Notebook: Braun says offense has 'a lot of work to do' to reach championship standard
EVANSTON-After a narrow 24-22 loss to No. 18 Michigan and falling to 5-5 on the season, head coach David Braun was emotionally adamant in the post-game press conference that he wants to hold this program to the standard of competing for Big Ten championships.
The defense has held opponents to 19.6 points per game, good for 23rd-best in the nation. While the offense has improved from their dismal 2024 efforts, they still lag well behind a championship standard at 21.9 points per game to rank 109th in the country.
For context, the last team to win the Big Ten without averaging 34+ points per game was Michigan State in 2015, when they averaged 29.8 per contest, almost eight points more than this year’s Wildcats.
In 16 Big Ten games under offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, Northwestern has never scored four offensive touchdowns, and they have scored three offensive touchdowns just five times.
In his press conference on Monday ahead of taking on Minnesota at Wrigley Field on Saturday, Braun weighed in on an offense that hasn’t met his lofty standards.
“We’re clearly not there right now,” he said. “Going into the season, the goal was to win the Big Ten championship. And my job throughout the season, but most importantly postseason, is to evaluate everything that we’re doing. I wish there was a magic pill or we could just snap our fingers, but we have to evaluate it all, starting with me.
“We made some adjustments post 2024; I’ll point to the partnership between [offensive line] coach [Bill] O’Boyle and [offensive assistant] coach [Ryan] Olson that’s been so fruitful for our offensive line… But we’re not there yet. There’s a lot of work to do.”
Northwestern has made huge strides in their ground game this season, after hiring Aristotle Thompson away from Cal to replace Chris Foster, who left for Duke, as running backs coach. After rushing for just 98.5 yards per game in 2024, the Wildcats are now getting 169.4 yards per game on the ground in 2025, with a chance to get sophomore Caleb Komolafe over 1,000 yards.
The scoring offense has improved, from 17.8 per game to 21.9, and there is a much clearer offensive philosophy under Lujan than there was under previous coordinator Mike Bajakian, who is now heading the worst scoring offense in the FBS for winless UMass, which is scoring 10.5 points points per game.
But even at its best, a grinding, low-scoring, ball-control offense hasn’t been able to win at an elite level in this league.
Look at Iowa, a program running the pinnacle of that kind of system in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have found success and even played for the Big Ten title in 2021 and 2023; but they lost those games, both to Michigan, by a combined score of 68-3. They have lost 13 straight games to ranked opponents. And Iowa may be the best-case scenario for a run-dominant, ball-control, “complementary” philosophy in the Big Ten.
Braun reiterated his faith in his current Northwestern model, which he thinks can continue to improve.
“I don’t know that we’re just saying we have to get to the low 30s [in points per game]…” he said. “Actionable items going into Minnesota… We have to do a better job on defense of getting off the field on third down to play complementary football and build momentum. We have to do a better job, especially when the ball is inside the 10-yard line on offense, of leaving series with touchdowns and not field goals.”
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Injury updates
Braun gave updates on three players: safety Damon Walters, defensive end Richie Hagarty and defensive end Aidan Hubbard.
He said that Walters and Hagarty were week-to-week but “they’re not promising this week, unfortunately.”
Walters, a sophomore and expected starting safety, missed the first five games of the season and played a limited role against Penn State and Purdue. He then suffered another injury after a handful of snaps against Nebraska and has been out the last two weeks.
Hagarty, a graduate transfer who played is first college season in 2019, played 36 snaps against Nebraska but was listed as out against both USC and Michigan the past two weeks.
Hubbard, who was injured in the first half against Michigan, is “more day-to-day,” according to Braun, who added that they will know more about his status as the week goes on.
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Kudos to Kafka
Former Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka was named the interim head coach for the New York Giants last week after the firing of Brian Daboll. Kafka was the team’s offensive coordinator and is now at the helm.
The Giants pushed the Packers last weekend but lost, 27-20, in Kafka’s debut.
Braun gave Kafka his flowers.
“It’s so awesome,” Braun said. “Obviously his opportunity was a result of the Giants making a change at head coach, which you never like to see, but when you hear the news of him taking over, [our] entire program was so excited for him.
“I haven’t had a chance to spend time with Mike personally, but I look forward to that, and I certainly reached out and we had an exchange… We’re excited for him. We’re rooting for him. He is a rising star in the coaching profession. Who knows how this opportunity plays out, but I think there’s a lot of games as a head coach in his future. He’s special.”
