Alex Henery::Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Note: Every Wednesday, From Scrimmage will feature a walk-on or former walk-on who has earned a scholarship. Walk-ons are the lifeblood of any football program, but their contributions usually go unnoticed. For the first Walk-on Wednesday, we chose a player from the school with the nation's most storied walk-on program.

Growing up in Omaha, Neb., Alex Henery thought he would remain in his hometown and play soccer at Creighton. He never imagined he would find himself in Lincoln, standing in Memorial Stadium with every eye on him.

But that's exactly where Henery was on Nov. 28, lining up a field goal attempt against Colorado that would be the difference between a decent bowl game and a mediocre season. The clock had dipped below two minutes, and Nebraska trailed by one. The only way the Cornhuskers could win was if their walk-on sophomore kicker could blast a school-record 57-yarder.

"I don't even think you could dream of something like that," Henery said.

Henery's kick hooked inside the right upright, and the Memorial Stadium crowd - on gamedays the third-largest municipality in Nebraska - exploded. Not bad for a high school soccer player who didn't start playing football until his junior year and didn't seriously consider playing college football until Huskers coaches suggested he consider walking on to the team.

Henery arrived in 2006 as a "preferred walk-on." He didn't have to try out, and he was automatically added to the 105-man preseason camp roster. Henery kicked short- and mid-range field goals as a redshirt freshman before winning the full-time kicking job in 2008.

But with the minutes ticking down and the Huskers sitting at 6-5, Henery wasn't sure what to say when Coach Bo Pelini approached him about the 57-yarder. "I was trying to figure out the yardage, so I didn't have a response at the time," Henery said. "He walked away. Then he came back and he asked if I could do it. I told him yes."

Moments later, everyone in red wanted to hug Henery. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh tacked on an interception return for a touchdown to ice the 40-31 win, but Henery was the hero. The coaches didn't forget Henery's contribution, either. Last week, they awarded him a scholarship. But the beauty of Nebraska's walk-on program is that even though Henery has joined the ranks of the scholarship players, he doesn't feel any different.

"That's what's good about Nebraska," he said. "Sometimes, it's hard to know which guys are walk-ons and which guys are on scholarship. Everybody's pretty much treated alike."