5-5 with Purdue and Illinois left

[zeek55]

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.

 

[FanatiCat]

Braun has done an outstanding job seeing the way that this team walked into Camp Randall with the Badgers getting Mordecai, Allen and Dike back and just stonewalling them.

The results of the other games today give me pause for the next couple weeks. Purdue and Illinois suddenly seem VERY score happy so I don’t know how to feel about our chances to score enough in those games to keep up. Especially without Coco 😬

 

[FeralFelidae]

Braun has done an outstanding job seeing the way that this team walked into Camp Randall with the Badgers getting Mordecai, Allen and Dike back and just stonewalling them.

The results of the other games today give me pause for the next couple weeks. Purdue and Illinois suddenly seem VERY score happy so I don’t know how to feel about our chances to score enough in those games to keep up. Especially without Coco 😬

I feel MUCH better with Bryant back if it comes down to a shootout. But the way our defense is playing right now, I don't think it will come down to that.

 

[GECat2]

Braun has done an outstanding job seeing the way that this team walked into Camp Randall with the Badgers getting Mordecai, Allen and Dike back and just stonewalling them.

The results of the other games today give me pause for the next couple weeks. Purdue and Illinois suddenly seem VERY score happy so I don’t know how to feel about our chances to score enough in those games to keep up. Especially without Coco 😬

I am cautiously optimistic. Illinois beat a crappy Indiana team and gave up 40+ points in the win. Purdue played well against Minny. However, Minny's little secret is out. Their QB is horrific.

 

[WildScott54]

Our AD is a twit or he would already hired Braun. I have NI confidence that he will handle this correctly

 

[FanatiCat]

I feel MUCH better with Bryant back if it comes down to a shootout. But the way our defense is playing right now, I don't think it will come down to that.

Still concerned about not having Coco. He's a leader and a difference maker on D and ST. We also got very very little pressure on Mordecai, its just that he didn't really make us pay.

 

[hdhntr1]

Still concerned about not having Coco. He's a leader and a difference maker on D and ST. We also got very very little pressure on Mordecai, its just that he didn't really make us pay.

Is he out for any period of time?

 

[FanatiCat]

Is he out for any period of time?

He was holding his knee and they weren't letting him put his weight on it so I'm worried it is significant.

 

[No Chores]

He was holding his knee and they weren't letting him put his weight on it so I'm worried it is significant.

Yes, but when he got to the sideline he was walking under his own power, so I'm somewhat optimistic. Just afraid it might be another ACL.

 

[corbi296]

Yes, but when he got to the sideline he was walking under his own power, so I'm somewhat optimistic. Just afraid it might be another ACL.

I'd hate to see it but Safety is the one position we can absorb that type of loss. Turner is one of the better young defensive players we've had in a while and Joseph is a very competent back up .

 

[No Chores]

I'd hate to see it but Safety is the one position we can absorb that type of loss. Turner is one of the better young defensive players we've had in a while and Joseph is a very competent back up .

True, but I'm more concerned about Coco's future than I am about the last two games of the regular season. He's an NFL player if he's not limited by a bad injury.

 

[FanatiCat]

I'd hate to see it but Safety is the one position we can absorb that type of loss. Turner is one of the better young defensive players we've had in a while and Joseph is a very competent back up .

Joseph was a warrior today! Playing downhill and making critical open field tackles. Is he Coco’s backup?

It is a shame this happened to Coco on a special teams play.

 

[phatcat]

Yes, but when he got to the sideline he was walking under his own power, so I'm somewhat optimistic. Just afraid it might be another ACL.

He was right in front of us after he came out of the tent, and tried to backpedal but apparently too painful, but he was walking without a limp. I thought ankle because it looked really taped up, but idk

He's the best player on the team

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Joseph was a warrior today! Playing downhill and making critical open field tackles. Is he Coco’s backup?

It is a shame this happened to Coco on a special teams play.

A pouch kickoff to boot. You can get crushed on those.

 

[Vassar69]

Our AD is a twit or he would already hired Braun. I have NI confidence that he will handle this correctly

That seems silly. There’s no risk that Braun is hired away by someone else before January. With the Big Ten budgets, settling for Braun now before you’ve had a chance to kick the tires on other candidates is crazy.

If you could’ve gotten Matt Campbell or K State’s coach, why would you not try? Officially hiring Braun now would take you out of the running for anyone else, and for no benefit. Waiting to hire him until the end of the year has zero risk

 

[freewillie07]

That seems silly. There’s no risk that Braun is hired away by someone else before January. With the Big Ten budgets, settling for Braun now before you’ve had a chance to kick the tires on other candidates is crazy.

If you could’ve gotten Matt Campbell or K State’s coach, why would you not try? Officially hiring Braun now would take you out of the running for anyone else, and for no benefit. Waiting to hire him until the end of the year has zero risk

The risk is he will not be able to recruit effectively in the meantime. Nor will he be able to start thinking about building his staff before the end of the season. Both are crucial.

 

[UpsetAlert]

That seems silly. There’s no risk that Braun is hired away by someone else before January. With the Big Ten budgets, settling for Braun now before you’ve had a chance to kick the tires on other candidates is crazy.

If you could’ve gotten Matt Campbell or K State’s coach, why would you not try? Officially hiring Braun now would take you out of the running for anyone else, and for no benefit. Waiting to hire him until the end of the year has zero risk

Amateur take. Give him the job he earned and let him recruit. Team would be West champions if Bryant were healthy.

 

[FanatiCat]

That seems silly. There’s no risk that Braun is hired away by someone else before January. With the Big Ten budgets, settling for Braun now before you’ve had a chance to kick the tires on other candidates is crazy.

If you could’ve gotten Matt Campbell or K State’s coach, why would you not try? Officially hiring Braun now would take you out of the running for anyone else, and for no benefit. Waiting to hire him until the end of the year has zero risk

Risk is not zero. Guys will start entering the portal if NU drags its feet into January. And we will have even less of a high school recruiting class. Spring portal would be the only hope.

 

[zbag51]

Risk is not zero. Guys will start entering the portal if NU drags its feet into January. And we will have even less of a high school recruiting class. Spring portal would be the only hope.

Agreed. Current team loves him, as do fans, and I bet he recruits well if he’s the true head coach.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

 

[EvanstonCat]

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.

I’d love to get a player’s perspective on what has happened and how they compare Braun vs. Fitz. I mean the D resurgence is incredible but it may have been that JON was just that bad. But our O (with Bryant) does look better than at any time since at least Thorson.

 

[EvanstonCat]

The crazy thing is, who thinks we beat Nebraska and Iowa of Bryant hadn’t been injured? We’d be 7-3 with two to go to win the West.

 

[stpaulcat]

Braun has done an outstanding job seeing the way that this team walked into Camp Randall with the Badgers getting Mordecai, Allen and Dike back and just stonewalling them.

The results of the other games today give me pause for the next couple weeks. Purdue and Illinois suddenly seem VERY score happy so I don’t know how to feel about our chances to score enough in those games to keep up. Especially without Coco 😬

NU has a defense.

 

[stpaulcat]

The crazy thing is, who thinks we beat Nebraska and Iowa of Bryant hadn’t been injured? We’d be 7-3 with two to go to win the West.

Don't ya just love "maybe"?

 

[zeek55]

I’d love to get a player’s perspective on what has happened and how they compare Braun vs. Fitz. I mean the D resurgence is incredible but it may have been that JON was just that bad. But our O (with Bryant) does look better than at any time since at least Thorson.

I do think a lot of it was JON's D was just that bad and any regression back to the mean with a competent DC would have been a significant improvement.

That being said, I think it's become clear that Braun is also well above average as a DC; it's obviously early but the defense has consistently improved across the season and is far better than at any point in JON's tenure.

And yeah, the offense has worked when Bryant has been under center in a way that it just didn't the past 2 years. Bryant's decision making and ability to make plays has been notable. His connection with our receivers has just worked in a way that never clicked the past 2 years.

 

[rmndcat]

I do think a lot of it was JON's D was just that bad and any regression back to the mean with a competent DC would have been a significant improvement.

That being said, I think it's become clear that Braun is also well above average as a DC; it's obviously early but the defense has consistently improved across the season and is far better than at any point in JON's tenure.

And yeah, the offense has worked when Bryant has been under center in a way that it just didn't the past 2 years. Bryant's decision making and ability to make plays has been notable. His connection with our receivers has just worked in a way that never clicked the past 2 years.

Yes. I've been benchmarking not against Fitz, but against Hank, and this D unit has gotten progressively better, particularly on penalties. Progression over the season was a hallmark of Hank's best units.

 

[phatcat]

Risk is not zero. Guys will start entering the portal if NU drags its feet into January. And we will have even less of a high school recruiting class. Spring portal would be the only hope.

All it would take is an update from the search firm. "Who ya got?" And get on with it. It's like Gagg and Shill are waiting for Christmas morning to see what Santa brings

 

[techtim72]

The lawyers are strongly influencing the call on any action with Braun and the staff and perhaps on the future of Gragg and Shill. They have either been ignored or grievously wrong up until now so who knows?

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

The crazy thing is, who thinks we beat Nebraska and Iowa of Bryant hadn’t been injured? We’d be 7-3 with two to go to win the West.

Little doubt. This team reminds me of the Peyton Ramsay led squad that was leading OSU at the half of the B1G championship game not so long ago.

 

[Vassar69]

Amateur take. Give him the job he earned and let him recruit. Team would be West champions if Bryant were healthy.

“Give yourself a chance to at least try to hire a proven major conference coach instead of an FCS coordinator” isn’t an amateur take.

Having connections to build a staff, recruiting connections, etc. would all be easier for someone already established in the industry. It’s the reason they haven’t already officially hired him, and it’s a logical gamble. The reality is, he will be as available in the third week of December as he is right now. NW can kick the tires on some more seasoned candidates if they want to.

 

[UpsetAlert]

“Give yourself a chance to at least try to hire a proven major conference coach instead of an FCS coordinator” isn’t an amateur take.

Having connections to build a staff, recruiting connections, etc. would all be easier for someone already established in the industry. It’s the reason they haven’t already officially hired him, and it’s a logical gamble. The reality is, he will be as available in the third week of December as he is right now. NW can kick the tires on some more seasoned candidates if they want to.

Let the Big 10 Coach of the Year cook babyy

 

[Vassar69]

Let the Big 10 Coach of the Year cook babyy

Kirk Ferentz would like a word lol

 

[hdhntr1]

A pouch kickoff to boot. You can get crushed on those.

Kickoffs and punts are probably the most dangerous plays in FB.

 

[HailToPurple]

“Give yourself a chance to at least try to hire a proven major conference coach instead of an FCS coordinator” isn’t an amateur take.

Having connections to build a staff, recruiting connections, etc. would all be easier for someone already established in the industry. It’s the reason they haven’t already officially hired him, and it’s a logical gamble. The reality is, he will be as available in the third week of December as he is right now. NW can kick the tires on some more seasoned candidates if they want to.

Who are you? You are obviously not a Northwestern Alumnus or you know that it's NU and not NW.

So why are you here?

 

[CappyNU]

Who are you? You are obviously not a Northwestern Alumnus or you know that it's NU and not NW.

So why are you here?

I see you aren't familiar with our frisky Illini friend.

 

[HailToPurple]

I see you aren't familiar with our frisky Illini friend.

You are right. I've really paid little attention to him in the past and see no reason to pay much now.
It's just that the NW stuck out like a sore thumb and it was pretty clear that he is not a real CATS fan.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Who are you? You are obviously not a Northwestern Alumnus or you know that it's NU and not NW.

So why are you here?

He’s basically Forrest Gump. He pops up everywhere with a goofy look on his face.

 

[Jaguar 88]

Little doubt. This team reminds me of the Peyton Ramsay led squad that was leading OSU at the half of the B1G championship game not so long ago.

If Bryant was always the starter we could have finished 8-4, then Braun would have been given the HC job for sure. We need to go into both games full throttle. 7-5 would be almost just as amazing as 8-4. A bowl victory would be awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! If the offense keeps this up with Bryant, it begs the question, does Braun keep Bajakian? Did Fitz really hobble Bajakian to some extent? Alot? Who knows?

 

[stpaulcat]

If Bryant was always the starter we could have finished 8-4, then Braun would have been given the HC job for sure. We need to go into both games full throttle. 7-5 would be almost just as amazing as 8-4. A bowl victory would be awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! If the offense keeps this up with Bryant, it begs the question, does Braun keep Bajakian? Did Fitz really hobble Bajakian to some extent? Alot? Who knows?

It is beginning to appear that Fitz did hobble Bajakian. NU has had a couple of spectacular offensive quarters this year. I would trust Braun to make the call about Bajakian, assuming someone with some sense makes the call to anoint Braun as HC.

 

[NUCat320]

Who are you? You are obviously not a Northwestern Alumnus or you know that it's NU and not NW.

So why are you here?

Though outdated at this point, his screen name is a pretty strong troll. Much better to have Vasser here than combes. “You suck Johnny.”