Northwestern football head coach David Braun spoke to the media for his weekly Monday press conference to preview Saturday’s matchup against UCLA. Here’s what he discussed.
These quotes have been edited
for clarity.
Opening statement: “Excited to officially be back in to game week. Last week was really productive. Challenged our team for urgent daily improvement. I thought we accomplished that mission throughout the week. Really good week of practice. Opportunity for some guys that were dinged up to hopefully make some progression back to full health and back to availability. As a staff on the back end of the week, we were able to couple practice with some opportunities to continue to build our Class of 2026 and Class of 2027 on the road from a recruiting standpoint. And challenged our group going into the weekend. We put some really good work in. But now, the challenge ahead is to take that improvement that we made last week and start stacking on that improvement as we officially get into UCLA week.
“With the transition at head coach at UCLA, it presents some unique challenges for us, just in terms of, ‘What adjustments will Tim Skipper make and how are they going to approach that?’ But what I can tell you from being around Coach Skipper, he probably doesn’t remember it, but I vividly remember being out in Fort Collins, working Colorado State’s camp, when he was out there with Coach Mack. The job that Coach Skipper did at Fresno State last year in a tough situation with Coach Tedford stepping down over the summer. Heck of a football coach, incredible motivator and UCLA will be playing their best football when they come into Evanston. So, great challenge for us with a great Big Ten opponent, very talented football team. I’m sure, in some ways, the adversity that they’re going through right now will be an opportunity for them to come together and be extra motivated to be at their best. And ultimately, the things that we need to focus on as a football team is: continue to improve, be at our best on Saturday and position ourselves to have a great win at home and get our first Big Ten win.”
On the injuries, particularly to safety Damon Walters: “We’re excited about the progress that has been made by a lot of guys. Damon is one, specifically, that is anxious to get back. We’re certainly anxious to get him back. We’ll know more as the week goes along with him. But with his specific injury, it’s just finicky, it’s soft-tissue. When we get Damon back, we need to make sure that we have him back for the rest of the season. But optimistic about his progression. We’ll know more this week in terms of his availability for Saturday.”
On the challenge of preparing for a new head coach in his first game: “It definitely presents some unique challenges. And I think the thing that Zach and the offensive staff have to be careful about is not going down rabbit holes of chasing things that you’re just letting your mind kind of wander in terms of, ‘What could they do?’ What I’m confident in is Tim Skipper is a great football coach, very good mind in all three phases, but ultimately is someone that prides himself on his teams playing with great fundamentals, great effort, great demeanor, and that showed throughout his career. And I think the thing that we need to understand is take the tangible things that we’ve seen from their defense specifically, be wise about making sure that our offensive game plan is adaptable and adjustable to anything that they put out there and ultimately put our guys in a position to play really fast. But it certainly presents some unique challenges.”
On Preston Stone’s preparation during the bye week: “I’ve noticed a lot of consistency, and it’s all the things that we’ve seen since he’s arrived in January. His energy at practice is infectious. There’s a reason that this team voted him as a team captain. His process and his preparation for game week is something that’s unwavering, extremely thorough, and ultimately, Preston just needs to continue to make sure that what we see in practice is what shows up on game day. And the things that make him great, his competitiveness, his ownership, his desire to do great things for his team, ultimately, he just needs to make sure it doesn’t turn into him trying to do too much for his team. Take what the defense is giving him. Again, the way that he showed up this bye week, continues to prepare and just the energy that he brings to practice, the competitiveness that he brings to practice is something that certainly needs to continue and he’s been incredibly consistent with.”
On the play of safety Jon Jon Stevens: “It’s a great deal of maturity. For a young man to arrive in the middle of June and put himself in a position to be a contributor on special teams is quite a feat to accomplish. And Jon Jon has just proven, throughout the course of the summer, throughout the course of fall camp, that he’s prepared to play on defense for us. I’d be the first one to tell you, I don’t think that’s initially how you map it out in your mind as a coach, to have a true freshman playing meaningful, significant snaps against a Big Ten opponent. But Jon Jon has proven that he’s prepared for that opportunity. Did some really nice things against Oregon, and also made some freshman mistakes, but what a great opportunity for him to learn from those, grow. Coach Barnett has done an exceptional job of expediting the maturity and the preparation out of those young safeties.”
On injury updates for safety Garner Wallace and cornerback Josh Fussell: “Garner, we’ll know more as the week goes along, but really hopeful that Garner is back, and optimistic that he will be. Josh, again, we’ll know more later this week. Don’t see it as a long-term deal with Josh. But definitely more questionable in terms of this weekend.”
On the development of the running back room since the arrival of running backs coach Aristotle Thompson: “We’ve been fortunate here to have, ever since I arrived with Lou Ayeni and Chris Foster previously, just an incredible presence and leadership in that running back room. And as I’ve said before publicly, I think AT is taking it to just even a whole other level. And again, I think a testament to that isn’t just what we saw out of Cam Porter early in the year, and guys like Caleb Komolafe and Joe Himon continuing to progress, but for a guy like Dashun Reeder to step in against Oregon and perform the way that he did, I think, is a testament to his ability to coach that entire room. And with Cam being down for the remainder of the season, that’s something that’s going to need to continue. Dashun and Daniel Anderson are guys that are going to have to continue to pick up more and more load, and he’s a great teacher. He does an incredible job of relating to the guys, and he finds an incredible balance of really challenging and pushing those guys, holding them accountable, while also teaching them the game.”
On facing UCLA’s defensive line, particularly its defensive tackles: “Good players. I mean, they’re stout against the run, have the ability to be extremely disruptive, and a lot of it comes back to us continuing to evaluate who we are. When we’re at our best, right now, offensively, we’re effectively running the football, and the other portions of our offense are complementing off of that. But those two guys inside specifically will pose a challenge to move the line of scrimmage to establish that, especially early in the game.”
On UCLA’s struggling defense and explosive plays: “Again, I think it comes back to, it starts with the run game. I think one thing that AT and others, even our running back room would admit: there’s more explosive plays out there for us, even in the run game. Some missed tackles from second-level and third-level defenders that we can turn 11-yard gains into explosive plays like we saw with Dashun late in the game against Oregon, and then opportunities off of that. Again, chasing explosive plays in the passing game and trying to force it is the last thing that we want. But whether it be through RPO, whether it be through play-action, or simple efficiency in the passing game that leads to broken tackles, those things should come. The thing that I’ve challenged our team and our staff on, it can be easy to look at UCLA’s record or look at a score, but when you really look at each progression of each game, this is a talented football team. This is a team that really bowed up on defense a couple times against New Mexico, getting some stops with the ball inside the 10-yard line. Forced a fumble. Had their opportunities. They moved the ball very effectively on offense. Super talented at the quarterback position. We have to be very aware of objectively looking at the tape in all three phases and acknowledging this is a talented football team that’s got a little shot of energy, whether that be through adversity, or however that comes, and be prepared to be at our best on Saturday.”
On whether there was any consideration of a quarterback switch to Ryan Boe: “I think, overall, it’s different because of what we’ve seen out of Preston in practice. The Tulane game is the extreme outlier. Throughout Preston’s career, that game is an outlier. The two interceptions that he throws against Oregon, one’s on him, he’s trying to force the ball in on a third-down situation. The other one ultimately wasn’t on him. Our back either has to break out or break across the face of the linebacker, and if our back does in that situation, it’s got a chance to be a big play for us. It’s coming back to the objective piece of it, ‘What have we seen out of Preston in practice, the consistency in practice?’ And then him knowing that he does have to do a better job of valuing the football and not trying to force things that aren’t there. But no, Preston Stone’s our quarterback. Are we really excited about Ryan Boe, and are there potential opportunities to utilize Ryan at some point? We saw what he did against Western Illinois, carrying the football. Those are things that we as a coaching staff would be silly not to evaluate. But there has never been a consideration of making a change at the starting quarterback.”
On Anto Saka being the third defensive end based on snaps: “I think ultimately, Coach Smith does a great job, along with staff, of tracking snaps as the game goes along. Anto’s starting for us and starting for a reason. We’re really pleased with the progression that we’ve seen out of him as an every-down player. And ultimately, we need to get Anto in a situation, as you go back and evaluate the Oregon game, we’re disappointed and frustrated that we didn’t have more sack opportunities. And they were out there. That group up front needs to do a better job of working collectively. Like we’ve talked about before, sometimes, a lot of times, sacks don’t come off a clean win. They come from high-motor plays where someone forces the quarterback to step up and build in the pocket. And you go back and study the film,
there’s guys winning up front, but we need to do a better job of building the pocket. Anto is someone that we anticipate being a starter for us, being someone that’s taking on a heavy load, whether it be first down, second down or third down, and the reflection of snaps is not a reflection of a question mark or whether or not he can execute in those situations.”
On Cam Porter’s role either as a player-coach or as a mentor: “I think it’s been both, player-coach, mentor. A lot of things that were already existing even when he was playing, just the way that Cam carried himself. And ultimately, as he’s going through his progression of his recovery and everything that comes along with it, as he gets back to, I don’t want to say full health, but healthier and more healthy in that recovery, his opportunity to have tremendous impact on our football team will continue to increase. Just having his presence in team meetings, position meetings is critical. But, I mean, if you come out and observe a practice, you’re going to see a guy on crutches that’s bouncing around and going from walk-through to drills, coaching guys up, pouring into them. Like I’ve said before, we’re going to miss his impact on the field, but the things that he’s able to do off the field for this team as a whole, as a leader, are things that will be critical to our team all season long.”
On whether he’s comfortable continuing to rotate between offensive linemen Deuce McGuire and Martes Lewis: “Comfortable continuing to rotate but also have objective evaluations of where we’re at. Very openly, this is something that’s not a secret to Martes or to Deuce, Martes has incredible strength and production in the run game. He moves people. Deuce has, like where Deuce McGuire is today compared to where he was 12 months ago, is a testament to his work ethic and consistency. He continues to improve. Deuce doesn’t have as much impact in the run game as Martes does, but ultimately, Deuce’s consistency, he’s been here longer, been in the system longer. Where we can challenge Martes is just being more consistent and more thorough in some of the communication that happens up front. And Deuce just needs to continue to physically develop and build confidence at that position. Both are going to be critical pieces of our offensive line, but ultimately, if someone starts to truly separate themselves, then that person needs to be playing more.”
On Hunter Welcing: “Incredibly athletic. And a testament and credit to the staff that recruited Hunter. I think they saw a lot of things in Hunter that you had to be willing to project as a developmental program. And then Hunter has had a lot of adversity throughout his career, from a health standpoint, that I don’t want to say stunted that, but maybe hoping that his opportunity would come sooner than it did, and now here it is. It’s really exciting to see, but his overall speed, his athleticism, his ball skills are things that stand out. The thing that really fires me up about Hunter’s progression, though, is the physicality that he’s shown in the run game. There’s a couple plays over the last couple of weeks where it’s not him just getting his job done. I mean, like physically getting after people and knocking them off the ball and putting people on their backs. Things that, I don’t know if you could say Hunter was a well-rounded tight end in the Big Ten even a year ago, but today, as we sit here, any down-and-distance, any scenario, that’s a guy that we can count on.”
On wide receivers outside of Griffin Wilde (and the possibility of working in Drew Wagner or Hayden Eligon II more often): “I think Drew just continues to make plays, right? We got to find ways to get the ball in Drew Wagner’s hands. He’s a playmaker. Still excited about Frank, still excited about Ricky, Hayden’s continued to develop. We know, and knew going into the season this wasn’t going to be something where we had one or two primary-target guys. Griffin’s separated himself a little bit, but excited for that group to continue to make progress. And ultimately, when you’ve got a guy like Drew Wagner that’s making as many plays as he is and has shown that when the ball is in the air, and it’s a 50-50 ball, he’s going to find a way to come down with it, that’s something that you’ve got to find ways to get on the field more frequently.”
