If you’d told me pregame that:

- Dayton would shoot 50%+ from the field AND from 3

- Boo would have 15

- Our big man would have 4 pts and just 3 rebounds

I’d have expected not just a loss, but an ugly one. And yet…we won. That is impressive and, I think, a hopeful reality about this team. Quality win…and we didn’t come close to playing as well as possible.

NU and PSU defeated our cupcakes, but the teams that faced competition got smoked. Not a good look for the conference.

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Seemed the most likely outcome based on everything I was hearing lately. Though the timing is a bit earlier than I expected, I can see how this could/should help with recruiting and team continuity.

Should be fascinating to watch the staff decisions he makes. Pretty sure at least Bajakian is toast, wouldn’t be surprised to see at least the entire offensive staff out the door as well. I would personally like to see extensive changes to the recruiting and S&C staffs, but don’t know that Braun will go that far.

Either way… we’ve got our guy, let’s see where he can take us.

Deploy the Demo
Boilers go down, then Dame Dyche
Bulldozers hover

I’m fully bought in on Head Coach Braun. Most of us are. Those that want to dwell on past failures can go pound sand.

Just curious.

The Wildcats will try to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, @lou v goes Behind Enemy Lines to talk to BoilerUpload.com's Travis Miller to get the inside scoop on the Boilermakers.

Both Matt and I will be at the press conference introducing David Braun as the 30th head coach in NU history today. It starts at noon at the WAC.

Have to admit I’m shocked.

This has to mean most of the assistants are coming back which also has to support Fitz’s lawsuit and claims of not knowing.

This will be a very interesting next four months.

We have no idea if Braun can recruit at this level. Clear we need an amazing offensive coordinator that can coach and RECRUIT.

Braun can sell the defense. He has done a miracle this year.

The Wildcats will try to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, @lou v goes Behind Enemy Lines to talk to BoilerUpload.com's Travis Miller to get the inside scoop on the Boilermakers.

The Athletic today rated the six college football coaching openings. They rated the NU coaching job the last of the six with a grade of C+, they ranked Michigan State’s as the second best job with a B+ grade. OUCH.

6. Northwestern, C+: Northwestern is a Big Ten job, and Pat Fitzgerald showed that some winning is possible. But it’s one of the toughest jobs in the league, and USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are all coming in to make it even tougher as the Big Ten West dissolves.

This situation with Peacock and watching our last game made me wonder about the direction things are heading esp watching sporting events like college football games. We’ve gone from old school antennas to cable to subscribing to apps to stream shows and events with some coming back full circle to digital antennas to watch local stations that may not be available on some apps. I’ve been ok sticking with cable until recently. As more customers have abandoned their cable subscriptions for streaming apps the price of cable service has risen significantly (I’m currently with Spectrum for WiFi, cable and cell service.) Over time I’ve picked up other services like Amazon Prime and Apple+. I liked the convenience of cable and having a single menu to search the schedule. Now viewing is very splintered, although there are options to view on demand on your own schedule. It seems like streaming apps are upending traditional cable so I’m reviewing my options including shedding cable. Just curious what other board members are doing to contain costs while still being able to access content at a reasonable cost with convenient viewing options. I don’t think it will get any cheaper. I also just cancelled a Disney+ combo subscription when they raised their rates.

@lou v talked to 2024 DE Braxton Strong about his official visit last weekend for Northwestern's game against Iowa.

It would have been fun to see 350 yards from Bryant, but it was also fun to be borrrrred because NU was just so much better.

I have no idea where today’s OL play came from, but geez that DL continues to come to play.

Lots of grinders on this roster and kids with pride.

Braun, as reported by the booth today:
“They know where my heart is, and they’ve responded.” I like that.

What a shocking and wonderful victory, and what a joyful season.

Yes, I realize the deck is stacked against Braun with the current circumstances, and NU will presumably be conducting a search for a new head coach even as Braun takes the helm this season. But if (big if) Braun can pull off a miracle and win X number of games, what number X will win him the job outright?

What a season thus far; surpassed any reasonable expectation to this point, and we have Purdue and Illinois ahead of us to try to lock up a bowl bid. I was hoping to be surprised today against Wisconsin and instead I was shocked at how much better we looked than them.

Most impressive thing to me is just how the team (especially the defense) has looked better across the season; to the point where it's looked terrific the past couple of games.

Even the offense has been substantially better than anything we saw last year and not just when Bryant's been QB.

This team has played hard every game, easy to root for a team showing this kind of effort (win or lose). Credit to Braun that this team has responded to the ups and downs of this season.

This has been the best week in Cats sports in a long time. It was great when BB won't the first game in the tourney but the FB team has been in the dumps for a while. this week a whole ton has broken positive in my opinion. BB is off to a good start and Braun has gotten my support and NU FB seems to be headed to bowl eligibility. Fingers crossed.

Northwestern has reportedly promoted David Braun to be their permanent head coach. @lou v and I reached out to Northwestern's 2024 commits and prospects to get their reaction on the decision.

After reading the game thread and various other discussions, it is evident that everyone could benefit from taking a step back and for a moment and relax. Undeniably, the game was quite frustrating and NU did not perform up to their usual standard. However, there was never any doubt about which team would emerge as the victor and prove themselves as the superior team last night. Defensively, there were numerous instances of sloppy play, lack of communication, and failure to box out. NU's performance in this aspect was truly abysmal, falling short of their own expectations.

Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging that they still managed to force a significant number of turnovers, and defensively, Barnhizer is a wrecking ball, causing disruption for the opposing team. Berry, on the other hand, demonstrated unusual lapses in his defensive abilities. The big players on NU's team failed miserably in boxing out and preventing WMU players from gaining good positioning on the boards. Additionally, the guards were not proactive in grabbing a body either.

On a more positive note, Clayton, despite being a freshman, performed commendably during his time on the court, and he earned his minutes through his impressive display of skills and effort on the defensive end as well as hitting a 3. He also had a very athletic board in the 2nd half, skying over a WMU player.

Offensively, the team struggled to make shots from deep. Langborg, in particular, had difficulty scoring even when inside the arc. Despite missing multiple wide open three-point shots throughout the night, Barnhizer still managed to score 20 points. Buie was the only player who consistently hit three-pointers, but even he missed several open opportunities. Although the shooting overall was extremely poor, it's worth noting that the team took good shots within the flow of the offense rather than forcing low-percentage shots. However, their execution was lacking, and NU was unable to convert these opportunities.

Barnhizer is clearly showing immense potential this season, benefiting from the defensive attention drawn towards Buie, which allows him to exploit mismatches and create scoring opportunities. He is a versatile player who poses a challenge to opposing teams. Buie made a ton of clutch plays down the stretch and sees the court extremely well. His court vision and passing do so much for the cats.

The game itself was difficult to watch, highlighting numerous areas for improvement. Nonetheless, the team managed to secure a victory. Now, let's shift our focus to the upcoming game and just be happy we escaped with a win.

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"That's huge! I think with what Coach Braun has done this year with the guys there, there is no reason why he shouldn't become the head coach. As a current commit, I feel great about this news."

Enjoy!

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As poorly as the administration (#fireschill) handled the situation with PF, Coach Braun seems to have been a great get this year. It is time to remove the interim tag and see what he can do on the recruiting trail.

Though these guys are probably out regardless, I think Bajakian and Anderson would be good to retain if possible. If that is the case, I’d love to see Braun find some FCS talent and play scrappy

We all learn from our teachers, in one way or another. If I am an average college football player, but a hard worker, what position group coach is likely to have the greatest impact on my development?
We (board members) often bemoan our O Line coaches, and this year praise our WR coach. Are there some position group coaches that frankly cannot help players a lot?