Northwestern interim coach David Braun reveals halftime message to his defense
Northwestern interim coach David Braun‘s halftime message to his defense after falling down 17-0 to Rutgers was a simple one. He told CBS that it was all about getting the Scarlet Knights off the football field.
“We got to get the field on third and fourth down,” Braun said. “At the end of the day, we got to help our offense by getting the ball back.”
The Scarlet Knights were 5 of 11 on third down in the first half and 3 of 3 on fourth down. The Wildcats were successfully only once on third down and twice missed moving the chains on fourth down.
Scarlet Knight head coach Greg Schiano discussed their aggressive decision to go for it at the end of the first quarter with his mid-game interview.
“[I] believe in our guys and that’s what I felt was the right thing,” Schiano said. “I’ve seen it in camp and [quarterback Gavin Wimsatt] has done it. So, we did it out here… It made it 7 to nothing.”
The Northwestern offense ran the ball nine times for only 17 yards heading into halftime as the passing attack led the offense.
Starting running back Cam Porter had only five carries in the first half while quarterback Ben Bryant had 17 pass attempts.
“We’re gonna go back into half, we’re gonna make some adjustments,” Braun said of the Wildcats offense. “You got to find ways to get the ball in our playmakers hands and trust the group’s going to come out in the second half and give Rutgers a run for their money.”
Northwestern starts Ben Bryant for season opener
Northwestern elected to start Ben Bryant for the season opener, beating out Brendan Sullivan for the starting quarterback role.
Bryant transferred in from Cincinnati, where he was the starting quarterback for the Bearcats last season. He threw for 2,731 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 61.2% completion percentage.
He spent his first three years at Cincinnati before transferring to Eastern Michigan for the 2021 season. Bryant was the starting quarterback for the Eagles, finishing the year with 3,123 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 68.4% completion percentage.
Northwestern has had only one starting quarterback start every game of the season since Clayton Thorson left the program after his four seasons as the starter. That was in 2020 when Peyton Ramsey started every game for the Big Ten West champs.