Northwestern’s David Braun emotional after last-second loss to No. 18 Michigan at Wrigley: ‘Just a gut-punch’

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Between the Wrigley Field scoreboard listing Big Ten games and the Budweiser video board flashing purple, a section of Northwestern fans jumped and waved as Dominic Zvada lined up for his field-goal attempt toward Sheffield Avenue.

For much of the second half Saturday, in front of a heavily pro-Michigan crowd, Northwestern had given its pockets of fans hopes that a rare upset of the No. 18 Wolverines was in the cards.

Three fumble recoveries. Two interceptions of Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood. A spark of offense with back-to-back touchdowns that sent celebratory purple smoke wafting through the clear blue sky on an early-fall-like day in Wrigleyville.

Photos: No. 18 Michigan 24, Northwestern 22 at Wrigley Field

Zvada’s attempt was only a 31-yarder after Michigan steadily inched toward the goal line on its final possession that started with 2 minutes, 10 seconds to play. But the Wolverines kicker had missed attempts from 34 and 60 yards earlier in the game toward each end zone with the wind blowing out.

And so the NU fans wiggled with anticipation behind the goal post, right up until the football sailed through the uprights as time expired for a 24-22 Michigan escape, its ninth straight win in the series. Wolverines players raced onto the field to mob Zvada after the winner to keep their long-shot College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Northwestern (5-5, 3-4) went home to Evanston from its second temporary “home” field of the season with its third straight loss — and an emotional message from coach David Braun, who didn’t want to hear about his team’s nice try against a power like Michigan.

“I don’t want to hear, none of us wants to hear, ‘Hey, good effort, guys, you gave Michigan a run for their money. That was a great effort,’” Braun said. “We came here to win a football game, and that was the expectation.

“As we flip over this new leaf, couple more games this year, get ourselves to the postseason, finish this group’s story off the right way and move into the new Ryan Field, this program isn’t like, ‘Hey, we’re going to give it our best and see what happens.’ … Don’t mistake my politeness, our program’s politeness for weakness. 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 and USC on the road, and when you’ve got your foot on somebody’s throat at home, a team like Michigan, you’ve got to put them away.

“So do I love this team? Am I proud of this team? Am I excited to get back to work with this team? Yeah. Is anyone satisfied with the result today or feeling OK because we came back and gave it a good try? Absolutely not.”

Michigan (8-2, 6-1), playing its first game at Wrigley Field, certainly left an opening for Northwestern to pull off the upset, starting in the first half with Zvada’s field-goal misses and an Andrew Marsh fumble that Anto Saka forced and Braydon Brus recovered. Jack Olsen made his second field goal of the half after that takeaway as the Wildcats went into halftime down 7-6.

Michigan looked is if it was taking control in the third quarter when it went up 21-9 following Underwood’s 9-yard touchdown run and Jordan Marshall’s 1-yard touchdown leap over the pile.

But Northwestern briefly found a spark when quarterback Preston Stone completed five straight passes — including for 32, 22 and 24 yards — and then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut it to 21-16. Underwood then threw interceptions to Braden Turner and Robert Fitzgerald and running back Bryson Kuzdzal fumbled Underwood’s handoff, all on three consecutive drives.

“We came here with a mission,” Turner said. “People keep doubting us. We came to win, and we’ve got to compete to do that.”

Braun said the fourth-quarter performance came from a place of belief.

“We’re not going to operate from a position of fear,” he said. “We believe this is a good plan. We’re going to go execute it. And even down two scores, there was a belief in all three phases, coaching staff, and within our defense, that we were like, ‘We’re going to find a way to make this (happen).’

“We were not good on third down today. We didn’t play our best defensive football by any stretch of the imagination, and we found a way to stay in the moment and found a way to create some takeaways. And I think that’s what is just a gut-punch. We had it.”

The Wildcats took a 22-21 lead on Caleb Komolafe’s 6-yard touchdown run after the first interception. But their offense stalled on its final two drives to hand the game back to the Wolverines.

Stone completed 13 of 27 passes for 184 yards, and the Wildcats rushed for just 61 yards.

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“There’s really nothing more important than executing in the fourth quarter, and that starts with me,” Stone said. “We’ll go back and look at the film and go back to the drawing board this week.”

Underwood threw for 280 yards with the two interceptions and Marshall rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with injury.

Northwestern plays host to Minnesota on Nov. 22 at Wrigley Field to wrap up its slate in the city before finishing the regular season at Illinois as it tries to become bowl-eligible.

The Wildcats have played five games at the Cubs’ home since 2010. Their back-to-back games there this year were scheduled as Northwestern awaits the opening of the new Ryan Field in 2026.

Braun said the Wildcats look forward to the new stadium — and put it on himself to create excitement at that field.

“All the design and development and thought that has gone into the new Ryan Field, everything that has gone into that, what I control, what I’m responsible for is making sure we put a team on that field that ultimately makes it come to life,” Braun said. “I have full faith in the fact that we are going to turn Ryan Field into a huge home-field advantage. I have no doubt in my mind. There has been too much effort, energy put into that. And I can’t wait to put a team on the field that people are excited about.”

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