Emotional Braun throws down the gauntlet after 24-22 loss to Michigan
CHICAGO-Northwestern head coach David Braun entered the post-game press conference at Wrigley Field with red and watery eyes.
He had just watched his Northwestern team lose to No. 18 Michigan, 24-22, on a field goal on the last play of the game. It was the Wildcats’ third straight loss, two of them by single digits.
It was clear the third-year head coach was emotional. By the end of his session with the media, a single tear fell down his right cheek.
In a fiery speech that seemed out of place for the normally low-key and quiet coach, Braun threw down the gauntlet and challenged his team and everyone associated with it. He said that giving a ranked team like Michigan a scare was no longer good enough.
The Wildcats came into this game expecting to win, he said, and they had failed. So he didn’t want any pats on the back – from coaches, fans, the media or even officials.
He put them all on notice that good ol’ Northwestern is here to win games, not give great effort and cover the point spread.
“I also want to be really clear whether it’s our football team, whether it’s our coaching staff, whether it’s anyone that touches the program, our fan base, the media, both local and national…officials… I don’t want to hear, ‘Hey… good effort, guys. You gave Michigan a run for their money.’”
“Don’t mistake my politeness, our program’s politeness, for weakness,” he continued. “The expectation is to win a Big Ten championship. And to win Big Ten championships, you’ve got to find a way to beat Nebraska on the road. You got to find a way to beat USC on the road. And when you got your foot on somebody’s throat at home, a team like Michigan, you’ve got to put them away.”
Northwestern had a chance to put Michigan away with a couple well-timed first downs late in the game, but they couldn’t get it done.
The Wildcats really had no business being in this game in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines outgained them by more than 2-to-1, 496 yards to 245.
But the Wolverines turned the ball over three straight times, on two interceptions and on downs, in the final period, when Northwestern scored two touchdowns to turn a seemingly insurmountable 21-9 deficit into an inexplicable 22-21 lead.
While the Wolverines tried to give the game away, Northwestern wasn’t good enough to take it. The Wildcat offense, which had struggled all day save for one 75-yard touchdown drive, couldn’t get a first down on either of their final two possessions. If they had been able to move the sticks a couple times, while they were holding on to that one-point lead for dear life, they could have kneeled out a win.
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But even that result was fitting for an offense that converted just two of 12 third downs in the game.
Instead, it was Michigan’s Bryce Underwood, who had thrown two fourth-quarter interceptions, who was able to lead the Wolverines 50 yards to the NU 13-yard line on their final drive to position Zvada for the chip-shot game-winner.
Braun was clearly upset after the game and left hints that he thinks Northwestern isn’t getting the respect that they deserve from officials. But if the Wildcats want to be taken seriously as contenders in this conference of heavyweights, they have to start winning these close games.
They lost to Nebraska on a touchdown with 2:44 left after an interception deep in Nebraska territory. They lost to Michigan on the final play. Win one of those games and the Wildcats would already be bowl eligible. Win them both and they could be planning to go somewhere warm for the holidays.
Instead, they came up short in both contests and are now riding a three-game losing streak. They need to win one of their last two games, at Wrigley against Minnesota or at Illinois, to lock in a bowl bid. They likely won’t be favored in either one. (The Wildcats still have a chance to get invited as a five-win team because of academic progress rate.)
Northwestern’s defense didn’t play a stellar game on Saturday as Michigan racked up 496 yards, the most the Wildcats had allowed all season. But they came up with four takeaways, on interceptions by Braden Turner and Robert Fitzgerald, and fumble recoveries by Turner and Braydon Brus, to give them a chance to win. (The Wildcats also got one more fumble recovery on a fumbled punt return.)
But despite a lopsided 5-0 advantage in turnovers, the Wildcat offense still couldn’t do enough to win. They had three red-zone chances through three quarters and had to settle for short Jack Olsen field goals each time; the longest one was 35 yards. They had one 75-yard drive and another six-yarder for touchdowns early in the fourth quarter. Their other six drives resulted in punts.
When the game was on the line, in that fourth quarter, the Wildcats went three-and-out both times, totaling -3 yards. Quarterback Preston Stone, who went 13-of-27 passing for 184 yards, said he would have to look at the tape for specifics. His film study is sure to be painful.
Still, Braun said that, while he went out of his way to say he wasn’t proud of the loss, he was still proud of his team’s resolve in hanging around long enough to take the lead in the fourth quarter – even if they couldn’t close it out.
He was defiant as he closed the press conference with what sounded like words of warning.
“[We’re] putting the world on notice that this isn’t just the good old Cats that are going to try their best…,” he said. “There are the big boys in this conference. Well, good, bring them on.”
The Wildcats will continue to play the big boys of the Big Ten. They just have to figure out how to beat them.
