David Braun’s Colorado game week press conference notes

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Ahead of Northwestern football’s last game on the glistening shores of Lake Michigan against the Colorado Buffaloes, head coach David Braun spoke to the media during his weekly availability. Here’s what he had to say.

Note: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Opening statement: “You can just feel the energy around campus. I’m really excited to see everything that’s going on in our athletic department right now. You can feel a lot of really positive energy building around campus, building around athletics and building around our football program. Coming off the South Dakota State game, going into week two bye, there’s an opportunity for us as a program to really reflect and then attack the opportunity that was in front of us. We are far from the finished product. We have a ton to work on. We have a ton to work with. Everyone watches the game. There are things that need improvement and need to be addressed, starting off with some penalties, penalties that can be controlled. The penalties that we’ll harp on are penalties that are happening pre-snap or things that are happening after the whistle. There’s things to clean up there, but I thought our team, our players, our program as a whole did a really good job last week of attacking the opportunity that was in front of them. Making sure that we gave some opportunities for guys to get healthy, but also kept our foot on the gas. We needed to, and I feel like we accomplished that goal. And then a very clear understanding. We have a great football program, a great football team coming into Northwestern this weekend with Colorado. Coach Sanders, since arriving in Boulder, has done an incredible job building that program. I think he and his staff, I don’t think I know, did a really good job with their roster construction this offseason. You can see it tangibly showing up on tape. Two new coordinators that are doing an outstanding job. I think where it really shows up is at the line of scrimmage for these guys with their offensive line and defensive line. They’re effectively and efficiently, explosively running the football with some really good backs. Quarterback is very talented. That showed up immediately in their last game against Weber State. The skill on the perimeter presents all sorts of issues. And then on the defensive side of the ball, aggressive style of play up front with their defensive line. Really smart, instinctual linebackers in a back end that is really talented and really versatile in terms of how they can utilize those guys. They certainly have our attention. And, started our prep last week over the bye week. But you can tell that our guys are really excited to officially be in game week. And, it’s going to take a great week of preparation to put ourselves in a position for success on Saturday.”

Thoughts on having a week two bye: “Yeah, right now I’m not worried about the 11 straight. Worried about just being in a great situation for Colorado. I think it provided us an opportunity to be tested by a really quality opponent in South Dakota State. Opportunity to reflect. And then it provides this incredible opportunity for us to shore those things up and focus on those things. Sometimes when you’re so quick to go on to the next opponent, if you’re not careful, you can sweep some of those issues under the rug. And a bye week provide an opportunity for us to ensure we didn’t do that. It also provides an opportunity for guys that maybe weren’t available against South Dakota State to get healthy. I told our team and I told our staff, like, this is perfect timing. Because it’s the timing that we have and we’ve got to utilize it to our advantage. And, we shifted. It was not a typical bye week force. We rethought it just because of its timing. But I think as a program we executed on that plan really well.”

Importance of playing at Martin Stadium in the interim and the return on investment: “I can’t overstate it. It’s been amazing. Starting with the experience for our student athletes, their families, the fact that it’s been on campus. You’ve heard me say it before, but just it was the perfect bridge to the new Ryan Field. An opportunity for our students to truly engage on game day. The other options just wouldn’t have provided that same opportunity. So many people responsible for making it happen here on the lakefront. And I can’t thank everyone enough for that. It’s been something that, we’ll always remember for knowing it was the right way to handle it. Only at Northwestern could we have pulled something off like this. There’s so many generous people that have, helped us continue to grow as a football program and as an athletic department. And that was something that Kristen and I just felt absolutely convicted on. In fact, this was what was right for our program in this time. And the fact that we could play a small role in contributing to that was a no-brainer.”

Reflecting on the South Dakota State game tape:“I saw really good, red zone, tight zone defense where we were able to bow up and force our opponent to kick field goals. Offensively, I saw a group that started off really explosively and then there was just self-inflicted wounds, whether it may be a couple of false starts or a holding penalty, just like things thatcan be drive killers. You could see that rhythm just kind of got off a little bit. Those guys in those special teams role, it’s just by nature that those tend to be maybe less experienced players at times that are on those special teams units and what a great opportunity for them to learn from in-game experience. On the defensive side of the ball, there’s too many yards after contact. That’s something we pride ourselves on consistently around here being a great tackling outfit. There’s certainly room for improvement there. And then at the end of the game, as a defensive lineman, you like, you just can’t. It’s a D lineman’s dream to be up two scores with four minutes left on the clock and be able to get into pass rush mode in a couple of those two-minute drives by South Dakota State. We really could have ended the game with a pass rush that resulted in a sack. I think everyone walked away from it feeling like there’s room for improvement there as well. So there’s so much to come off the game in terms of our resiliency, being unwavering, guys handling the ups and downs well, but also, like, objectively looking at the tape and staying true to the fact that we know we’re not a finished product and there’s a lot to improve on.”

High praise for Coach Prime and the Buffs:“Yeah, what I see is someone that loves his players. We’re at our best when we’re doing something out of, like, passion, something that we truly believe in. And you can just see whether it’s listening to press conferences or the way that he interacts with his team that, he’s in it to develop young men. And when you have a team that’s rooted in that, you’re probably going to find a team that plays really hard for something bigger than themselves. And we have to understand that it’s easy to talk about how talented they are, or all these transfers that they brought in. But, I mean, they’re playing resilient football. That Georgia Tech game, you could count those guys out. They come back; they end up taking the lead. Georgia Tech gets in field goal range. Unbelievable play by their edge piece coming off and blocking a kick to win the game. I think it shows resiliency and a toughness in that program. The thing that I told our team today, and I mean it, it’s so critical, whether it be this week or any week throughout the season. There’s a respect for your opponent. You take the week to truly do your best to understand your opponent. But the best teams worry about themselves and what are we doing in terms of the things that we can control. And we’re going to have to do a great job of that this week. Because it could be really easy to fall into this sense of being enamored with, oh my gosh, these guys are so talented. And like, look at this new offense and look what they’re doing on defense. And, gosh, how many points did they put up in the first half last week? And it’s just coming back to studying the film, objectively evaluating and controlling what we can control.”

OC Chip Kelly coaching on the sidelines: “The view up in the press box at Martin Field is different than the view at New Ryan Field or your typical Big Ten venue. Chip feels most comfortable calling the game from the field. I think it’s important for whoever’s coaching your quarterback to have really good communication in between series. And then you just got to make sure that the staff that you have up in the box are a trusted set of eyes. And that’s where a guy like Bob Bicknell comes in. Him and Chip are so interwoven and worked together for such a long time. I know Chip feels like he’s got someone up in the box that he really loves.”

How RB Gavin Sawchuk contributes to the three-headed backfield: “All three of those guys are so multi-talented. It’s not like one guy’s just better in pass game, one’s better in protection. Like, all three of them can do it all. But I think Gavin is just so versatile in terms of the run game, his understanding of the nuance of the game. There’s nothing that he can’t do. He’s a threat out of the backfield in the passing game. He was voted our special teams player of the week. But I’m just excited for there to be that type of depth in that room and a room that really complements one another. And then to see the excitement, like, the excitement out of Caleb Komalafia after Joe Himon’s touchdown. There’s no self-interest there. I mean, it’s just a bunch of guys that understand they got a special group that they’re working with.“

Stopping the run against Brennan Marion’s violent, run-first attack in the go-go offense:“We better. We pride ourselves on it week in and week out. It’s part of our formula on defense. I mean, if you ask Tim McGarley, priority number one every single week, he’s going to talk about TNT. It’s tackling and creating turnovers. And tackling’s part of stop-and-run game. That being said, the job that they’ve done at Colorado and the job that Coach has done throughout his career is, like, there’s clearly a commitment and an investment to running the football. And they’ve shown that. They showed it very effectively against Georgia Tech and Weber State. It’s the scheme. It’s what they’ve done with the O-line room. It’s what they’ve done with the tight end room. The running back room at Colorado is really impressive. And it also requires a play caller that’s going to be committed to the run game. And he certainly has proven to be just that. And I give Coach a lot of credit. He’s going to find creative ways to attack you in the run game. And it’ll present an awesome opportunity, awesome challenge for us as a defense.”

Adjustments during the bye week:“I think what I was really impressed with this week is, especially on special teams, there’s so many moving parts and so many personnel that, like, Paul’s job is a big job. Him and Joe are going to work on that. I was impressed with the way that we approached the bye week from a standpoint of making sure we were evaluating, do we have the right guys in the right positions in all of these areas? And then also just some forward thinking around situational football. We were able to really work on some things that may only show up once every five years. But when they do, it can be the difference between winning and losing a football game. I think we utilized that bye week to take some things that maybe we talked about in fall camp, maybe worked a little in fall camp, but really hone in and improve around our situation with football.”

College football games Braun watched this weekend:“We watched a lot. But, our boys and me too, huge fans of the Big Ten, so we were tuning in to all the Big Ten games. One thing that’s neat about a bye week Saturday is an opportunity to just sit down and take in college football. We were disappointed in the result of the Ohio State-Texas game, but we were tuned in to every single snap of that one.”

Questions on WR Hayden Eligon II and Center Jackson Carsello:“We’re going to keep that in-house until we get to Big Ten play where it’s going to be a lot easier moving forward. I will comment on Jackson, though, in terms of just how grateful all of us are that he’s doing well was back at the facility right after the game and is in good health. Scary situation for him and his family.”

Tough results across the Big Ten: “I had this conversation with Lucas, our 11-year-old, literally last night. Like, because he’s analytical. He wants to dissect it out. I was like, buddy, this is the trap we all can fall into of just thinking too far ahead. We just need to focus on what’s in front of us right now, and that’s Colorado. But what I will say is, this is the best football conference in the country. It was not a great weekend for the Big Ten, but other than the games that we’re involved with, we’re always rooting for the Big Ten and understand the quality of football that’s played in this league.”

Transparency on injuries: “I just appreciate that we’re operating in a space now that there’s like a standard operating procedure. It used to be like you had to release your 2D by a certain time. Well, the 2D was a joke. Like, people were putting all sorts of crazy stuff on the 2D. And I think there’s a level of, like, accountability of this is the procedure. There are accountability measures in terms of how you go about your reporting. And I think what I would feel convicted on is, that’s like really sensitive information if it’s kept in-house. Transparency, in my opinion, wins. And I think this creates more transparency around all of it. Like, does it impact winning or losing? We’re studying an opponent and one of their most critical players up front got dinged up in the previous game. We really want to know if he’s going to be playing or not. I think this, moving forward in the Big Ten, at least, provides some opportunity for it just to be out there. I’d much rather have all the information from our opponent, and we share all the information and it’s all on the table. But, it’d be silly for me to be like, hey, let me tell y’all, I mean, I promise you someone from Colorado’s staff is going to watch this press conference and look for nuggets. And if we don’t have the same transparency, then we’ll keep it in-house.”

QB Aidan Chiles’ performance vs. South Dakota State after watching film: “I was impressed with his composure. Obviously, we got off to a fast start. He did a good job of making sound decisions in terms of checking the ball down. A couple big plays to both Caleb and Joe. I think the thing that’s exciting about Aiden and Coach Kelly and Coach Neuheisel is, like, I think all three of those guys came back, watched the tape and knew that, like, there’s room for a ton of improvement. And that’s what you want. You don’t want a coaching staff or an individual or a team that’s just satisfied with, oh, we won. No, let’s objectively look at this and identify the areas that we need to play better. And I think Aiden clearly knows and understands that he did a good job of leading the offense, commanding the offense, staying in the fight. You can see it really breakthrough in the fourth quarter and knows that he can play better.”

Big Ten guidelines and procedures: “I’m really appreciative toTony Petitti and the Big Ten leadership of trying to continue to move the needle about standardizing how we operate. Because it’s just finding balance. I would much prefer just to have a really candid conversation with you guys in this room. But you have to start evaluating it from this position of, does this help us or hurt us in winning a football game on Saturday? And the more that we can create standard operating systems about how we operate in the Big Ten and across college football, the better. Really hard to do right now, though. There are different conferences, different governance structures at NCAA, the CFC, the CFP. There’s going to be opportunities here in the coming years to hopefully get this under a unified umbrella where there’s true alignment. Because right now, it’s a circus. But thankful for Tony.”

OC Chip Kelly’s leadership and impact: “Chip has seen it. Maybe not all of it, but he’s seen a lot more than I have. I’ve referenced this before, we hired Chip to come in and lead our offense, but the value that he brings from his head coaching experience is something that I tap into regularly. With his level of experience at this level of college football, at the highest levels of college football, in the NFL, a wealth of knowledge and experience, for sure.”

Generating big plays out of WR Griffin Wilde:“I think it comes down to more reps, rhythm and timing, and it snaps together in game. I know we had a big third down conversion, that was huge. You could see some of the timing on that play specifically. It was like, okay, that’s what it’s supposed to look like. And then there’s just this natural nature of the best teams. The best offenses will take the game as it comes and not force things. There’s a part of strategically planning, getting your playmaker the ball. But the second that you start to force that, that’s where bad decisions can be made. And that’s what’s exciting about this offense and the way that Chip has structured it is, there’s so many different talented young men and weapons on this offense to utilize. If you’re going to take one thing away, well, it’s going to open something else up.”

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