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Northwestern football's David Braun talks Week 1 vs. Miami (Ohio)
David Braun's first season in Evanston was a success. Season two starts Saturday vs. Miami (Ohio). Braun talked about Northwestern's season opener vs. Miami (Ohio) on Monday.
EVANSTON, Ill. - David Braun starts his first full season at the helm of Northwestern football this Saturday.
There's a temporary field, plenty of offensive shoes to fill and defensive leadership that needs to stand up for a team that overachieved greatly in 2023.
It's a perfect time to welcome a MAC team that overachieved in 2023, too.
Miami (Ohio) won the MAC last year after being picked to finish behind Ohio, Toldeo and Eastern Michigan. That team comes to Northwestern this Saturday.
"We're going to be tested for sure in Week 1," Braun said. "As a coach, that's exactly what you want."
Northwestern cannot afford a non-conference mishap. Especially if the Wildcats want to position themselves for a bowl game.
NU plays Washington, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa this season, with three of those four games coming on the road. The lone home game is against Ohio State at Wrigley Field, which will most likely attract the heartiest Buckeye fans from Columbus. That's not an easy schedule, not to mention hosting Indiana and Wisconsin at home.
Getting off on the right foot is a necessity for NU. But it's not a given.
In the past eight seasons, Northwestern has lost two of its four games against FCS opponents, including Southern Illinois in 2022 and Illinois State in 2016. Miami is not an FCS team. In fact, NU lost to Miami 17-14 on Sep 24, 2022.
Braun made it clear this Redhawks team will be aiming for a similar result.
"Miami's a great team," Braun said. "Miami's not walking in here tiptoeing around and scared of playing a Big Ten opponent. They're coming in here with the full intent to come out here with a win."
The one thing Braun pointed out about Miami on Monday is how they're well-coached. This makes them a difficult task because they won't be making massive mistakes.
Miami, picked to repeat as MAC champs in 2024, will not have those issues.
"It's just something from a standpoint: they're going to be fundamentally sound, they're going to play with great technique, you're not going to get any freebies," Braun said. "Sometimes, you may have a false sense of confidence, pop a few plays on a young team or a team that may lack some gaps, soundness in terms of what they're doing and super aggressive and you catch them in a couple calls."
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 18: Northwestern Wildcats running back Cam Porter (4) runs down the field for a touchdown during the college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Northwestern Wildcats on November 18, 2023 at Ryan Field in Eva …
Braun noted the Redhawks play with two things that make them dangerous on offense: a veteran quarterback that plays at an extremely high level and a well-coached offensive line.
It would be moot to expect help from pre-snap penalties and self-inflicted wounds.
"You're not going to catch Miami on the defensive side of the ball without an understanding of exactly how they're supposed to fit in the way it's supposed to look," Braun said Monday. "Offensively, very well calculated, very well-thought-out, do a good job of getting to the line of scrimmage, taking a look at your defense, getting in some advantageous calls."
This means Northwestern has to put itself in a place to be successful.
Braun said he has an idea of who will start on NU's offensive line and at quarterback, but isn't sharing. He wants that competitive advantage of whether it'll be Jack Lausch or transfer Mike Wright.
Wright, who comes to Evanston after a season at Mississippi State, provides the most experience. But, Lausch might have won the battle outright. That decision will become clear when the first-string offense takes the field Saturday.
Instead, Braun said the team needs to lean on players who can provide leadership and big plays, like linebacker Xander Mueller and running back Cam Porter. They'll need to be on point as NU tries to avenge its loss to Miami in 2022, something that Braun has said the team will watch but not base their week's worth of preparation on.
"More than anything else, it's an understanding of not wanting to live too much in the past, but also learning from the past," Braun said. "We're going to respect our opponents, we're going to understand them, we better understand this is a darn good football team that's showing up with every intent of finding a way to win."
In order to win, Northwestern will have to play sound football. The players are in place. It's down to the coaching staff to ensure those players play as mistake-free as they possibly can.
"We're going to have to be at our best to perform at the level that we expect and come out with a win on Saturday," Braun said.