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Gophers quarterback Cole Kramer may have scored three touchdowns to help lead Minnesota to a Quick Lane Bowl victory over Bowling Green in his first and last career start, but it was his fiancée, Katie Miller, who stole the show on Tuesday in Detroit.

Throughout Tuesday’s broadcast, ESPN would regularly pan over to Miller in the stands — reminiscent of NFL broadcasters featuring Taylor Swift during a Kansas City Chiefs game — and tell the story of how Kramer got an unexpected bowl game start.

The storyline of the game: Kramer and Miller, a registered nurse, were in the midst of moving to Arizona and planning for their wedding in February, so Kramer had decided to move on to the next chapter of his life after the Gophers closed the regular season.

But then Gophers starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and third-stringer Drew Viotto both entered the transfer portal, leaving Minnesota with just walk-on freshman Max Shikenjanski in the quarterback room. Gophers coaches reached out to Kramer to see if he would change his mind about leaving and start. Miller was supportive and encouraged Kramer so he jumped at the opportunity.

ESPN’s prominent featuring of Miller went viral on social media with local and even national news outlets like the New York Post writing about the phenomenon. ESPN panned to Miller early and told the story of the bowl start in the midst of wedding planning and continued to show her reactions as Kramer helped the U to a 30-point effort and a Quick Lane Bowl victory.

“I knew it would be worth it from the beginning,” Miller said in a postgame interview with Fox 9. “I feel like I was the one who was a little more spontaneous and telling him, ‘Absolutely, you should go do it.’ So, I had every bit of faith that he would get the job done, so I’d say it was worth it for sure.”

Count Gophers coach P.J. Fleck as one who was pretty thankful about Miller’s encouragement. Fleck told reporters postgame that Kramer told him he’d need to pray about it when he was asked to start the bowl game. Fleck said he was praying, too, and was “glad our prayers met somewhere.”

“Just told him thanks for coming back, now get ready for your wedding,” Fleck said of Kramer. “We thank Katie, Heather (Fleck) and I thank Katie for allowing him to come back. Katie made it very clear, ‘I was the one who told him to come back right away,’ so she made it very clear. So we know who wears the pants in that family.

“He’s gonna get married in two months. What an ending to his career, Eden Prairie young man, has dealt with a lot of things, injury, has played wildcat, has done everything for his teammates. You talk about being a great husband and a great father one day, he’s gonna be an exceptional one because he’s willing to put his own needs aside for somebody else’s and it happened to be our team.” 

Miller documented their moments in Detroit on Instagram. 

"By your side every step of the way," she wrote. "The most humble & hardworking guy, you deserve every good thing and more. So incredibly proud of you and the strength and humility you’ve shown throughout this chapter of your life. I adore you #12... Now lets get MARRIED!!!!"

This article first appeared on FanNation Bring Me The Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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