I’m listing our four quarterbacks in reverse alphabetical order so as to avoid any bias.

Simply put: who should be our starter at quarterback?

We are 102. I hope it isn't our peak :-(

And by may get fired, I mean should get fired. What a creep.

Yesterday’s announced home attendance was 14,851. Gotta be the lowest since ??? Still, those of us who were out there on a beautiful early fall Saturday, celebrating each other’s company, and cheering on 103 hard-working student-athletes and their immensely likable new head coach, all had a great time.

For the first time in more than a year, the roundup comes after a Northwestern win! Check out how the Class of 2024 fared last weekend.

I doubt Schill, but gotta ask....

Here are my quick notes from David Braun's press conference, a takeaways piece will be up this afternoon. I have interviews with Jack Lausch and Josh Thompson tomorrow.

Quarterback room should be full go

Braun wouldn't share injury specifics but he expects to have Bryant and Sullivan available for Duke. Bryant remains the starter.

Right tackle by committee

Braun said the plan was always to cycle Zachary Franks and Josh Thompson in at right tackle by committee, not sure how much I buy that. He said he plans to continue to rotate both guys in, not sure how much I buy that either.

"In the second half, Josh came in. We were hot and we stayed with the hot hand. We'll continue to rotate both those guys in, but we were certainly very impressed with the way that Josh came in in the second half and moved the line of scrimmage."

The Jack Lausch hype train has left the station

Braun has sung Lausch's praises all offseason, and the proof was in the pudding last Saturday. No surprise that he kept the compliments flowing today.

"We're finding ways to get Jack involved with his athleticism and his playmaking."

"There have been consistent conversations from myself to the rest of our staff that he's a young man that needs to be on the field, he just does. He has the ability to do some things that really change the map for a defense. It's pretty neat to see a young man of his age, a Southside of Chicago guy, if you were around for winter workouts you would point to that young man and say that he embodies what this program is all about from a toughness, resiliency and natural leadership standpoint."

NU ready for turnaround from big win to big road game against ranked opponent

After a big win over UTEP, the Wildcats have to run and face a ranked Duke team on the road. Braun said they're keeping a level head and are ready for the challenge.

"Again, like last week, I think this group is at its best as an underdog. We're not paying attention to the lines, that's the first I've heard of it, but I welcome that information."

"We talked about [it], this year is not going to be linear. There are going to be ups and downs. After Rutgers, it was certainly a huge letdown. There was certainly an emotional high from Saturday and we need to return to our process and make sure that we show up with a great deal of passion and energy to put our best foot forward."

Working to start stronger on defense

"That's a great question and if you have any suggestions for me, I'm open to them," Braun quipped when InsideNU's David Gold asked him about the defense allowing opening drive touchdowns in back-to-back games. "I think what you've seen out of our group is poise and an ability to settle in."

Discussed Jeremiah Lewis' transfer to Duke

Braun was firm in his support of Lewis but used it as an opportunity to support the players who chose to stay.

"He's a very good player, mature, smart, driven," Braun said. "We were disappointed to see him go...there's no hard feelings, he made a decision in a time of uncertainty. I'll come back to the 103 [players] that chose to stay, they chose to stay. They chose to stay because of their love and admiration for one another and credit to those guys. But no hard feelings towards him for leaving and I certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for the way he plays the game."

Braun and the team let Mueller hear it for missing out on a pick six

"It was discussed on the sideline," Braun said with a smile. "There was a lot of 'Great job...why didn't you score a touchdown?!?' But it was a great play. Him and Gallagher made some big time plays."

NU gets a night game. Regional split with Akron @ Indiana.

I know this is going to get a lot of scrutiny but I'll just throw this out for discussion; I was talking to my brother who is a H.S. football referee there in Illinois and after talking to him , he said that he was talking to a former Big10 official and his take is that because Northwestern is the smallest school in the conference and their wanting to add Missouri or the school in South Bend and because outside of its small fan base, this all happened to tell the school after 1-10; 0-11; 1-10 seasons that Nu just can't compete with the other programs.
To me it makes sense what's behind all this!

I’m Section 107 with 9 others in
my ticket group. About 70 degrees, sunny and perfect. FCMChi is with us..

Very sparse crowd. Band Day. You should be here. Go Cats!

For the first time in more than a year, the roundup comes after a Northwestern win! Check out how the Class of 2024 fared last weekend.

Sunday was the first time in my life that I’ve ever wondered why the hell I waste my time watching the Cats.

It wasn’t the worst we’ve gotten beat, worst we’ve played, a result of unlikable players or realization that so much of sports is fluke things going your way-it was because this loss felt……disgusting? And it wasn’t the football.

Hazing scandal or not-the football related failures merit the criticism they receive. I almost feel like the football failures are secondary to what I sensed from other fans. I spent all Saturday thinking about the situation and what I realized was that, whether you agree or disagree with the decisions of the administration regarding the scandal-you are in pain.

This pain is solely due to Gragg and Schill and every other public rep of NU. You may in pain with the damage done to kids in this program, you may be in pain with the face of the university being dismissed seemingly on an impulse-but it seems everyone agrees that there is low confidence in the future. I didn’t go to Northwestern-for those of you that did I can’t imagine seeing a place I care about so much so numb to the damage they’ve done to people,

The fans, the team, the program and the school *should* be in pain with what has happened. The problem I see is that not only has no Northwestern representative spoken to address the pain and validate it, but they’ve actually only spoken to do the opposite.

The “Cats against the World” shirts-do we think thAt was a bunch of rebellious kids just trying to cause trouble because they were bored? No. It was an expression of pain and they were publicly criticized for it.

Wilbon saying Gragg is doing a great job when he has become the de facto leader of the program until a new coach is appointed-yet has not stepped forward to foster healing from anyone-even the players! Gragg not taking questions from the players on Zoom, Schill doing nothing except perhaps making things worse-all subsequent actions have ignored the impact on everyone who these events impact.

Furthermore-the first person they put forward publicly to address what happened is…..David Braun? Who the hell is David Braun to us? We have ZERO relationship with him-he has ZERO credibility with anyone publicly. In times of uncertainty people crave stability; David Braun is not capable of offering it to anyone publicly because he is literally just a name to us,

Finally, there were stories of, and will continue to be stories of our fans being harassed at games for the hazing in the program. This could have been mostly avoided if we simply did anything to control the story instead of letting it spin out of control. In that regard, Schill is actively responsible for furthering the pain,

Throughout all of this we needed a leader, we needed someone to vow to us that what we’re seeing on the field is personally unacceptable to them-the players needed a shepherd for the program-and all everyone had received is being told that they’re wrong to feel the way that they do.

He is gonna get killed behind this offensive line. Sullivan seems like a much better option with his mobility even if he isn’t as good as a passer. I guess maybe he’s hurt?

1. Was nice to hear the band play the fight song....seemed to bring back some sense of normalacy.
2. Tubas sounded improved this year,,,,guessing worked hard in the weight room
3. Saka coming around the corner on that one sack was like a missle...not sure I have seen someone with that skill set for awhile? Maybe the safety Gaziano go against Michigan St.
4. Kuddos to PJ Spencer for being a factor.
5. I am pretty sure I saw Coach Fitz's son on the sideline in street clothes. If that was him he was there the whole game.
6. Thought the kid from Texas EP had a pretty good arm....and was the second qb in a row to beat us on a sideline throw while being chased out of bounds.
7. Cam Porter gets my player of the game, I thought his determined running single handedly got our offense pumped up....but agree the change on the line with Thompson helped.
8. Was peculiar that I saw Coach Anderson come out onto the field for the 2nd half by himself then stood way out of an on field offensive huddle...may be reading something into this but was wondering if someone went over his head on the change ?
9. Who was the coach in the gold wind breaker with head phones? anyone know?
10. Kenny Soares sure added some pop to the defense
11. Left the game thinking that Jack Lausch will be our QB next year...if not sooner.
12. A lot of sophmores were major contributors yesterday...retention will really be important this off season.
13. Jordan Knox just looks like the real deal when he is in the game.
GO CATS

Conference is not getting any easier for an institution that sees itself above athletics

The one with the quick throw to the WR who catches the ball flat-footed at the line of scrimmage and has no blockers in front of him that never gains any yardage.

Is it for the players? Because the fans are either old (me) or families with young kids (also me) until students return, and the music is obnoxious

I had the opportunity to make it out to GBN on Friday night to watch Grove and Schaller play each other. Hersey ran away with it, 42-0, but it was still a good game for them both to show why they'll be coming to Northwestern. I was able to interview them both after the game to talk about their performance, playing against each other and what they think about the season so far.

Right around the start of the second half, my 10YO started griping about be back being a little sore from the bleacher seating. No way I was leaving so I offered my lap for a while. Then the 13 play drive. My leg is numb but I'm superstitious so I don't move her. Interception/touchdown. Leg killing me, back getting stiff. Long touchdown pass and by now I am aching. I figure 28-7 is safe so I let her get up. Totally stiff today but worth it

I snorted beer up through my nose when the kid on the bus answered why they would be out recruited “We have higher academic standards.”
It was nice to feel a part of that ad campaign for once.

Think we can cover?

A bit stream of consciousness, forgive me…

One couldn’t help a bit of deja vu after the first UTEP drive marched down the field for a touchdown.

Was very nice to see a quick answer from our offense, especially with a commitment to the run game. Cam Porter is the kind of RB you can feed and wear down a defense.

That said… the rest of the first half was ROUGH for the offense. Had trouble doing anything up front, particularly in pass protection. Franks was particularly bad.

It’s a bit odd to me that Azema is the safety who comes off when we go to 3 LB. In the 4-2-5 it is Azema and Turner playing high with Heard in the slot, but when we run Soares in Azema comes off and Heard plays up high.

Saka flashes. A lot. Dude is still quite raw, but has some physical skills. Pate is also noticeably larger this year.

Franks got replaced by Thompson for the second half and the offense suddenly started clicking. We went run heavy, which is Thompson’s strength, but I would hope/expect we see that change become permanent starting next week. I actually remarked to my dad next to me that Thompson was walking around the sidelines pissed off during the first half, good to see it translate to the field.

Bryant seemed to ding up his shoulder on the botched snap before his sneak TD, came back to the sidelines thereafter but without his helmet. I was surprised to see Hilinski come in in his place, but sounds like Sullivan was a bit dinged up again. That’s a concern.

Lausch showed some wheels. So did Himon (even if he looks the size of an 8th grader out there).

Cam Porter good. Give him ball.

The INTs were gift wrapped, but a very welcome sight to see.

This OL and (especially) DL are going to be absolutely eaten alive in the B1G.

Cullen Coleman didn’t even have his helmet on or join the defensive huddle. Disappointing.

Doost physically looks the part on the sidelines.

Weird that Azema is our KR instead of Henning.

Strangely this game could have been a lot different had UTEP receivers not stepped out of bounds twice and gotten illegal touching flags.

The Gordon TD was fun both because it was actually schemed and because it required blocks to hold up, which actually happened.

Good to see Henning involved on offense in a couple different ways.

UTEP was scheming ways to make Heard tackle bigger RBs in the hole 1 on 1. He wasn’t usually up to the task. I’m sure other OCs were taking note.

All in all… good to see a convincing win and happy for Braun, but tough to see this team doing much at all against B1G competition.

Young, energetic coach who did a remarkably good job as Head Coach at Kent State and had a very auspicious start as Colorado’s OC this weekend. He is a Chicago area native and despite the negative aura around NU right now might be tempted by the opportunity to be a head coach in the Big Ten at a program with exponentially more resources that he had at Kent State.

If the 2nd half yesterday did not fit that old Wildcat cliche, nothing does.
Congrats to Coach Braun. For me, my favorite memories of the Cats are almost all the games that came out of nowhere.

So, after a short week, it's prediction time again.

The UTEP Miners come to Evanston for the Cats' home opener.

The Cats are slightly favored in this one against a fellow sometime member of the Bottom 10, but there are still a lot of questions about how the team will shape up.

UTEP 13
NU 16