Northwestern coach David Braun talks Michigan tunnel, two-QB system, and turnover battle

Trent Knoop | Nov 19, 2024

Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Following a bye week, Michigan will host Northwestern in what will be the last home game of the year for the Wolverines. The Wildcats are coming off of a loss to Ohio State last weekend, but they looked very competitive early against the Buckeyes. The maize and blue will need to win one of the next two games in order to become bowl eligible for the 2024 season.

Michigan has dominated the series against Northwestern. The Wolverines are 55-13-2 all-time against the 'Cats. Michigan is 9-1 in the last 10 games Northwestern. The last time the 'Cats took down the Wolverines was back in 2008 when Northwestern won 21-14.

Prior to the game on Saturday, here's what David Braun had to say about Michigan.

Opening statement

Incredible opportunity in front of us in Ann Arbor against a very good Michigan team, very talented, a team that is certainly line of scrimmage based. Gonna look to establish a run game, stay committed to a run game, very talented up front. Defensive coordinator with a ton of NFL experience, very multiple, very well thought out, very much pressure oriented. Saw a lot of looks from Ohio State, pressured much more than they had shown in the past leading into our game, would anticipate a heavy dose of pressure from Michigan's defense this week, but it's an exciting challenge for this football team, a football team that we feel is improving in some areas. Certainly have a lot of work to do, we have two more guaranteed opportunities, and excited to go on the road and put ourselves in a position to win a football game and work towards bowl eligibility.

On Michigan being more run oriented and not a ton of volume through the air

Yeah, I mean, if Tim McGargle was sitting up here with me, I mean, he would tell you priority number one for us defensively in the Big Ten is to stop the run. And that will certainly get tested this week against Michigan. Again, you always have to evaluate what you're potentially giving up or exposing yourself to in that commitment to stop in the run game. Michigan, very talented tight end that can create some matchup issues. Again, you go back and look at some of the Minnesota game and some of the plays that Michigan was able to hit in the passing game. It's against some loaded boxes, so you just have to continue to make sure that you have balance in your structure of your plan. But what I can say with absolute conviction, if we don't effectively stop the run against Michigan, it's not gonna be the outcome we're looking for.

What the George Jewett Trophy means

It's a huge deal. First and foremost, a shout out to Liam Kennedy, who actually kind of spurred this concept and trophy on. I think it represents so much of what makes college football so special. In terms of, you can bring together a group of young men from different walks of life, different backgrounds, different races, ethnicities, and all working towards a common goal. And for us to have an opportunity to go into Michigan, to go into Ann Arbor, to win a game for this football team. But also to bring that trophy to Edmondston for the first time would be something that would be an incredible feat to celebrate.

Getting his team ready to play in the Big House

But the big house is gonna have an impact on our ability to operate offensively on special teams. The way that we prepare, no different than the way that we prepare for all our road games. But we gotta understand that that crowd noise will play a factor. And that'll certainly be a part of our plan all week long, in terms of pumping that crowd noise into our practices. And then our guys just gotta do a great job of really eliminating interference. Whether it's the tunnel situation at Michigan, whether it be the crowd noise, whatever that looks like. I'm confident that our group will handle that the right way and focus on what really matters. And that's the 60 minutes of football we gotta go play.

Preparing for both Davis Warren and Alex Orji

At the end of the day, you go back and look at the Minnesota game. I mean, both quarterbacks are certainly capable of throwing the football. It's just understanding tendency and how they're utilizing each. But we're gonna have to do a good job of making sure that we have a balanced plan that can certainly account for drop back pass, some of the access throws that they like to throw to the field, and then being sound against quarterback running.

Importance of winning the turnover battle

It's gonna be huge. It's gonna be huge. I mean, if you look at these two teams, as Northwestern and Michigan matches up, it's most likely gonna be a limited possession football game, so every possession is so critical. Back to your previous question, fourth down stops will be critical. We gotta do a better job of creating takeaways as a football team right now. And then any turnover offensively or on special teams just can't happen. And there's some things in terms of our process and what we're actually putting on film that we can address in terms of our ball security, which I'm excited to get fixed this week.

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