in his four Nebraska seasons) and 19 catches (which matched his Nebraska total) for 198 yards (compared to 219 for Nebraska).
After the play
Start to finish, the play lasted 4.88 seconds (six seconds on the game clock for whatever reason). But the memories will last many years.
Nate’s parents were in South Bend, but the A&M section of fans was at the opposite end of the touchdown.
“Very emotional; it still is emotional,” Matt said. “We always know when he’s in the game and I was focused on his route and just the way he operates, when the pass went up, I was going to be surprised if he didn’t catch it because I’ve seen him do it since youth sports.”
After the game, before Nate flew back to College Station, Texas, with his team, he caught up with his parents, who had made the seven-hour drive from the Omaha, Nebraska, area.
“He was all smiles,” said Nate’s mom, Sherry. “He knew it was a special time. He’s very even-keeled and doesn’t have ups and downs, but he was very, very happy.”
Ian and Nate’s older sisters, Abby Woodward and Emily Stolpe, were watching at their respective homes when he caught the touchdown. Ian and his friends were “running around like wild animals,” after the touchdown, Abby was “screaming and jumping,” to the point she was surprised it didn’t wake her 1-year old daughter and Emily’s “super frustration” watching the first half turned into a “special moment,” to end the game. As a commemorative of the event, Nate asked Ian to do a painting of the post-play celebration.
The Boerkirchers hope the special moments continue with the Jaguars. Matt, Sherry, Ian, Abby and Emily are all expected in Jacksonville for the season opener. The chances may be minimal, at least initially, among the Jaguars’ talented corps of skill-position players, but the Notre Dame game showed Nate will be ready for the moment.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays (4-7 p.m. on "First Coast Football Friday").
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Here's how 5 seconds changed TE Nate Boerkircher's life trajectory
