After a rough showing in a 23-3 loss at Tulane to open its 2025 campaign, Northwestern football is back in Evanston for a matchup against in-state rival Western Illinois. The Wildcats struggled mightily on Saturday, but should have a great chance to get back on track and get into the win column on Friday night. Here’s what head coach David Braun had to say about the Tulane loss and the week ahead.
Note: These quotes have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Opening Statement: Just finished up practice,
I’m encouraged by the way that this group is responding. Ultimately, I think this, this team understands that results do matter, and also, we’re not defined by one bad day or one bad game. But we’ve got to respond. This group, so far in our preparation for Western Illinois, has done a great job of that — full focus on Western Illinois. We had an opportunity yesterday morning to put Tulane to bed and learn and grow, but we’ve got a full focus on a Western Illinois team that’s on the rise. I’ve known Joe Davis for a long time through recruiting ties in Illinois, he spent some time at the University of Northern Iowa prior to my time there. Shoot, Joe and I used to work the showcase here together as visiting coaches. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for him. You know, he did a really good job last year taking a program that was struggling, got them to four wins. They’ve done a good job in their recruiting, the personnel and the talent that they have on the roster is improving. They’ve got some good players, and Joe and his staff do a good job of being creative and finding ways to keep you uncomfortable. New defensive coordinator this year, so we’re figuring out what that’s going to look like, and what tendencies exist there. But, you know, there’s a great challenge in front of us. We’ve got to be at our best. The way that we’ve been practicing over the course of the last nine months needs to show up on Friday night.
On Tulane coach Jon Sumrall’s discussion of Northwestern not allowing Tulane to wear white uniforms as a way to honor the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina: The second that I heard about his comments postgame, I immediately tracked down Jon’s number and gave him a call, left him a message. He texted me back later Saturday night. We had a chance to connect yesterday, which I appreciated. It (Sumrall’s comments) caught me off guard. But you know, I understand where he’s coming from. I thought he did a great job of utilizing that to really motivate his team. They played inspired football. Ultimately, the decision around that was was certainly not a gesture of disrespect. No, I don’t pretend to understand what the city of New Orleans has been through, but what I can tell you is that this university and myself have a tremendous amount of respect for the impact that Hurricane Katrina had on New Orleans and that region. You know, I had an opportunity to see it firsthand. I mean, May of 2006, myself and 20 of my teammates and coaches got in vans and drove down to New Orleans and spent a week mucking houses and just trying to do our small part and trying to help that community. Seeing it firsthand, it was devastating, and the resiliency that New Orleans has shown, the toughness that they’ve shown, the community that’s shown up the last two decades for that city to be where it is at today. It was certainly not a gesture of disrespect. Having a chance to return New Orleans for the first time since that trip — I think where that city is at right now is a reflection of the people that call it home. And it was good to have an opportunity to talk with Jon yesterday.
On Garner Wallace: The thing that’s exciting about Garner is that he stayed the course, started making his name on special teams. Coach Barnett gets here. I mean, Garner is just continuing to improve. And he’s someone this past spring that we just said, ‘We can’t not have this guy on the field.’ And he’s really shown up, and just seeing him show up the way that he did on Saturday, we need that level of play to continue to trend in that direction. But I’ll say this boldly, I think Garner Wallace has an opportunity to have a huge impact, not even on the next game, but this entire season. I really commend him for the way that he stayed the course. He’s one of those guys — we talk about it, but guys blossom at different times in their development — I mean, Garner Wallace over the last year has really come into his own.
On the way the team uses analytics: Yeah, it’s certainly part of the conversations. When we have weekly meetings, coordinator meetings, we have the analytics in front of us. We discuss it. What we’ve done a much better job of, what I’ve done a much better job of this year, is really sitting down this offseason and talking strategically about what is our plan? Where do we think our team’s at? What things can we leverage? What things do we have to limit? You know, a book can tell you some things, but the context of where we’re at personnel-wise, how we’re playing, how the weather is affecting things (also matters). But we go into every game having a very clear and detailed plan and ultimately, you know, it can be coach speak like ‘In the red zone, we need to score touchdowns.’ But what are we doing to help our offense actually execute on that? You know, where do we value field position more than an opportunity to go for it on fourth down? Where do we value points over an opportunity to go for it on fourth down? Those are all things that we’ve worked through as a staff, things that I won’t share openly on what that plan is, but, you know, I’m excited about where we’re at with that plan. And I think the fine balance to answer your question directly is: we’re using analytics, collecting the information, but not being just blindly, ‘Okay, the book says this, so we’re going to do this.’ We’re contextualizing every decision.
On Damon Walters and Ore Adeyi (both of whom missed the Tulane game with injury: Yeah, I won’t get in the habit of sharing directly what they’re dealing with, but what I will tell you is Damon right now is week to week. We’ll know more tomorrow in terms of his availability this week, but I’m excited to get him back. What that timeline looks like is still uncertain. I’m really optimistic about Ore. I mean, he’s out there practicing today, so I’m hoping that we see him at full speed on Friday. But everything that that young man has been through, we cannot wait to see him back out there on game day for the Cats.
Braun on his community service experience in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: I believe it was through an organization called Samaritan’s Purse. I believe it was Matt Entz, actually, our defensive coordinator at the time at Winona State, who had brought up the opportunity to our leadership council. Myself, Colin Charleston and Scott Peterson, the other guys that I played college football with, Bruce Carpenter, who’s a high school coach up in the Twin Cities now, was our offensive coordinator at the time at Winona State. So it was a couple coaches, a bunch of players. Finals got done in early May, then we loaded up in a bunch of vans and headed down. And, I mean, like I said, it was devastating to see it, but hopefully we played a small role in having a positive impact on some people’s lives. And ultimately, I think it comes back to respect and appreciation for the way the city of New Orleans has rebounded the last two decades and speaks to the character of the people that call it home.
On the decision-making process for a jersey change: The decisions like that are always going to come down to alignment between myself, Mark Jackson and Pat Goss. I love the way that the three of us work together on all decisions around this program. But ultimately, it was certainly not a gesture of disrespect, but the timing of the request did impact our ability to honor the request.“
On the offense focusing on Ricky Ahumaraeze (eight targets, but only one catch): It’s timing. I mean, it’s his first game back, the first catch of his college career, I think, was for a 22 yard gain. But I think even just with more game reps between Preston and Ricky, there’s going to be opportunities to continue to get him the ball. But, the thing about Ricky, he’s big, he’s physical, he may be covered, but can create separation at the top of the route. We’re going to have to continue to make sure that he’s utilized heavily within our offense.
On what he learned from the season opener in 2023 (a 24-7 road defeat) and how he’s utilizing those lessons this week: You can’t panic. And I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m super competitive, super self critical. I think Preston Stone probably embodies some similar qualities. It can be really easy to be so emotional after a tough loss, especially when you were so excited and confident about your preparation going into the game, to kind of spiral into this panic. And the reality is, as a program, we just need to take a deep breath and say, ‘You know what, one day doesn’t redefine the last nine months of work that we put in.’ Let’s also knowledge that we played really poorly. Then let’s get back to work. Take full ownership on it when we review the tape, take a deep breath, then onto Western Illinois. Let’s make sure we show up as a much better version of ourselves on Friday night.
On the defense allowing 268 rushing yards: That’s an unacceptable number. Tim McGarigle will be the first one to tell you that. Our entire defense would be the first one to tell you that. Two plays that really stand out to me that really ballooned that were the lead draw explosive touchdown just inside the two minute timeout, which was a critical juncture in the game. And then, we were expecting them to throw a Hail Mary at the end of the half. Their quarterback scrambles, picks up a big chunk. But ultimately, you take those two plays away, and we’re still not playing at the level we want to in terms of run defense. It’s a credit to Tulane — their run offense, their offensive line, their coaching staff, and also an acknowledgement that if we want to be at our best Friday night and consistently win in the Big Ten, we’re gonna have to run the ball consistently, and we’re gonna have to stop the run.
On the division of carries for the running backs: All three will be utilized heavily. And dang it, we need to play better. We need to play better in the first half. We need to play with the lead. We need to keep games within one score. Even if we do get, you know, put back on our heels a little bit, in the first quarter, responding in the second quarter, keeping it tight. Responding in the second half. It’s really difficult, down three scores, when the offense gets the ball back for the first time with eight minutes left in the third quarter to actually be in a rhythm and stay committed to those guys getting touches. All three will be utilized heavily. All three having these skill sets, all three need to be critical pieces of what we’re doing as an offense.
On South Dakota State transfer Griffin Wilde: He’s an intense competitor. Doesn’t say much, just shows up and goes to work. Shows up the same way on game day. I think there’s a tremendous amount of respect from our entire football team of who Griffin is and the way that he operates. Again, we knew coming into the season, we’ve said it, that room is unproven. The room did some good things, but plenty of opportunities left out on the field with some drops. We can be better with our ball placement from the quarterback position, we can do a better job of protecting our quarterback. But Griffin will be a critical piece of our passing game all season long. And you know, there’s going to be a lot of other guys in that room that need to continue to elevate their level of play for us to throw the ball the way that we want to. And we’ve seen that in practice. But again, just like we’ve talked about, we need to perform better on game day.
On his interactions with Preston Stone following the loss: Steady, consistent. Truth is kind. He knows he didn’t play well. He knows he needs to play better. You know, it was our first time in the arena with him in a gameday to recognize the way that he sees the game in a competitive, live format. And maybe we need to rein things in here a little bit, or clarify. Like, ‘Preston, you know you don’t have to do it all for us, right? Just play your game and just be you.’ I really appreciate Preston and I’s relationship, and obviously the first interaction was in the locker room postgame — an acknowledgement to the team. We can’t win football games when you turn the ball over five times. Preston stone, I got your back. We got your back. We believe in you, man. Let’s respond. We want to show how mentally tough and physically tough we are, individually and collectively as a football team. We’ll show that in terms of the way that we respond. And I know that our entire football team feels the same way I do about it.
On the postgame locker room and team attitude this week: In the locker room, it was quiet, silent. Not a whole lot of talking. If there was anything, you know, it was the occasional pick me up of ‘Hey man, we’re gonna bounce back. Pick your head up.’ We’ve got a short week, we don’t got time to hang our heads. Pick your head up. I mean, it started yesterday with the first interaction we had as a team. Our leadership was owning everything, there was no pointing fingers. Our first practice opportunity, our guys just bring a ton of energy and excitement for the next opportunity. That leadership isn’t just fair weather, it’s showing up now. I mean, we talked about the fact that adversity is going to hit. Well, adversity punched us in the mouth on Saturday. Here it is. How are we going to respond? So far, I’ve been really impressed.
On an early review of the transfer class: Let’s talk January 15. I’m excited about that group, and we’ve got to keep evaluating how we maximize our roster, but time will tell.
On Caleb Komolafe’s development: It’s being an every down back. It’s his competitiveness, his maturity, his leadership, his commitment to special teams. He’s in Coach Creighton’s office, asking to be more involved in special teams. I think that shows his commitment to the team. Something that’s shown up consistently in practice is his ability to make people miss, break tackles at the second and third level that turn into explosive plays. And I’m excited for us to get into a rhythm on offense that gives him some consistent opportunities to have that stuff show up on gameday. Because he has the ability to be not just a consistent back, but an explosive back.
On how the poor first series impacted Stone throughout the game: It’s hard to say. What I will tell you is, I’ve seen Preston have a bad series in practice. I’ve watched his tape, you know, in the past, and we evaluated where he had a bad series in a game, and he has responded well. I don’t think that impacted everything. It was certainly not the way that we wanted to start, by any means. And we need to do a much better job of cleaning some things up for him in terms of giving him flexibility to have answers if we’re in a disadvantaged look. But also, we need a level of trust that handing the ball off behind this offensive line is not ever a bad decision. We can move the ball consistently within our run game. Ultimately we’ve got to take a great deal of pride —I’ve been impressed with improvements in our protection with the offensive line — but we got to take a great deal of pride in keeping Preston’s jersey clean throughout the game. And on that first pick he throws, he’s taking a big hit. And we all know this — you know, I coach on the defensive side of the ball — if you can impact the quarterback early and get after him, that’s advantage defense at that point.
On the team’s scoring drive in the second quarter: I think the thing that stood out is just efficiency. And there’s some chunk plays in there, but we’re just operating. We’re not doing anything special. The defense isn’t busting. We’re just operating, we’re efficient, we’re executing. We got a little bit of rhythm to us. And then the other thing that stands out is we’ve got to finish. Mentally, there’s got to be a mentality where when the ball gets inside the 15 yard line, ‘We’re scoring a touchdown.’ I thought our conditioning was in a good spot overall. It showed up to be in a pretty good spot. But I think just some younger guys within that group understanding what it looks like to like finish a drive with the same level of urgency, technique, pad level that we started the drive with is going to be the difference between us scoring touchdowns consistently or potentially puttering out and having to kick a field goal.
On the team’s starting kicker: Jack (Olsen) was full go today at practice, and I certainly could see a situation where Jack’s utilized at some point. But, you know, we went with Luke (Akers) in week one. We’ve got to continue to manage, to make sure we’re putting him in a good situation, in terms of the load that he’s carrying as our starting punter as well. But I was excited for Luke to see his first one grow through the uprights. He did a great job punting the ball. Excited for him this season. Luke, as of right now is our starting kicker.
On Western Illinois: I think their quarterback is a good player, he’s athletic. It’ll be interesting to see how they utilize him, whether that’s a traditional passing game, RPO, quarterback run game. They’ve got some guys, whether they’re returners to Western Illinois or transfers that have produced. Good at the wide receiver position, a couple big backs that can break tackles. A tight end that has done some really good things. On the defensive side of the ball. I’m impressed. Like I said, I think Joe’s (Davis) done a great job with the personnel, some big bodies interiorly. Illinois, I think as the game went on, found a way to wear them down a little bit, but early in the game, I mean, those guys are good players. A couple guys on the edge that show some twitch and ability to set an edge in pass rush, long corners. Again, I’ve got a lot of familiarity with Western Illinois in their time in the Missouri Valley, and my time at North Dakota State. I’m really impressed with Joe’s work since he’s been at Western Illinois. And I’m also impressed that he’s been really willing to get outside the box and creative, specifically on the offensive side of the ball, to stress opponents.
On Mac Uihlein and Aidan Hubbard (recorded a combined three tackles for loss): Mac is very much a vocal leader, a commanding leader. He takes so much pride in this program and his personal performance as well. I’m really thankful for his leadership, and excited about him performing at a really high level in his senior year. And Aidan Hubbard is like that cool, calm, collected, hyper-internal competitive individual. With Hubs, I’ll tell anyone — I think we got some special D-ends on this roster, but I think Aidan Hubbard is one of the best in the Big Ten. I tell any NFL organization that walks through our doors, you want to bring a guy in that every single coach that ever coaches them isn’t going to allow you to ever let him walk out the door. Aidan Hubbard, if you coach him, you see the value he brings to that room every single day, and he’s playing with a level of confidence right now that really excites me.
On the red zone defense: It’s so easy as a coach, I’ve heard it said for, I don’t know how many years I’ve been coaching, the last 16-17, years. ‘We’ve gotta start fast. Gotta start fast.’ Well, guess what? Your opponent’s saying they’ve gotta start fast too. What are you doing to actually do that? But ultimately, if the game hasn’t started the right way that we want it to, coming off the coin toss or how the offense operates in their first series, in that situation, we got to find a way to force them to kick a field goal. There’s some things from a staff standpoint we need to clean up on that first series. There’s some things from an execution standpoint that we need to clean up. I was proud of the way that our guys responded as the course of the day went on of bowing up in those critical situations and forcing Tulane to kick field goals. That has to be a staple of what we do. If people are able to move the ball at some point during the game, we have to bow up in the red zone. You know, we have a saying around our place: ‘Threes won’t get us beaten.’ So the opening drive needs to be better. But I was impressed with the response as the game went on in those situations.
