Per our man at the press conference.
Lausch is your EIU starter
- Thread starter NUCat320
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Wow. I hope he grabs it and we don't do that back and forth stuff like 19, 21 22. Good game to get his feet under him
The story...
northwestern.rivals.com
WildcatReport - Jack Lausch to start at quarterback vs. Eastern Illinois
Jack Lausch will replace Mike Wright as Northwestern's starting QB against EIU on Saturday.
northwestern.rivals.com
Whoa. And the fast announcement. This is a very different era.
Have to think that when they went back and watched the tape and saw the like 4 horrible throws, including a couple lazy attempts to throw the ball away that nearly resulted in interceptions, they just had to pull the plug.
I have no idea if this is the right move or not, but I appreciate very much that 1. Our coaches just made a significant change very decisively and 2. We found out about it. Actually I wouldn't at all mind NOT finding out about this one in advance, but I still appreciate it.
Have to think that when they went back and watched the tape and saw the like 4 horrible throws, including a couple lazy attempts to throw the ball away that nearly resulted in interceptions, they just had to pull the plug.
I have no idea if this is the right move or not, but I appreciate very much that 1. Our coaches just made a significant change very decisively and 2. We found out about it. Actually I wouldn't at all mind NOT finding out about this one in advance, but I still appreciate it.
That didn't take long. Was really hoping Wright would be the guy but with the turnovers and near turnovers he could have at least 3 or 4 more picks against Duke it was time for a change.
Well Mr. Lausch your table is set. Good luck and go get 'em.
Also getting a start on next year. Would be great if Lausch can take the reins and answer any questions about the QB position in the affirmative. He's green so he will struggle like most inexperienced players but with Wright having a tough time this is a good decision not just for this year but for next year as well.
Well Mr. Lausch your table is set. Good luck and go get 'em.
Also getting a start on next year. Would be great if Lausch can take the reins and answer any questions about the QB position in the affirmative. He's green so he will struggle like most inexperienced players but with Wright having a tough time this is a good decision not just for this year but for next year as well.
It's unclear whether this change is permanent. If nothing else, it is certainly a bit of tough love for Wright and a great opportunity for Lausch to get game experience. Given that Wright is a one-and-done transfer for the 'Cats, this may be a forward looking investment. Based on what I saw on Friday, Wright never seemed fully-committed to his choices. When he passed, it was without commitment and when he ran, he also seemed tentative. He seemed very hesitant.
It's going to be unfair to compare Lausch's performance vs. EIU to Wright's against MOH and Duke.
But we all saw what we saw from Wright, and apparently it was just as alarming to the coaches.
But we all saw what we saw from Wright, and apparently it was just as alarming to the coaches.
Should clarify the Sully decision and we may even see Lausch try and complete a forward pass.. I'm excited to see what we've got!
I hope Lausch proves me wrong and shows that he is the best option at QB. I'll be cheering for him.
I think everybody knows by now that I'm a Sully cheerleader, but I'll certainly give Lausch a fair shake. He's also just a sophomore so I'll certainly take experience into account and allow for growth on the job. He may have the most upside even if he's not there yet.
Anyway, congrats, Lausch! I'm excited to see you take the reigns.
I'm glad everyone who has posted on this thread so far thinks this is a bold and appropriate move by the coaching staff.
But... I can't reconcile it. We bring a grad transfer QB in and bench him after two starts in favor of a guy who really hasn't had meaningful snaps and is pretty suspect as a passer...
Maybe it all works out great, but maybe it is panic.
I'd rather have seen Wright start against Eastern Illinois, bring Lausch in at some point and decide from there.
At least there'd be some basis for comparison.
But... I can't reconcile it. We bring a grad transfer QB in and bench him after two starts in favor of a guy who really hasn't had meaningful snaps and is pretty suspect as a passer...
Maybe it all works out great, but maybe it is panic.
I'd rather have seen Wright start against Eastern Illinois, bring Lausch in at some point and decide from there.
At least there'd be some basis for comparison.
They may well start Lausch to give some jolt to the offense. But, I think Wright plays plenty. That’s my hope unless Lausch plays lights out.
I don't think the story is as linear as "we bring in a grad transfer QB..." - let's agree it was a rushed courtship based on hope and a splash of desperation as much as anything. Two games in and we're it feels a little icky...judgment call here by the coaches, let's hope they're making the right one - I admit as a bystander the "right" choice just isn't crystal clear.
What we saw on the field vs. Duke didn't give me a ton of optimism but Manny is a very experienced FBS coach who had a ton of transfers come in, and we got to 2OT with them. This is just me acknowledging I have no idea how this season will turn out, but I don't think it's doomed (yet).
New quarterback + new OC + new O-line coach = Tylenol (more often than not)
Just my uninformed guess, but I think Wright had enough issues on Saturday that the coaches decided to take another look at Lausch. They want to know what they have (in both quarterbacks) before the conference games begin.
Since Lausch doesn’t have much experience, this is the perfect situation to give him some reps. If he crashes badly, we can always switch back to Wright and be confident in the decision. If Lausch does well, then the coaches have will have an interesting decision for the following game.
Just my uninformed guess, but I think Wright had enough issues on Saturday that the coaches decided to take another look at Lausch. They want to know what they have (in both quarterbacks) before the conference games begin.
Since Lausch doesn’t have much experience, this is the perfect situation to give him some reps. If he crashes badly, we can always switch back to Wright and be confident in the decision. If Lausch does well, then the coaches have will have an interesting decision for the following game.
Ok, maybe we were scrambling when we landed on Wright, but to name him the starter and then dump him after two games suggests either wishful thinking at the outset or something like a "What just happened" reaction to the Duke game.
Wright looked okay against Miami. To me he is essentially a "run around and see if somebody can get open - if not, take off" type of college QB.
We knew that when we brought him in.
Duke also knew that and took Wright's running away by having a fast safety chase him (and tackle him, repeatedly).
We didn't do much to counter that tactic.
And, playing at night, in windy conditions, I'm guessing Wright just had a very bad game.
Now, if Wright audibled to a QB run on 3rd down in double OT, then, sure, bench him.
After the Duke game, I was fully expecting to see Lausch in the 2nd half against EIU, perhaps to start the 2nd half against EIU. It just made sense to get him some reps against EIU presuming we were up big with little pressure on him to do anything.
I'm stunned to see them roll him out to start the game. Sounds like Braun/Lujan felt the competition was close enough and that Lausch might be able to provide a better immediate look for the offense.
Either way this is the perfect game for a decision like this. Will be interesting to see what happens.
This is a good way of putting him in a bit of a real game situation as opposed to some late minutes in a blowout. If it doesn't work in the first half, they can always send Wright out in the 2nd half.
I'm stunned to see them roll him out to start the game. Sounds like Braun/Lujan felt the competition was close enough and that Lausch might be able to provide a better immediate look for the offense.
Either way this is the perfect game for a decision like this. Will be interesting to see what happens.
This is a good way of putting him in a bit of a real game situation as opposed to some late minutes in a blowout. If it doesn't work in the first half, they can always send Wright out in the 2nd half.
True, we wouldn't be seeing Lausch starting if Wright had had a stellar Duke game. But I don't think it's panic. It is a good chance to see Lausch in a starter role, with a week of first team practice snaps. This is the game to gather good information. My bet is that Wright sees first team time as well. We can see how the offense moves under both of them. We know they were close in camp. This could tell us a lot one way or another. Or that it is pretty even.
Better to do this now, than two weeks hence in Washington. That would look like panic.
This tells me that the race was pretty close in camp, and that Braun/Wright believe that NU would have beaten Duke with Lausch as the starter.
I’m surprised at the move because it does set you up for a minor controversy after every loss or substandard performance. You would think (hope) that either starter would be in store for a huge game against EIU, and a road game at Washington will inevitably be tough.
Of course, I hope Lausch comes out this weekend looking like star, continues down that path, and that we never see Wright on the field again.
I’m surprised at the move because it does set you up for a minor controversy after every loss or substandard performance. You would think (hope) that either starter would be in store for a huge game against EIU, and a road game at Washington will inevitably be tough.
Of course, I hope Lausch comes out this weekend looking like star, continues down that path, and that we never see Wright on the field again.
Feels odd to me too. I don’t think you can just go back to Wright as if nothing happened if Jack struggles and expect better results. Wright doesn’t strike me as a kid exuding confidence to start with. Feels like we are all in with Jack whether we like it or not,
I am sorry about the length of this but I threw in a lot of thoughts.
I have to say I was shocked by this decisions. I never expected the coaches would make such a bold move. But it shows a big difference between how Braun coaches and how Fitz coaches. I wrote in a group text of NU fans right after the game, “It will be difficult scoring points if the offense doesn't start to execute better. I know it's difficult with a new system, but the offense needs to get better by Indiana if we want to go bowling.”. I am surprised that the coaches not only agreed but made a bold move. They watched the film and saw the missed opportunities. I like Wright but he was not executing the offense.
Part of this decision is that we are playing Eastern Illinois which allows the coaches to see Lausch perform without throwing him into the Big Ten fire. It should either give the young kid a boost of confidence, so either he will perform like a true starter or show that it is not his time yet. The latter decision would basically say we made a bad decision after spring ball to demote Sullivan.
Maybe we will see a game like Kafka had as a junior again Minnesota where his passing game was not yet ready but his feet made up the difference. I am not saying that Jack is Kafka, but that Minny game gave Kafka the confidence he needed to have a great senior year. I expect the coaches will evaluate the performance against Eastern and make a decision on who will start at Washington. I had expected they would start Wright and let Lausch come in on our third possession and evaluate on the fly,, but this move is bolder and allows the coaches to give Jack the week to prepare as a starter. We will all get a chance to see if the Sullivan move was the correct decision.
For Lausch to hold on to his starting role, I think we will need a double digit lead by halftime. If we are losing or ahead by less than a TD, I would not be surprised to see Hillinski start the second half before we see Wright again. Let’s hope Lausch is the right choice.
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Yeah, I think after the past near 2 decades, we're all so used to Fitz's management style that this is a huge wake up call that Braun is not Fitz #2.
He's his own coach and this is a part of his style.
Shows just how blunt he is; he clearly wasn't happy with how the Duke game went. I assume he decided to just make the change and throw Lausch in because he felt that this is the shakeup the offense needs.
We'll see how it goes, but this is really the first time we've seen a call like this in recent memory; agree with you that I'm shocked as well.
I don't know that Braun has a certain way for the game to go in mind before it happens, but clearly he wants to see Lausch make better decisions.
It's more going to be about turnovers and making the right decisions. I feel like Wright was just pressing a lot and trying to make plays too often instead of just living to fight another day; around 4 or 5 throws went straight to Duke players which probably forced Braun's hand here.
This is very worrying for the season. The alternate move is to insert Lausch on the second or third series vs. EIU or give him the second quarter. If he plays marginally well you keep him in and he “earns” the next start. If not, Wright maintains his status. Doing it this way concedes that starting Wright was a mistake and any NIL commitments made were, too. Pretty hard to go back — oops, we were wrong again, we’re going back to the first guy. It is a bad look for Braun and creates instabilty and lack of confidence.
You were doing well until you mentioned Hilinski. No way he sees the field unless it’s an emergency situation.
I did not say the coaches will go to Hillinski but I just would not be surprised.
Sunk costs are sunk. NIL commitments don’t matter.
Braun recognizing he was wrong and correcting it is a sign of strength and leadership. Hopefully he’s right that he was wrong 😁
The move is being made because, given in-game evidence, he feels Lausch is the better pick. This move is being made because there is no intent to come back to Wright.
(And maybe we will see Wright start in two or three or four or five weeks. And maybe the season will be a disaster as a result. But this is the game you play when you go a decade without recruiting a quarterback. Better Lausch/Wright than Marty/Freeman, we can hope.)
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I'm not worried; this is just a different type of management style by Braun than Fitz.
Very tough to read anything more than that into this move. Fitz wouldn't have made a change this abruptly, but like I said that's just a different management style.
Hard to read anything else into it. Fitz would've done this during a game instead of announcing it before.
I would be shocked if Hilinski had any meaningful snaps (not due to injuries) in 2024.
WTH happened to Hilinski? It's too bad we cannot rely somewhat on an experienced QB.
I get the move, although Lausch may not be any better. Look at the rest of the O.
Line - better than expected. Porter - better than expected. Two WR HM All B1G performers. Solid tight ends. The QB underperformed in his first big test, and as a 5th year guy, we probably won't see much improvement. I, personally, have not witnessed a completed pass by Lausch, and only one good run against UTEP. But - I trust the coaches
Line - better than expected. Porter - better than expected. Two WR HM All B1G performers. Solid tight ends. The QB underperformed in his first big test, and as a 5th year guy, we probably won't see much improvement. I, personally, have not witnessed a completed pass by Lausch, and only one good run against UTEP. But - I trust the coaches
For a minute I thought you were talking about Wright. 😬
I agree with @PurpleWhiteBoy 's general assessment of him as a "run around and see if somebody can get open - if not, take off" type of college QB. I think the issue is that he has enough experience that I/we/they thought he'd be better at it by this point in his career. At this point...his instincts are his instincts...and I think after Saturday against Duke...Braun & Lujan may have their doubts that he is their one-season wonder.
Wright has never held a firm starting job. It was our hope that he’d earn it this year, and he didn’t. I’m sure he’s disappointed, but also it’s happened throughout his career.
This is a different caliber of transfer than Bryant or Ramsey, who were seasoned starters.
Hilinski had played some, and HuJo not at all.
I respect the pivot. I think it’s gutsy. But also we’re not used to something that is made so quickly, and so publicly. It’s neat that we have a week to discuss!
GO JACK GO CATS GO
Are you possibly overlooking the scenario where the Cats blow Eastern Illinois out?
At some point you have to go to the third string QB!
Having read some interesting, insightful comments above, I'm leaning toward this...
Lujan and Braun feel that the offense is actually fairly capable.
They feel that Wright was undermining the offense with too much freelancing and inability to see open receivers. Too much indecision and too many bad decisions. So they'e going to Lausch to see if he is better at "executing the plays we called." Grain of salt here - most coaches tend to blame execution - not the playcalling.
There are many ways the coaches could have this wrong, if thats really the thought process, but if they're right, that would be great - and a credit to both Braun and Lujan.
I do think it conveys "Wright is hopeless" (which is not ideal). But the coaches see him in practice and the Duke game probably isn't the only evidence they're using. I still want to believe he had one really bad game. Hopefully Lausch seizes the job.
Lujan and Braun feel that the offense is actually fairly capable.
They feel that Wright was undermining the offense with too much freelancing and inability to see open receivers. Too much indecision and too many bad decisions. So they'e going to Lausch to see if he is better at "executing the plays we called." Grain of salt here - most coaches tend to blame execution - not the playcalling.
There are many ways the coaches could have this wrong, if thats really the thought process, but if they're right, that would be great - and a credit to both Braun and Lujan.
I do think it conveys "Wright is hopeless" (which is not ideal). But the coaches see him in practice and the Duke game probably isn't the only evidence they're using. I still want to believe he had one really bad game. Hopefully Lausch seizes the job.
Does Wright have to be hopeless tho? Why can't this be more of a case of expecting EIU to be a softer target to give Lausch a go against? If he folds against the expected lesser competition, he might not even finish out the game. If he does well enough, coach may look into using both guys in games going forward. It wouldn't be the first time we've seen the Cats go that route, and there has been success.
The message to Wright is that the job isn't his as a given. He needs to perform better to play, and he fell well below expectations last time. I don't know how that message was delivered to him personally or how he took it, but I can be hopeful the coaching staff handled it in a positive, forward looking way that will motivate him.
The message to Wright is that the job isn't his as a given. He needs to perform better to play, and he fell well below expectations last time. I don't know how that message was delivered to him personally or how he took it, but I can be hopeful the coaching staff handled it in a positive, forward looking way that will motivate him.
It could also be that there was not separation between Lausch and Wright in practice but the coaches gave the starting nod to Wright because he had game experience. However, after two games they realize that Wright’s decision making was preventing us from sustaining drives. Part of that evaluation would be the coaches noticing in the film that if Wright would have executed the play as it was designed, the game would have been much different. It also means the coaches must have seen that Wright had the opportunities but failed to execute. From what I saw, it was obvious that execution was our problem. With that said, I definitely agree with others that Lujan made the wrong call by thinking the defense was expecting a Porter run to the left and so he called a QB run to the right with disastrous consequences. It did not look like Wright had an option so that is squarely on Lujan. That still doesn’t excuse the poor execution before OT that could have easily won the game for us. I hope the coaches made the right decision.
That first quote is the issue.... "see if somebody can get open". When the quarterback runs around and doesn't throw it to anyone, we assume that no one is open. Watching on tv, you have no real way of knowing because you can't see the routes being run. Maybe in the stadium, you can tell if you're paying attention. Sometimes no one getting open is all about the QB and not the receivers. Sometimes a QB switch is made and suddenly guys are getting open. Think about the difference last year when Bryant was hurt and then came back. Suddenly, we were completing more passes down the field. The issue is that you need a smart, talented QB who knows where the WRs are going to be on the field and throw to that spot without having to see the receivers breaking wide open. The good ones anticipate where the openings are going to be and throw the ball. NU quarterbacks, outside of Bryant, have generally been bad about this including our last decent QB Clayton Thorsen. He could have been so much better if he had developed this skill.
I'm guessing Wright really struggles with this and that's why it seems like no one is open when he's back there. Now, I have no idea if Lausch is any better. He didn't win the job outright, so I'm not expecting miracles.
