After a 42-7 homecoming romp for his Wildcats, David Braun had a lot of good things to say on Monday. But Northwestern’s head coach was also careful to acknowledge that the Big Ten will pose a lot of problems for his team, including a trip to Penn State this weekend. Here’s everything Braun had to say to begin the first full week of October.
Note: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Opening statement: “Excited to be back to work with our team. Good team meeting this morning, had
the opportunity to objectively review our performance against ULM. I think there’s a lot of things that we saw throughout four quarters of play that we’re gonna have an opportunity to build off of. And there was plenty to see on tape of the things that we need to continue to address and improve upon. We really challenged our football team over the course of the last 24 to 48 hours. A couple wins in a row here, I feel like this team has made weekly improvement, but comfort is our enemy. Just because we’ve we found a little bit of success doesn’t mean that we are where we need to be. What an incredible test we have in front of us this week, a great opponent in Penn State. A very talented football team, very well-coached in all three phases. Their coordinators in all three phases, specifically on offense and defense, are going to find a lot of different ways to stress us. Along with the talent that they have on the field, we’re going into a hostile environment, and this team specifically in 2025 has not experienced an environment like we’ll experience at Penn State. It’s an awesome challenge for this football team, and a challenge that our team’s looking forward to.”
On where team morale stands after consecutive wins: “I think I’ve said this before, but this is a fun team. This is a fun group to coach, they’re very mature. It’s cliche, but when you challenge a team to take it one day at a time, that’s easier said than done. I think this team, specifically from our leadership, has approached it that way. To be coming off a couple wins here at home, I think what this group understands is that when we get all 11 people on the same page, we communicate well, and we execute, we’ve got a chance to be pretty darn good. And ultimately, it comes back to coming back today, like we did, evaluate things that we’re doing well, things that we need to improve upon, and come back this evening and have a great first practice in preparation for Penn State. But our group is grounded and humble. We need to continue to stay humble and hungry, but it’s a group that you can sense the level of confidence starting to go up.”
On the defense responding after giving up an opening-drive touchdown: “I think it really speaks to our poise and our ability to respond. There were some adjustments made, but not nothing major. We just had to settle in, and ultimately, that was not the start that we’re looking for as a football team or as a defense. But I was proud of the way that our guys took a deep breath, and from there on out, really settled into the game. That fourth down stop in the second quarter was a critical juncture in the game. And it all started on a third down of us doing a great job of communicating on defense, getting everyone on the same page, turning it into a fourth down. To be able to get off the field on that fourth down was some momentum that that we needed.”
On Joe Himon’s role in the backfield: “It has to be elevated and expanded. I don’t know what Joe exactly finished with in terms of touches, but we need to get Joe Himon more touches, not only out of the backfield, but in other scenarios as well. Excited about the development of that entire room. You know, with Robby Preckel getting a couple of carries, and Reeder showing some good things and Komolafe just continues to elevate. But Joe Himon — one of the first things that Coach Lujan said to me post game was ‘We need to make sure we’re getting the ball in Joe’s hands more often.’”
On Yannis Karlaftis’ injury (as well as injury updates for the secondary): “Yanni is going to be a long term deal, unfortunately, and I’m crushed for Yanni. Yanni is one of those guys that obviously transferred in here from Purdue. But I told him this yesterday when I was talking with him — Yanni was here for three weeks, and we thought Yani had been here for three years. I mean, just the way that he integrated into this team, the energy that he brings, the passion for the game of football that he has. He’s going to be missed, in terms of his impact that he was having on our defense as well as his huge impact on special teams.
We’ll know more after tonight’s practice in terms of where some of those other guys are at. But we’re optimistic about what we’re seeing specifically out of Josh (Fussell) and Damon Walters.”
On stopping Penn State running back Kaytron Allen: “I mean, that is a talented dude. At the end of the day, if we want to win in the Big 10, we’ve got to find ways to effectively stop the run. And, you know, we’re facing two of the best backs in the country this weekend, so it’s going to be an incredible challenge for our front seven and our defense as a whole. But that guy’s a special football player, and we’re going to have to tackle well, we’re gonna have to play with great leverage, and we’re going to have populate the football and make sure that we got multiple guys at the point of attack.”
On who he expects to replace Karlaftis as the Sam (strong side) linebacker: “That’s something that we’ll work through. I’m excited about some guys that maybe have not shown up specifically playing defensive reps this year, but have shown a lot of development over the course of fall camp and this season. Some guys that are really showing up on special teams, the development of Payton Roth and Nigel Glover. But ultimately, what we have to evaluate is, ‘how do we get our best 11 on the field?’ And conversations have already started, yesterday and into today, and that’s something that we’ll have to evaluate as we work our way through the game plan.”
On UCLA’s success with quarterback runs against Penn State and how Preston Stone could imitate it: “Ultimately, I thought UCLA did a great job, especially in situational football, whether it be short yardage or goal-line situations, of utilizing quarterback run. Even on their last attempt, an attempt in a short yardage situation to pick up essentially a first down that would have ended the game, they decided to put the ball in Nico’s (Iamaleva) hands, and ultimately were unsuccessful in that. But that just stresses a defense, it doesn’t matter if it’s Penn State or others. Nico was incredibly effective, especially on third down, with his ability to scramble. Those were things that we experienced when we went against Nico. It has been really encouraging to see Preston’s development in terms of extending plays to throw the ball, extending plays and making wise decisions to throw the ball away, or extending plays and taking off with his feet. And he’s proven over the course the last couple weeks that he can utilize his legs to be a threat and be a weapon. That’s something that needs to continue. I don’t think Preston is anyone that we’re ever going to go into a game plan saying that we’re going to intentionally carry him a bunch, but he definitely can utilize his athleticism to be efficient and keep us ahead of the chains.”
On college football’s redshirt rule (Jon Jon Stevens and Alijah Jones have both received significant reps and are almost at the point of losing their redshirts): “It has to change. Roster size is shrinking down. The way that we’re currently structured with redshirts and playing up to four games and an opportunity to give them for the College Football Playoff or not. Now you’re not just playing 12 games, but this season as a whole. I know those games in the playoff don’t count, but ultimately, the entire scope and how things have changed so dramatically in the last couple years — for us to be operating off the system that was put in place years ago, it has to change. We’ve been really transparent with our football team, that ultimately, if you positioned yourself to help this football team, and you’re the best person for the job, whether it be on special teams or defense, you’ve got to be ready to play. And ultimately, in terms of the way that we’re structured and the rules and governance that goes over it, we need to get rid of redshirting. It’s in the best interest of our young student-athletes to not be navigating that. And to be honest with you, trying to navigate that with a roster size that’s shrinking, from a roster management standpoint, it just is not sustainable.”
On Dashun Reeder’s increased role: “Coach (Aristotle) Thompson does a great job of working through that on the front end. In terms of having a good plan, there definitely was an intentionality behind trying to get him some carries, get him in a rhythm. The amount of carries that he ended up with was probably more than we initially planned, but the way that the game went, with the game flow, and where the score was at in the fourth quarter, led to a few more carries than we anticipated. But I can’t speak highly enough of the progress that we’ve seen out of Dashun. And the fun part is, he ended up leading our team in rushing, but he’s also someone that is consistently standing out on special teams, specifically on our kickoff unit. It’s a credit to the young man, his willingness to be honest with himself, take constructive criticism and get to work. The summer that he had, the fall camp that he had, it’s all showing up on the field right now.”
On dealing with two opponents (Oregon and UCLA) that have also played Penn State: “I think ultimately, both games were incredible opportunities for us to really evaluate where we stack up in the Big 10. I know when we played UCLA, their record was 0-3, and never once did we mention as a staff: ‘This is an 0-3 football team.’ We saw UCLA for who they were, a very talented football team that was extremely dangerous, especially with their level of quarterback play and his ability, when he’s playing at his best. Ultimately, I think the thing that stands out in our evaluation and then continuing to move forward, we have to continue to take a great deal of pride in consistently running the football, staying ahead of the chains. We have to do a great job of stopping the run. We need to win the turnover battle. It’s two weeks in a row now that we haven’t won the turnover battle, but we’ve done a good job of valuing and protecting the football — that needs to continue. Defensively, we’ve got to find some ways to create those momentum plays. Those first three games specifically were a great opportunity for us going into a bye week, to really evaluate who we are. And we’ve identified who we are, and we’ve made that very clear. The test on us as a staff is to make sure that we continue to overemphasize that. We know who we are, but we have to stay true to ourselves. And when you’re going on the road against a great opponent that’s very talented in a hostile environment, now more than ever, we have to have to make sure that those things show up this Saturday.”
On the more egalitarian distribution of targets against ULM: “It was awesome. And something that I want to mention, as productive as Griffin (Wilde) has been, he just continues to remind all of us why we’re so happy to have him here. You know, early on in the game against ULM, he’s not getting a whole lot of targets, not getting a ton of action. ULM in passing situations, was doing everything in their power to really take him away. And he’s coming to the sidelines, where a wide receiver could be getting frustrated with that. But he’s talking about what he can do to position himself to provide opportunities or create opportunities for other guys in that room. That guy understands he’s got a lot of talent around him. To see Hayden (Eligon) have a game like he did, to see Drew’s (Wagner) continued progress, to see Rick Ahumaraeze make an awesome catch on third down. That is a room that just needs to continue to grow and develop, but we’re really starting to see the fruits of all their hard work show up on game day.”
On how his team handled four straight home games: “I don’t know what it did for us, but what I can tell you is, we made a huge emphasis of making our opportunities at home this year a home field advantage, taking a great deal of pride in winning at home. That’s something that we weren’t able to execute on in 2024. But now, as we’re transitioning back on the road, like I’ve mentioned, this is a great opportunity for us to really see how much we’ve grown since Week One. How are we going to handle ourselves on the road in the Big 10, in a hostile environment, against a great opponent? But what these last few weeks have provided for us is that when we have great week of preparation, when we make daily improvements, when we do a great job of communicating and getting all 11 on the same page and we execute, this is a darn good football team. And we should have a lot of confidence from what we’ve seen these last couple weeks.”
On injury concerns for Hayden Eligon: “Hayden’s fine. He had a little bit of cramping going on (in the second half). He was back up and ready to go.”
On preparing the team for the hostile environment of Penn State: “It’s what everyone else in the country is doing. It’s pumping in crowd noise. Us as coaches, we love to create these environments around practice that are so structured and routine-based. But sometimes it’s good to, like, throw some chaos at the guys and just see how they respond. This week and all weeks, we’ve totally changed our practice structure going back to last January. There are more surprises in practice, and that’s something that we have to just continue to emulate within practice. Crowd noise, little bit of chaos, making sure that our guys are keeping their knees bent and just willing to take a deep breath adjust, and move on to the next play. What I will say about last Saturday that was encouraging is, there were a few moments throughout the game, whether it be from a penalty or lack of execution, where we got ourselves out of rhythm as a team. You don’t want those things to happen, but they do. But what our guys showed on Saturday is we do have the ability to respond. I think there was a false start at one point that took us from second and five to second and 10. You know, we were in a great situation. The following play, Preston throws a great pass with great timing to Drew Wagner, and we pick up a first down again. In an environment like this, there are going to be a few plays along the way where maybe we do have a setback, or there is a TFL, and our guys need to continue to remind themselves that they’re built to respond in those situations.”
On Jackson Carsello’s progression: “It’s tremendous. He’s another incredible example within this program of guys just taking it one day at a time and trusting the development and when their number is called, being ready for that moment. And the progression that we saw over the course of the season last year at Jackson was really encouraging, but we’ve seen him take it up just a whole other level this season. The leadership element that he brings to that room, the consistency that he brings to that room — that’s a young man that should be really, really proud of himself. And also, Jackson knows this too — there’s even more in the tank. I mean, he just continues to get better and better, and I’m really excited to see the progression that he’s gonna continue to make throughout this season.”
On Preston Stone’s play style: “It’s going to be a repeated answer, but again, he just needs to continue to play within himself. Not feel like every play has to be perfect. Not feel like he has to go win us the game. The dude is a winner, he’s proven that prior to his time here and now in his time here at Northwestern — just operating efficiently, not putting the ball in danger, not trying to force things. And you know, I think what you’re starting to see with that offense right now is a bunch of guys that are looking at one another knowing that they can count on one another. Whether it’s the establishment of the run game, which opens up play-action opportunities, or Preston making a couple very smart, calculated decisions to give our wide receivers one-on-one chances on Saturday, and trusting those guys. Ultimately, that play has to be one of three things. It’s a completion for the ’Cats, it’s an incompletion, or it’s a PI. You know, there was a PI called on Griffin Wilde on a one-on-one deep ball. But I’m really excited to see just the level of comfort that Preston’s starting to operate at within our offense.”
On how UCLA’s victory over Penn State makes him feel about Northwestern’s performance against UCLA: “It doesn’t make me feel any better. Ultimately, one of the things that I’m proud of in terms of the progression that we made against ULM is that we got ourselves back to a tied football game. We took the lead, you know, we had them on the ropes a little bit coming out of halftime, starting with the ball, and we found a way to put the team away. When we get those opportunities — they don’t always come in the Big 10, but when they come, you got to execute on those opportunities. I think the other thing that it just shows, and I had this conversation with some of our guys on our staff postgame — the Big 10 is a totally different animal right now, than what it’s been in the past. And not that it wasn’t a great conference before, but, I mean, this is so much more like the NFL than it’s ever been. And what I mean by that is, like, it’s any given Sunday in the NFL. Well, in the Big 10, it’s any given Saturday. Week in and week out, you’re gonna be facing a team that’s really talented, that’s really well-coached, that’s really well-prepared, and you better bring your best. And I think that is very evident as you watch the landscape of college football.”
On Stone’s success on third and long against ULM: “Number one, we’ve got to do a better job of staying out of those situations. But the thing that is exciting is, those are the things that we see out of Preston, and have seen out of Preston for a long time in practice. And where do you really judge a quarterback? You judge him in the way that he operates in third down situations, and the way that he operates in two minute situations. And what we’ve seen out of him in practice is those are two scenarios that he operates at a very high level in. And to see him operate at that level this past Saturday is really exciting, but it also is no surprise, because we’ve seen it out of him in practice consistently.”
On what the younger receivers have learned from the older players: “It’s always great to have someone to like, call a mentor or model yourself after. And I think the best find ways to take something from each guy that they get a chance to be around. You know, taking something from Bryce (Kirtz), taking something from AJ (Henning). Griffin (Wilde) comes in as a transfer, picking things up from Griffin. But when you got a group of guys that look out for one another, push one another, compete in a room, they’ve got a great coach, like Coach (Armon) Binns. The best are going to find ways to take little pieces for the way that they operate and model it. And Drew (Wagner) and Hayden (Eligon), since day one of being on campus, have shown a lot of promise. Both with very different skill sets, but they’re guys that have really started to come into their own. And I think one thing that stands out in that room right now that’s really encouraging to me, specifically talking about Bryce and AJ and Griffin — the three things that those guys all had in common was their urgency and excitement to go practice, and their urgency to make sure that they were available to practice. And when you get opportunities to get opportunities to practice, you get better. And there was a standard that was set in that room. And in the wide receiver room, that’s not always easy, with the taxing load that goes on those guys’ legs in terms of the amount that they run. But that is a group that is just excited to go get better and practice, and it’s a credit to the guys that have come before them and the guys that are still currently in that room that that’s the standard that’s been set.”
