Duke down 7-6 to Clemson at the half. Outplayed Clemson but for two turnovers. One on a muffed punt.

Some pundits are calling Njongmeta the best returning linebacker in the Big Ten, but he's wearing a Badger red uniform...

I've heard that "his first choice was Northwestern but NU didn't recruit him..."
He's a local kid who played at Stevenson High School, 20 miles from Evanston...
He got offers from every Ivy League school, but he turned them all down because he wanted to play big-time college football...

How is he not playing for NU?

Who’s headed down the Turnpike? I’ll be there in Section 108 watching the Cats reel in their first win of the Braun era!!! Go Cats!!!

It was a tough week for Northwestern but its Class of 2024 continues to start in their senior seasons. Check out how Northwestern's commits did in this week's roundup from me and @mikefitz77

I often wondered if Fitz and Co
gave a damn about early season games and why they were not well prepared. Today I think we will see a team much more ready to play in regard to: 1. Preparation 2. Using the full playbook on both sides of the ball 3. Physically more conditioned 4. Mentally prepared and 5. More aggressive special teams. Does it mean a win? I don't know! Go 'Cats!!!

Here are my initial notes from David Braun's UTEP week presser, takeaways to follow this afternoon. Nearly empty auditorium, just me and Bradley Locker from InsideNU there to ask questions.

Bryant remains the starter but Braun was complimentary of Sullivan

I asked Braun if Bryant will remain his starter, if he plans to split possessions and how much stock he puts in Sullivan's late touchdown drive.

"Ben will be our starter for UTEP. I'm proud of the way Sully came in, you take stock in everything. Everything's being evaluated. Ben knows he needs to play better, we know we need to find ways to give him and the rest of the offense more opportunities to create rhythm."

I asked him again in the context of Bryant as a sixth year grad transfer and Sullivan as a junior with long-term eligibility about if he would consider splitting drives or going to Sullivan down the stretch if struggles continue. He reiterated his immediate faith in Bryant but made it clear that Sullivan has continued to work and that hasn't gone unnoticed.

"Ben Bryant is our starter for UTEP and we plan on Ben being our starter moving forward. We evaluate everything at all positions but we're not going to get into this conversation, we don't want anyone playing with the mentality that they're looking over their shoulder. We want Ben to go out there and rip it with a bunch of confidence and go help this team win games. We're going to continue to push Sully and Ryan Hilinski and everyone in this program to keep pushing.

"Own your role but keep pushing. You talk about owning your role, well Brendan Sullivan has owned his role throughout camp and moving forward. That doesn't mean he has to be satisfied with his role...Ben's going to be our starter going into UTEP. I know our team will keep backing him."

On becoming a betting underdog against UTEP

"I've never paid attention to the [betting] lines, never will. I think this group is at its best when it's an underdog, so that's just fine with me."

Holtz and Vokolek's roles remain vague

I asked Braun if he could define the roles for the two late additions to his staff with a game under his belt, he kept his response vague but provided some insight.

Vokolek: "Coach Vokolek is incredibly involved in everything that's going on the defensive side of the ball. He's someone that, along with the rest of the defensive staff, I'm leaning on for perspective and feedback on things going on in the game. DJ is certainly taking on a role in terms of game planning with the organization of everything while I'm wearing two hats right now. We have great minds in that defensive room that are taking on heavier loads than they typically would be just because of the time and DJ is doing a great job helping me organize that.

Holtz: "When it comes to Coach Holtz, it's an extra eye for offense and it's an extra eye for defense in terms of seeing what's going on and relaying the information back to the coaches, most importantly myself. Then Coach Holtz being a 20-year vet as a head coach, it's conversations on the plane ride back...he's won big games and he's lost big games, he's dealt with a lot of things sitting in the head coach's chair...I think those that know me well understand that I'm incredibly self critical. After a loss like yesterday, I'm going to have a tendency to try and shoulder as much of the burden as I possibly can. A guy like Coach Holtz [says], 'Hey Dave, we're going to be alright. There's plenty of positives to take from this, too.'"

"Both DJ and Coach Holtz have been great resources to a staff that I certainly appreciate in terms of the way that they have continued to coach and prepare."

On breaking the losing streak

"At the end of the day, there are no excuses, there are no explanations, [it's about] what solutions are we finding to play winning football?" Braun added later, "We have plenty of talent. We have a team that can win a bunch of football games this year. Speaking truth to them is making sure they understand that and know that I believe in them...momentum is a powerful thing. It's time to get the momentum going in the right direction and let that thing roll downhill."

DT Depth Chart

No update on Lawson's injury, no indication if the freshman duo will get playing time going forward.

At SHI stadium in NJ. All NU fans are getting heckled with hazing jokes. It’s very uncomfortable watching the game. I imagine a lot of road games will be like this for NU this year. Just be aware NU fans.

We are bad.

Here's @mshelton33's report from Evanston.

Here's @mshelton33's report from Evanston.

To preface this:

I believe Fitz is a good man, a good ambassador for the program, and that he dedicated his life to NU.

This is not meant to attack him as a person; solely his hiring decisions.

Fans will be debate forever if he should have been fired from the scandal.

I think today proves it didn’t matter. 2023 was going to be his last year.

This season looks like a 2-10 season at best, driven by a terrible offense. That’s on Fitz for yet another terrible hiring decision (Bajakian).

No coach could survive 3 of the last 4 seasons being double digit loss seasons. Especially not after a brand new practice facility meant to help recruiting.

At the end of the day, Fitz is a good man who struggles to hire. Happens all the time in corporate; and it happened here too

Just because I like to imagine alternative scenarios to the common perception, here goes...
"This is for entertainment purposes only."

Gragg was brought to Northwestern to get rid of the highest paid coaches. Why? I'm not sure - some group of Trustees wanted this to happen.
Maybe there's a big money-laundering operation involved... doesn't matter - there's a reason.
Gragg seems like a simple sort of person, apparently easily controlled, makes NU look good on the "minorities in positions of authority" ledger....
But in reality he turns out to be an assassin, a conniving, capable operator - willing to do whatever is necessary, by any means available.
The sinister forces on the Board of Trustees have been fuming about Fitzgerald's contract since the day it was signed and Collins just ain't cutting it with the run of terrible seasons...
Coaches who play by the rules have no place in NCAA athletics...

Gragg decides to go after Collins first.
After a disappointing basketball season he puts CCC on public notice, makes it very clear that he doesn't care about Collins and fully expects to be firing him after another terrible year...
But Collins makes an astute hire and Barnhizer, Nicholson and the rest of the team wreck that plan.
Gragg is forced to sign Collins to an extension and the trustees are fuming...

Gragg knows he has to take out Fitzgerald...
"Get rid of him and make sure we don't have to pay him."
A player complains about what he calls hazing.
A new bookworm has just taken the reins as university president.
This shill knows nothing about sports, has never even played darts, much less something that involves teammates and a locker room.
Gragg tells the trustees to start a long investigation, making sure Schill gets the report as soon as he starts at NU.
Knowing Schill will follow the advice of paid consultants, Gragg tells the evil trustees to go light on Fitzgerald and Schill falls in line, as expected.
The trustees immediately leak the report to the Daily Northwestern and start fanning the flames of social media.
As the mastermind of the hit on Fitzgerald, Gragg knows he needs to be unavailable and nowhere near the scene of the crime.
He takes the family to Europe.
An uproar ensues and Schill does what Gragg expects - folds helplessly.
Knowing almost nothing about Northwestern, much less the athletics department, Schill fires Fitzgerald under pressure from the board of trustees members who are already washing their hands.

Gragg pretends to be searching for a new football coach. And he is laughing.

…the ball rolling on recruiting. An up and coming coordinator or something. The season is already going to be bad. The fans need something to be encouraged by. Poor recruiting during a season like this could set the program back several years (if the prez/AD hasn’t done it already).

I know the timing of this isn’t good, but I have 2 Seats on the 40 and a West lot pass for a Cats fan. Only stipulation is you boo Gragg and Schill anytime they are announced. Would like to give away together. DM me if interested.

David Braun’s debut didn’t go as planned at Rutgers. Check out my article on his postgame comments and the work that lies ahead.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34206607

"Biggest mover: Kentucky

Four schools -- Kentucky, Northwestern, Tulsa and NC State -- moved up at least 10 spots in our rankings, but none ended up better than 31st (NC State). The biggest mover, however, was Kentucky, which had two O-linemen -- Luke Fortner and Darian Kinnard -- selected in the 2022 NFL draft. The Wildcats aren't exactly knocking on the door of OLU -- they're still 72nd nationally -- but the big jump from 2021 is another reminder of the impressive work Mark Stoops is doing in Lexington."

Like I said, it was only a brief mention...

David Braun’s debut didn’t go as planned at Rutgers. Check out my article on his postgame comments and the work that lies ahead.

I debate if this seven is truly magnificent.

I’d guess that Clemson and VT want to be in the SEC, whereas the rest would do anything to get in the B1G. FSU would get smashed in the SEC, but would hold a unique recruiting advantage in the B1G.

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I've been outspoken in faulting Schill/Gragg for their handling of Fitz's firing. I think they need to be fired before the university can move on.

But I have an even bigger concern. Would NU have won this game with Fitz? The hazing crisis clearly took a huge emotional toll on the team. They're not prepared for the season. It would help to have an experienced head coach, not an FCS coordinator trying to learn on the fly from a USFL coach. Some of the transfers would have helped.

Would it have been enough to beat Rutgers, though? Would the OL have been stronger? Would the QB have made better decisions? Would NU have handed off the ball and made any progress up the middle? Where are the playmaking WRs? Who's supposed to stop the run or rush the passer? How would Fitz have made the LBs faster? I just can't see the talent out there. Skoronski and Hull were missed, and NU was an uncompetitive 1-11 with them.

I wonder if Fitz had not be fired for cause, this game might have put him on the hot seat. NU is looking at 4 of 5 disastrous seasons and maybe even a historic losing streak (again). It's the program Fitz built.

Crisis. Team unwatchable, again. Offense totally incompetent. Defense had a pulse, but still in rough shape. Rutgers isn’t good. Much has and should be made of how the last head coach exited the program. But I can’t stop thinking about the state in which he left this program. Hank retiring really exposed a LOT of weakness, and things have just shattered.

What makes this situation feel worse is that under the Morty / Phillips / Fitz regime, those people at least loved the school and the game. The new regime (Braun excluded) seems to be inept and weak — plus lacking any meaningful connection to NU or even really pretending to care. The president is sports ambivalent at best. The AD is truly awful.

My hope is we will bring in a good head coach next year to totally reboot the program. Root and branch rebuild. But I’m worried strong candidates won’t want to come here / the people in charge will continue to make bad decisions / a solid new hire might get hounded out by our outrage mob for some reason they conjure up.

It’s brutal out there right now. Chris Collins needs to build a protective wall around his program, especially from university “leadership.”

Out-played on both the O and D lines. No defensive pressure on the QB; weak protection from the O line for our passing game. Could not get off the field on defense; could not sustain drives on Offense. Against Rutgers! Trenches play has to improve or this team will go winless in the B1G.

Out-matched; Out-coached; Out-hustled; Out-executed; Out-game-planned in every phase of the contest. Out of my mind with embarrassment. I'm surprised the 'Cats got out of the visitors locker room without getting lost heading onto the field. This train wreck is unwatchable. nfm...

Can someone with ESPN+ share the names Rittenburg posted as potential coaches?

Guessing he has at least some insight on that!