Undersized, undrafted back has been a breakout star for Baltimore over the past two weeks, after spending most of the first half of the year on IR.

NU RB coach Chris Foster was his position coach at ECU.

I talked to 2024 WR Hayden Eligon II about his Nov. 8 offer from Northwestern, his upcoming official visit for Purdue and where Northwestern stacks up in his recruitment.

Quicklane Bowl: https://247sports.com/longformartic...-reveal-title-frontrunners-219002720/#2283699

Let me know if interested.

From a positive editorial today re the vote tonight:

We’ve supported this stadium from the start. Our enthusiasm began with Northwestern making no requests for taxpayer support, in contrast to some NFL teams of our acquaintance. Thanks to the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan family, this $800 million project comes fully funded. Neither Evanston taxpayers nor Northwestern parents paying tuition are on the hook.

As we wrote in September 2022, this looks like it will be a beautiful place to watch college football (the old joint is looking down at heel) and the many student athletes at Northwestern will also benefit from substantially upgraded facilities that won’t just be for footballers. Moreover, the new stadium’s capacity will be lower: about 35,000 instead of 47,130, which presumably will decrease the stress on the surrounding neighborhood in the event of a sold-out game with the visiting likes of Ohio State.

🤔

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The OL looked like a totally different group Saturday. I suppose Wisconsin isn't Iowa defensively but was wondering if Bryant's audibles made a difference. Does it work like that?

…..if Saturday is the last game at the current Ryan Field?

Here are my initial notes, a full takeaways piece will be up this afternoon:

His future at NU: I asked Braun about #removethetag and if he's had any subsequent conversations about his future with Dr. Gragg.

On #removethetag: "I love our team. This group continues to pull together and I take that as a sign that I must be doing something right. They feel they have a head coach they believe in and I'm focused on doing everything in my power to make sure we're at our best for Purdue."

(For Braun, that's the equivalent of chest thumping)

Relationship with Dr. Gragg: There have not been conversations about an extension since Wisconsin.

"What I will say, and I'm confident in, that the people involved in that process are taking the proper steps to ensure that the program is led in the right manner moving forward...Dr. Gragg has been incredibly supportive of this team throughout this process and has involved our players in this process which is a credit to him. This is something that I know is an ongoing process that they take very seriously and I'm going to control the things I can control."

"We're in consistent communication, we're talking weekly."

Talked about the roles of Holtz and Vokolek: After Braun's promotion, he made two hires for ambiguous roles: Skip Holtz as special assistant to the head coach and DJ Vokolek as a defensive assistant. He talked about each of their roles as the season has gone on. He specifically highlighted Holtz' recruiting contributions and Vokolek's film study.

On Holtz: "I think Skip has embodied humility. A guy walks into this facility with countless years of head coaching experience and all he's asked along the way has been 'Dave, how can I help?' He's helped with his wisdom, mentorship and guidance. He's played a critical role in the way that we've continued to push forward with our recruiting. Losing some of our support staff along the way in this transition, he's really led the charge in pushing our recruiting department forward."

On Vokolek: "DJ is a trusted colleague, a trusted friend. He's someone that came in with me still calling the defense. There wasn't a specific position for him to be coaching but he's helped at all three levels of our defense and has taken a lot of off my plate. Stuff like, 'DJ, can you take a look at second down tendencies through a coordinator's eyes?' He and I are talking frequently on keeping me ahead in our game plan process."

Last game at Ryan Field: The Evanston City Council votes tonight on the new Ryan Field, meaning this week's matchup with Purdue could be the last at the stadium as we know it. Braun talked about his favorite memory on Central and Ashland.

"Minnesota," Braun said on his most memorable game at home this season. "I don't know if you're ever going to [forget that]. That's a memory that will stick with you for the rest of your life if you were there. The way our guys battled and the way it ended was special."

Braun closed out with a call to his teams fans to pack the place one more time (for the first time this year).

"Do everything you can to get to Ryan Field. This is an awfully special group and if you haven't had a chance to see them play live in person, I promise you're going to be proud of the way they play. Let's make sure we send off the old Ryan Field the right way."

Coco Azema update: Braun said he's day-to-day and while they're not sure if he'll be good to go for Purdue they "absolutely" expect him to be back for Illinois.

"We're hopeful we'll have Coco back for Saturday and I know he's going to do everything in his power to ensure that he's our there, but we'll take it day-to-day."


Bastone and Spencer on scholarship: Northwestern is bizarrely cagey about when they elevate a walkon to scholarship, but Braun confirmed the two DTs were elevated before the season.

"The level of play from those guys is incredible, it's awesome."

The Tigers take the Vols to the wood shed. As do the Cats to the Badgers.

Time to party Big Boy.

GOUNUII

On Sat we have the Purdue football game at 11 AM at Ryan field probably going to 2:30 But we also have a BB game starting at 1:30 at Ryan Fieldhouse Two games going on same place same time and I havew paid for parking at both so does that mean I can get a third car in the lot?

Gragg's doing?

Check out our takeaways from Northwestern’s key non-conference win over Dayton.

I have two extra tickets for the game this Saturday. Seatbacks included.
I will be attending but won't have my usual tag-a-longs with me (my two daughters), so would strongly prefer the other two seats go to NU fans. Message me with an offer if interested.
Go Cats!

@mshelton33 was in Evanston for David Braun's press conference today and files these notes.

The memorial services that were planned to be held today at Alaska's National Cemetary located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in conjunction with Veterans Day have been cancelled as a consequence of three record breaking snowfalls this week.

Below, through my narrative and photos, I offer a virtual Veterans Day Tribute to those who served specifically in World War II and who are buried there.

Among those who served in World War II and who are buried at Alaska's National Cemetery are a number of family friends from my father's generation in addition to my own father.

The subject National Cemetery is also the final resting place for a lone civilian not related to a family member who served in the military. That individual is Charles Jones who died at the hands of the Japanese who invaded the Alaska Island of Attu when he refused to repair a radio he had destroyed after sending the original message informing the world of the invasion. His having been killed during wartime while performing duties for the military garnered him a place of honor in the cemetery at what is now Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

In addition there is a plot where non-Americans who served in World War II are buried which includes soldiers of the Soviet Union, Canada, and Britain.

That same plot was also once the resting place for the remains of 235 of the more than 2,600 Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of the Aleutians in Alaska during World War II. In 1953 those remains were repatriated to Japan and in 1981 a headstone Cenotaph made of wood was erected in their memory. When it began to deteriorate it was replaced by another in 2002. Finally in 2018 on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Attu surviving family members in Japan along with the Japanese Americans in Alaska had a lasting headstone that was inscribed by a mason in Japan erected. Fittingly, present at its 2019 dedication ceremony were 120 Japanese troops who were in Alaska for a bilateral joint training exercise. It was also noted that 2019 signaled the beginning of a new era in Japan identified as Reiwa 1. (The eras in Japan correspond to enthronement of a new Emperor and in 2019 the grandson of Japan's Emperor during World War II became Japan's present Emperor. )

Pictured first is my photo of the Battleship Missouri as it is presently moored in Pearl Harbor. It was on the deck of this ship while moored in a Japanese harbor that the peace treaty was signed bringing World War II to an end.

(The photos following were all taken at the above described National Cemetery here in Alaska and include the referenced inscribed in Japanese stone Cenotaph.)

I went to follow him on Twitter & Instagram after the win in Madison…and unless I’m missing something, I don’t think he has any public presence. What do we think of that? I see advantages and disadvantages on each side of this.

Does anyone have any insight about Anemia's injury?

I guarantee that Purdue will claim we stole their signs.

The final regular season game of the year (but hopefully not the final game overall!) will be a late afternoon kick, regionalized with Maryland @ Rutgers.

After a huge win at Wisconsin, @mikefitz77 has the three things we learned, two questions we're asking and one bold prediction heading into Purdue.

I really think Braun has done a good job given the situation. The defense is playing great, again given the personnel he has done more with less. The DL is as thin if not more than the OL but Braun, Vokolek and Smith have gotten way more respectable play out of the DL than Anderson has with the OL.

Somewhat selfishly I would like to see Braun retained as the DC (I say that because it would I’m sure he a pay cut from what he’s getting this year) to see what he can really do if he focuses just on the defense. Paid that with a high profile head coach and an innovative OC and we will be a bowl team in no time.

It looks like the two most likely bowls for Northwestern (as per HTP's Bowl Projections) are both on the day after Christmas, a prospect that is great for TV viewing but not ideal for anyone planning to travel from any significant distance to the bowl site unless staying at home on the 25th is not a family tradition. Those December 26th bowls are Quick Lane in Detroit and Guarantee Rate in Phoenix.

Reading the tea leaves based on HTP's projections, likely in the mix for Northwestern if we win out, would be the Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas on the 23rd, Pinstripe in NYC on the 28th, or Music City in Nashville on the 30th. Accordingly, Nashville looks as close as Northwestern could expect to get to be playing in a New Year's Day Bowl.

Given the above, feel free to share your preferences with Scenario One being no further wins but qualifying under the APR exception with the added possibility of landing us in an at large bowl;

Scenario Two with one more win taking us to Detroit or Phoenix;

and Scenario Three with two more wins opening up Las Vegas, New York, and Nashville as our bowl destinations.

Link to HTP's Bowl Projections:

HTP's Bowl Projections

FYI, I’m going to be out of town this weekend, so @mshelton33 will be watching the store. I’m heading down to Mizzou to visit my son and watch the Tigers play Tennessee. (I’m 0-2 vs. the Vols with the Cats, so hopefully I will watch them get beat on Saturday.)

On Friday night, Matt will be at the hoop game. Then he’s heading up to Madison for the football game on Saturday (it’s his first trip to Camp Randall). @mikefitz77 will handle editing responsibilities.

So I’m leaving the kids at home by themselves for the weekend. NO PARTIES ALLOWED. I marked the levels of all the liquor bottles.

After a huge win at Wisconsin, @mikefitz77 has the three things we learned, two questions we're asking and one bold prediction heading into Purdue.