Before Northwestern football returns to Wrigley Field to face off against No. 18 Michigan, head coach David Braun fielded questions at his weekly press conference. Here’s what he had to say.
These quotes
have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Opening statement: “Start off with a shout out to Tracy Fuchs in women’s field hockey with another Big Ten championship, awesome accomplishment for that group, excited for them to start their NCAA tournament play and wishing them the best of luck. The ‘Cats and athletics continue to do a lot of great things. It’s awesome to see the community that’s built around this athletic department.
Disappointed with our loss out at USC, we had opportunities to capture some momentum there in the first half. We were still in a position to be within striking distance late into the third quarter, even in early into the fourth quarter, down 11 points. Ultimately, we didn’t get the job done. I have to do a better job coaching this team. We need to do a better job of performing on game day, and really excited to bounce back and get back to our winning ways. Excited to be back at home and excited to celebrate a trailblazer in college football in George Jewett this weekend, competing for the George Jewett trophy against Michigan. Michigan’s a really good football team. Coach Moore has done a great job. They’re running the football at a really high level, young, very talented quarterback that has started to settle in and is playing at a really high level, extremely scary when he starts to utilize his legs and take off with the football. The job that they’ve done at Michigan over the years, and specifically the last two on defense, is a really impressive unit overall. Really balanced football team, really well coached in all three phases, and a great challenge for us as a program, getting back at home and the challenge of facing a really, really good Big Ten opponent.”
On the Big Ten’s statement regarding USC’s fake-punt play: “Yes, the rule book, there could be a flag on that second punt. Ultimately, I don’t put that on the officials. I don’t know how the officials are supposed to know which 80 is in the game. ‘Hey, which Sam is under that helmet,’ you know. I don’t put this on the officials. I put this on me. Opportunity to evaluate. It’s my job to put our guys in the best situation to go perform and execute on game day, in the situation that we experienced Friday night. I didn’t put our guys in that position. Ultimately, we will totally change how we go through our pre-game roster review based on all the information that we collected, and do everything in our power to make sure that something like that doesn’t happen again.
On Northwestern historically not performing well on Wrigley Field: “First off, so thankful to the Cubs for the opportunity to play a home game at Wrigley Field. But secondly, I think it’s the message. And the truth is, we’ve been pretty good at home this year, and we’re playing at home. I mean, that’s the reality. We say we’re Chicago’s Big Ten team. We’re playing in Chicago, playing at the friendly confines. We’re playing at home. That’s the way that we have to do this. It’s an opportunity to come back home in the Big Ten and be at our best.”
On if he will have a better handle of Wrigley’s sideline logistics: “I think the Cubs have just done a really good job of positioning us. The evolution has moved forward. Iowa, back in 2023 was pretty unique, being on the same sideline, but honestly, the setup last year, I think unless you are really paying attention, you don’t feel like it’s any different. I mean, the sideline has slid down a little bit. It’s a little off center, but ultimately, I think it positions both teams and both staffs to operate at an optimal level, and that’s a credit to everyone involved on getting that done.”
On Northwestern’s missed tackles against Nebraska and USC: “If we want to play winning football and defense, it starts with tackling well and playing with good leverage. We did not tackle well against Nebraska. USC can challenge you in a lot of ways in terms of the way that they operate as an offense, they have the space, they try and attack. And there’s no one in this facility, starting with myself, Coach McGarigle, everyone on our defense that thought our overall performance Friday night was up to the standard. We have to tackle better. I know we emphasize it in practice. We’re not taking our foot off the gas in terms of the way that we approach it, but Michigan will certainly challenge that. We’re going to have to play better on Saturday.”
On DL Migo Jackson’s return: “His practice and performance will dictate how many opportunities he gets. But what Migo has done and earned is the fact that coming off a long-term recovery from the injury preseason, [he] positioned himself to be someone that’s trusted by his teammates, trusted by this staff, to put him in the game once he was back to full health against USC. As he gets more reps in game, more reps in practice, he’s someone that definitely can be a huge contributing member of that D-line in the rotational piece. And you could tell he was knocking a little bit of rust off, but excited to have him back.”
On his impression of Michigan edge Derrick Moore, DB Rod Moore and LB Jaishawn Barham: “They’re problems. Really good players. [Barham] specifically, just twitchy and active, high motor. All three present problems at the end of the day. You got to find this happy balance between being aware and understanding, like positioning your team for success, but you can also fall into a trap of over-game planning for guys like that. And then, not being in rhythm as an offense, not being as sound as you want to be, and ultimately, there’s a lot of good football players on that Michigan team that can be really disruptive. But those three, high-end Big Ten football players that have bright futures.”On balancing pressuring Michigan QB Bryce Underwood while avoiding his mobility: “It is a tight rope that you have to walk. Purdue, early in the game brings a great pressure in a third-down situation. Edge blitzer kind of ducks underneath the block. Bryce gets just a little glimmer of space to take badge and takes off with his feet. Those are the things that frustrates you as a defensive play caller. You feel like you put your team in a really good situation. And ultimately, a slight level of execution within your role within the defense isn’t delivered upon, and an athlete like Bryce takes off and really makes you pay for it. So it’s finding that balance. I mean, there’s a prime example even going back to our game against USC, where I think Tim [McGarigle] dials up the perfect timing with a pressure, [Jayden Maiava] feels it. Our edge piece gets kind of buried in the tackle, [Maiava] takes off, extends the play, and makes the completion of man coverage that’s going to get completed when he has that much time against that type of pressure. When you’re dealing with these types of quarterbacks, these types of athletes, you can’t become passive. You have to find ways to apply pressure, but you better understand your leverage and your responsibility within the call. Because you give these guys any room to avoid that, it can become really scary with them either extending the play to make a throw or taking off with their feet.”
On Underwood’s development as a freshman: “I think like with any growth out of a young player, it’s never perfectly linear. I’m sure there’s moments in the Purdue game where he wishes he had had a few plays back. But I think the thing that’s consistent is you start to see a guy that’s feeling more and more comfortable within the offense. You can see a staff that’s more and more comfortable with him operating the offense and understanding what they have in him. What his strengths are, maybe some things where he has some needed growth, but at the end of the day, like he’s extremely talented, poised, competitive, and has made progress throughout the entire season. And what a great challenge for us. We got to find a way to get him out of rhythm, get him uncomfortable, and do our best to really force him. He can throw from the pocket. He can do it all, but ultimately, if he’s able to get out of the pocket and extend plays, that’s where he really becomes a scary threat because he can take off with his feet. He can find the open wide receiver downfield. We’re gonna have to do a great job of understanding how we work together to keep him in the pocket…not only can he take off, not only has he got great change of direction, acceleration and top end speed, but really difficult to bring him down with one person.”
On bringing Ryan Olson onto the offensive line coaching staff: “It’s been awesome. We can’t get into the specifics of this, but had a young man on campus this weekend, an O-line recruit, and you talk about being a developmental program. You talk about how we prioritize O-line, but when you have two O-line coaches at the caliber of both, Bill O’Boyle and Ryan Olson in the same building, working collaboratively to pour into that group, it’s not something we’re just talking about. We’re investing in that with the right people, and it’s showing up on the field. I think the two of them do such a great job of working together. And the balance of that allow [Olson] to really focus his part of the week, early in the week, in terms of the game plan where Bill’s focusing on continuing to develop guys and reviewing some of the film. Like that, collaboration has been something that we’re really excited about to see it continue to blossom. Coming back to Friday night, I think part of the frustration around, some of the momentum that was possible there in the first half is ultimately, if we’re going in the half with a tie ball game or up one score, you’re able to really lean into your rhythm of who you are as an offense. You start to get down two scores against a team like USC, maybe you’re out of that rhythm a little bit, but that rhythm when we’re at our best on offense is a direct credit to our offensive line, our tight ends, and the coaching that’s behind those guys.”
On doing the swinging gate on extra points: “We definitely didn’t expect them to jump offsides in that scenario as much as we’ve shown it. That was surprising. [In] my work with our senior analyst, Jeff Copp, we talk about these types of scenarios and review them every week on Monday evenings. This one specifically came up, I think, in the Old Dominion-Appalachian State game a couple weeks ago. And Jeff and I talked about it and what it really came down to, situationally, where the score was at. Ultimately, we were in a position to tie the game up 14 -14 at that point. We just felt like the risk-reward of moving it to the yard-and-a-half line and going for two, it was best to tie the ball game up.”
On the availability of Joe Himon and Dashun Reeder, and how the running backs fared without them: “We were really optimistic that both Dashun and Joe were going to be able to go this week, and ultimately, neither were able to. Very optimistic for both Joe and Dashun here. As we approach Michigan, we’ll know more as we get through. I mean, Joe practiced last week for stretches, as did Dashun. So really optimistic for their return, but I do think what we saw on Friday night was Caleb Komolafe is truly turned himself into an every-down back in the Big Ten that can handle a larger workload than he’s had in the past. And that’s awesome to see. And then the emergence of Robby Preckel, you can still see some young guy things. Robby has been utilized in a lot of different ways. Has been valuable on special teams, but that guy prepares as well as any young guy I’ve ever been around. Was not star-struck by a big venue or playing in the Big Ten, he’s ready to go, excited about his future in that room.”
On possibly playing a Sam linebacker against a run-heavy Michigan team: “It’s always a consideration with a team that is going to lean into 12 and 13 personnel. I think good coaching also is evaluating as much as like on paper you want a true Sam linebacker against 12 and 13, you’re also asking yourself, who’s the best 11 to put out on the field and making sure that those calls are controlled to put those guys in advantageous situations. I give Braden Turner a lot of credit with some of the things that we were asking him to do against Nebraska. His body type maybe isn’t typically seen as suited for that, and he’s playing a physical brand of football and holding up in there.”
On why so many screen passes were thrown against USC: “I think anytime you’re facing a defensive line that’s very talented, especially as a pass rushing group, very aggressive plays with wider alignments. Any good offensive staff or offensive line coach is going to ask, what are some things that we can do to try and slow that down a little bit? Although line coaches I’ve been around my entire career are going to ask that type of question. I think it’s more a reflection of just a certain level of respect for USC personnel up front and their pass rush ability and finding ways to ultimately slow that down. Then some of the stuff on the perimeter, in terms of RPO, box structure and what space is available, I thought our wide receivers, especially in the first half, did a good job with their perimeter blocking. And there’s nothing flashy, but Drew Wagner picking up 5, 6, 7 yards on the perimeter when it’s a loaded box was certainly part of the plan.”
On Braun’s current evaluation of his team and what a successful three-game stretch looks like: “A successful three-game stretch starts with a win this week. This team truly believes that we can beat anyone that we play. I think the thing that we have to guard against is, it’s really easy to live in the frustrations of ‘could this team be 7-2 right now?’ We could, but we’re not. We’re 5-4. It’s a great opportunity for us to get back home, get back into our winning ways, and ultimately secure a spot in the postseason this week. So what a great opportunity for our guys. One of our goals as a program is to win our trophy games, to win our rivalry games. We’re playing for the George Jewett trophy, like that’s something we want to take a great deal of pride in. In terms of that trophy being in our facility here in Evanston, there’s a lot to play for this week. And you know what? We’ll judge it at the end of the season. In terms of, you know how that fares. But the expectation around here is to win all three.”
On the return of Big Noon Kickoff to Chicago and whether that brought “extra juice” before the Oregon game: “I don’t know if there was extra juice with Oregon coming in. That was just a great opportunity, playing home, at home, against a great opponent. We’re playing at home against another great opponent, but what I will say is that crew does such a great job. I mean, all the crews that we have, we had Jason Benetti and [Robert Griffin III] on the call last week, they do a great job. It’s a big operation. It’s something that’s putting the Big Ten on full display, and something that we don’t talk about much, but excited that they’re going to be here and excited for a great matchup against Michigan.”
On getting the opportunity to play at Wrigley every season, and whether the team will play there when the new Ryan Field is done: “Not sure if they will continue, to be really honest with you. I really want to acknowledge how appreciative we are to be playing at Wrigley and for the Cubs partnership. I’m being really intentional with our team, like, ‘Guys, this is a home game.’ We’re going to be aware of, how we’re structured in the locker room, what halftime will look like, what the field spacing will look like. We need to talk about those things, but this isn’t some outlier, we’ve played here before. Obviously this season we will play at Wrigley again. In the future, who knows what that looks like? But this is a home game, and this team’s been good at home, so it’s time for us to lean into that. Be excited about that opportunity, and honestly, not hype it up more than just the fact it’s an opportunity for us to play at home.”
