Football: Cervantes: Braun and Northwestern aren’t concerned with outside noise, oddsmakers ahead of Saturday’s game against Iowa

A group of Northwestern football players run out of the tunnel ahead of the team’s game against Maryland last October.

Alex Cervantes, Sports Editor

November 1, 2023

It’s fitting that in its final year, the Big Ten West is giving us quite the denouement. Four of its teams, including Iowa, are tied at the top with a 3-2 record in Big Ten play, with Northwestern just a game back of the quartet.

The Wildcats’ and Hawkeyes’ offenses both rank in the bottom half of the conference in scoring average — 21.8 and 19.5 points per game, respectively. Both teams’ offensive coordinators, Mike Bajakian for NU and Brian Ferentz for Iowa, have been subject to online vitriol concerning their respective scoring outputs — with the latter reportedly set to get the boot from Iowa City after this season.

Saturday’s contest between the ‘Cats and Hawkeyes at The Friendly Confines is slated to be anything but friendly on the eyes — at least according to oddsmakers. The line for Wrigley Field’s weekend matchup opened with an over-under of 29.5 points at Circa Points on Sunday, the lowest such line in modern history.

After NU knocked off a second conference opponent as multi-touchdown underdogs — first Minnesota, then Maryland last Saturday — interim head coach David Braun declared that the ’Cats don’t concern themselves with the odds.

“Those oddsmakers aren’t sitting in our building, they’re not in our position rooms,” Braun said. “They don’t know the heart that exists in that room; they don’t know the purpose that drives these guys. So we’ll let guys make their odds, and we’ll go back to work.”

Braun doubled down on his assessment of the Sin City handicappers at his weekly Monday press conference, following the release of the over-under line.

“I know it sounds super cliche — I wasn’t aware of that,” Braun said. “We don’t pay attention to that. I think this group has all the extra motivation that it needs. We’re going to keep focusing on the people in this building.”

Coming off a 33-point victory against the Terrapins in which junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan threw for a career-high 265 passing yards and added a team-high 56 rushing yards, NU’s offense might feel slighted by the sportsbooks’ estimation.

Following Saturday’s win, Sullivan said the offense was finally able to translate its performances at practices to gametime, resulting in a 24-point first half. Sullivan and the ‘Cats will look to build off their recent outing while facing one of the country’s top defensive units this weekend.

“We’ll all be challenged this week in so many different ways,” Braun said. “This Iowa defense is a model of consistency.”

Iowa has surrendered a mere average of 14.5 points per game — a mark which ranks fourth in the conference and sixth nationally.

Braun turned the focus back to Sullivan in his Monday presser, saying that the Davison, Michigan, native is going to be held accountable to “his process” — whether in his progressions, decision-making or protecting the football.

“I think all of us, at times, can get caught up in the statline,” Braun said. “You don’t find wins and losses in the statline. If his statline comes back next Saturday at varying numbers and much lower totals in terms of passing yards, but we find a way to win, that’s good quarterback play.”

As for the additional attention surrounding NU’s bowl eligibility and the over-under line ahead of Saturday’s game, Braun offered a simple message for his team.

“Tune it all out, guys,” Braun said. “It’s interference … I have a tremendous amount of belief in the maturity and the leadership in this football team, with a lot of reminders that this team will be able to do that — because we’re going to have to. This football team is too well-coached, too talented; finds ways to win football games.”

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Twitter: @CervantesPAlex