The Wildcats’ leader is feeling very confident coming off a bye week.
After a 24-5 loss to Washington followed by a week off, David Braun sat down with the media to provide injury updates, tactics talk and a look ahead to this weekend’s bout with an unbeaten Indiana squad. Here’s everything Northwestern’s head man had to say.
Note: These quotes have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Opening Statement: “Excited to back into game week, had a great week over the bye. Some priorities throughout the bye week were getting this team back to as close to full strength as we can and prioritizing health. Secondly, you know, really prioritizing improving as a team, fundamentally, technically, self scouting, self-evaluation, where we can continue to put our guys in the best situations. And lastly, starting our prep on Indiana. And to our team’s credit, I thought we accomplished all three of those things. Had some really competitive practices midweek, we were really able to phase into some Indiana focus, which was a great opportunity to get ahead on those guys. And this group is excited for the opportunity that lies ahead. Coach [Curt] Cignetti has done an incredible job. It is a hot football team right now. They’re playing really confident, playing really well, off to a 5-0 start. No weaknesses on this team. Play really well on all three phases. Very high level quarterback play, well coached offense, well-rounded and balanced. Defensively, they’re playing at a really high level, and certainly very well-coached. So incredible opportunity, incredible challenge in front of us, excited that we’re gonna be doing it at home here on the lakefront, thrilled that our students are back on campus and really looking forward to the environment that we’re gonna be able to create Saturday afternoon.”
On the team’s health: “The O-line is certainly an area of health that…our depth has been challenged in that room. But I’m excited about the continued development of the whole room, excited to hopefully get Nick Herzog back this week, and available. Cam [Porter] is definitely trending in the right direction. We’ll know more as the week goes along in terms of Cam’s availability, but really hopeful that that he’ll be available on Saturday. If there’s anyone that’s going to work their tails off to make sure that they’re back, it’s Cam Porter, but he’s definitely trending in the right direction.”
On evaluating the offense: “We’re not playing at the level that we want to. But I think there’s a lot of areas that we’re excited about, to see some breakthrough in. Up until Washington, I thought we were doing a great job of establishing the run game. I think when we’re operating efficiently and staying ahead of the chains, we saw some things in the passing game in the second half against Eastern Illinois that we can continue to build off of. Was really proud of the way that Jack stood in and continued to compete against Washington. He’s standing in the pocket, taking some hits, delivering the ball. There were opportunities out there in the passing game that we didn’t convert on. And I think the critical piece for us offensively is is making sure that guys continue to be urgent in their process and their preparation. But we have such a prideful group that knows there’s more within us, that there can be a certain level of pressing at times, and we just need to take a deep breath, take it one play at a time and execute. And I think an area that we can help our guys do that is consistently establishing the run game, which we did in the first three games, and utilize that as an asset to open up other areas of our offense.”
On the interplay between scheme and execution: “I think one thing myself and our entire staff will always self-evaluate is, it can be really easy as a coach to point the finger and say: ‘Oh, we need to execute.’ Or ‘This person needs to play better.’ And to be honest, that’s kind of like a passive way of pointing fingers. I think there’s always things that we can do as coaches to put our guys in better situations, and that’s in all three phases. I think the best coaches can have one of the best stat lines they’ve ever had as a coach and still find areas that they can put their guys in better situations. I think our staff is constantly finding those areas to improve. I think the balance in that is making sure that you’re not trying to come up with the perfect call or the perfect game plan, and allowing those game plans to balloon. And now you’re almost putting too much on the guys, and now they’re playing slow. Especially coming off the bye week, I challenged our staff yesterday. I said, ‘The thing that will not happen, we’re not going to let this game plan balloon on us, just because we have more time to put into it.’ At the end of the day, we got to create comfort calls. And if we call the same thing five times, great, if it’s working, keep going back to it. It certainly was a great opportunity for us to evaluate all three phases where we’re at, do a lot of self-scout, self-study, and find areas that we can progress in.”
On Carmine Bastone’s injury: “Really proud of the way that he’s handled this. Everyone in this room is aware of how hard it is to not be available to play. Especially someone who’s competitive as Carmine, that has not been easy on him, but he never once has hung his head. He’s taken a very active leadership role, whether it be in meetings, practice, on the sideline during game day, he’s truly embodied that captain’s role. We were hopeful to have Carmine back at this point, but it’s just a finicky deal that he’s dealing with and we’re making sure that he’s back to full strength before he returns to play. He’s probably doubtful this week, but again, we’re anticipating a return here sooner than later. And I certainly can not wait to have him back on the field.”
On his messages about ball security: “I don’t use language like avoiding turnovers, it’s valuing the football. Make a convicted decision and let it rip, but don’t be reckless and put the ball in danger just to try and make a play. I think for the most part, Jack did a great job of that. Other than the two minute drive at the end of the half, I think Jack did a good job of valuing the football. And I think we’ve, I think we’ve done a good job of not sending a mixed message in that regard.
On his message to the students: “Wildside, let’s go. Can’t wait. My message to tell our students is get your hands on a ticket. Show up for opening kick. Stay for all four quarters. This is going to be Big Ten ball at its best, a four-quarter battle. You have a tremendous impact on the game. We’ve seen that firsthand at Ryan Field, we’ve seen it firsthand in Welsh-Ryan over the last couple years. Really excited to see the student turnout at field hockey a couple weeks ago. That momentum is building, and we can’t wait for our students to be be a part of football on the lakefront. And if you can’t get your hands on a ticket, come be a part of of game day. I mean, there’s so many incredible things going on on campus on Saturdays in the fall right now, and we want you to be a part of it.”
On establishing the run: “I think some of it comes down to staying ahead of the chains so that you feel like a run option is a good play call. You know, every single play, it’s an option for the play caller. I think doing a great job defensively early in the game, of not creating a situation where we’re trying to come back from from two scores. The play caller feels very comfortable in the sense that it can just be, you’re not chasing points, which you never want to be in that situation. I think going back and looking at the film, a point of emphasis for the O-line has been just our pad level and leverage. You know, as we enter into Big Ten play, we’re gonna have to be as technical and fundamental as anyone in the country and just win the pad level battle up front. Joe Himon and Caleb Komolafe — those backs are guys that we really believe in, but also excited for the return of Cam Porter; he’s such a critical piece of our run game.”
On Indiana being ranked and unbeaten: “There’s a lot of excitement around that. It’s our first Big Ten home game this season against, clearly, a very well-coached, talented, winning football team right now. And it’s no surprise to me that they’re having the success that they’re having. Coach Cignetti has been able to do this on at multiple stops, to get teams playing on a really high level very quickly. Has clearly done a good job of bringing in a lot of transfers that fit their scheme and fit their culture. Brian Haynes, the defensive coordinator, is someone that I’ve worked with in the past, he’s a close friend, tremendous coach. The job that they’re doing is no surprise, but it definitely adds an extra layer. There’s no doubt that they have our attention. The job that they’re doing, the way that they’re winning, the way that they’re closing out games. This is a very talented football team that’s playing at a really high level.”
On the defense recovering from the Washington loss: “I think it just comes through our preparation. I think that our guys on the defensive side of the ball were certainly not pleased with their their performance, and it wasn’t up to their standard. But I think there’s certainly a level of confidence on that side of the ball, with that group. What it really came back to was getting back to work. Had a very, very competitive practice on Wednesday, followed by another really competitive practice on Thursday, and I think that group is itching to get back to game day and get back to form.”
On the Indiana offense: “They’re balanced with high-end quarterback play. They do a great job in RPO, very strategic and calculated and well-thought out in their shot plays. We’re gonna have to find ways to affect [Kurtis Rourke]. You know, he’s the one with the ball in his hands on every play. We’re gonna have to force him to process post-snap. We’re gonna have to find ways to affect him in the pocket. At the end of the day, they’re gonna find ways to move the football. But it really comes down to limiting the explosive plays, and when they do get down in the tight zone and red zone areas, we got to do a great job, bow up and force them to kick a field goal. If they put a drive together, let’s make sure that it results with an attempt at three points, not a touchdown.”
On Northwestern’s red zone struggles: “I think it’s a combination a lot of things. Part of it is execution on special teams. When we have opportunities to kick field goals, let’s make sure that that results in points. I think it’s level of execution, and also a level of finding what we do best in that area of the field, that our guys are really confident in, that we can execute. And part of that comes down to the run game, right? As this field starts to shrink, the more effectively that you can run the ball, your opportunity to finish with a touchdown are going to dramatically improve. So that’s something that I know our offensive staff has put a lot of time and effort into. And it’s about urgency to find solutions, but not panic. It’s not throwing everything out the window that we’ve worked on to this point. It’s just finding our identity specifically in that area of the field and maximizing our opportunities when we put drives together to have them result in touchdowns. And if it doesn’t, I have full faith in the fact that Jack Olsen will put three points on the scoreboard.”
On Indiana’s turnaround from last season: “I think the thing that’s most impressive about the job that they’ve done, is that it is a very different roster. A lot of transfers that are contributing in a high level form, and that’s not taking any credit away from it. To be honest with you, I give them a tremendous amount of credit. That is not an easy task, especially in your first year. But their ability to establish an identity in all three phases, the ability to establish a culture and to have a group that’s playing really well together is a credit to Coach Cignetti’s entire staff and the group of young men that are there in Indiana. It’s a tremendous turnaround, and that they are certainly off to a hot start. And not just winning football games, but winning them in emphatic fashion.”
On his usage of the transfer portal compared to Cignetti: “Credit Coach Cignetti and those that hired him — he’s had the ability to…he showed it in his time at Elon, his time at JMU, and now his time in Indiana. That’s how they chose to build this year, and we’ll see what their philosophy is moving forward, long term and building the program. But a credit to them. The thing that we are absolutely convicted in, myself leading that charge, is that for us to win the Big Ten, we’re gonna have to out-develop people and out-team people. And I think the best way to do that is be fully committed to high school recruiting and developing young men over the course of four and five years. In that model, we’re gonna have to do a great job of retaining our best moving forward and then selectively bringing in the right transfers. And credit to the job of our scouting staff. Ben Bryant was an incredible take as a transfer. AJ Henning, look at the job that RJ Pearson has done. Our starting left guard right now, Cooper Lovelace, has come in and done a really nice job for us. It may not be as in large-scale numbers, but we’ll continue to use it as a resource to enhance our roster, where we need to.”
On the team bouncing back from losses: “It is a direct reflection of the character and fabric of the young men that are in our program. I know you hear this and it becomes redundant, sitting in press conferences like this, but just the way that our guys respond and take ownership. Tuesday’s practice was just a developmental practice with a bunch of our young guys, really spirited, really competitive. Wednesday could have been a situation where we’re pulling teeth to get our guys going, as their coaches said, we’re worried about our health. We were on Monday, Tuesday, and are still on Wednesday, but they said ‘We’re gonna take a 14 period practice where we’ll compete our butts off.’ And they did, and they got better. I told them at the end of last week: ‘We won this week.’ We set out to accomplish some goals, and we achieved those goals, but that doesn’t happen everywhere in the country over a bye week, and it’s a credit to our guys’ response. And now the challenge is to have a great week of prep for Indiana and be our best on Saturday.”
On putting pressure on Kurtis Rourke: “They’ve done a good job of protecting him. He’s done a good job of getting the ball out on time. It all ties in together. The more that we can force him to process what he’s seeing in the back half post-snap, the longer he should be required to hold on to the ball, which buys time for our pressure to truly affect him. And then vice versa, the more that we can consistently get pressure, especially early in the game, and make him feel like he doesn’t have a clean pocket to stand in, hopefully leads for opportunities for him to put the ball in some spaces that we can attack the ball and create some takeaways. But to his credit, and everyone around him, to their credit as well, they’re playing at a really high level. And you can see it in the first half against Maryland. Uncharacteristically, they turn the ball over a few times. I think Maryland in the early stages had a game plan that was doing some good things to certainly affect them. Again, we’ve seen some good quarterback play so far this year. He has clearly impressed me more than anyone that I’ve watched on film so far this year. He’s doing a great job, and the guys around him are doing a great job of supporting him.”
On Luke Akers: “Luke is a tireless worker, I mean tireless worker, and put in a ton of work. Areas that we’ve challenged him is his kick over rate and his operation time as a punter. He’s addressed those things. He had one mishit against Washington, but other than that, he’s done a phenomenal job in that space. And to Luke’s credit, he’s handling kickoffs, he’s handling punting. He’s repping as a placekicker, especially in long distance and the end of half, end of game scenarios, and excelling in that role. And there’s a lot of things that we’ve put on Luke’s plate right now, and he’s excelling in that space. But anyone that knows Luke, I mean, he is a tireless worker. Credit to him on everything he’s done to create the opportunity for himself this year.”
On his goals for the season: “Everything’s still right in front of us, and I absolutely have lofty expectations for this group, as do they. Where I’ve challenged our guys is daily improvement. If we’re worried about four weeks from now, or we’re concerned about the way we played two weeks ago, we’re not going to be at our best. Let’s go have a great week of prep that starts with a great Monday. And we really view this as an incredible opportunity. Got a really high-end, quality opponent coming in at 5-0, ranked in the top 25 and we get them at home. Excited for for the opportunity and the environment that’s gonna be created.”
On using the bye week as a chance to reset: “I think everyone handled it really well. It was full send on finding ways to get better, and we were able to do that all the way through a Friday morning practice. And then we really gave our guys some downtime, and then as a staff room, shifted our focus to recruiting on Friday afternoon, Friday evening, which was great. Like I told our team, no doubt in my mind that we got better this past week. Now we just need to make sure that we carry that over into this week.”
On Jack Bailey’s injury: “Jack won’t be able to go this week. And to be honest with you, I think it’s unlikely we’ll see Jack for the rest of the season.”