As Northwestern students head home for Thanksgiving, coach David Braun’s squad is preparing to take on rival Illinois in the battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy.
The Wildcats (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) are shifting focus from the win over Minnesota to clinch bowl eligibility to bringing The Hat back to Evanston after losing it last year to the Illini (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten).
“Like I told the team postgame Saturday, we’re treating this as postseason play,” Braun said in his weekly press conference Monday. “I know it’s the regular season, but ultimately, we’re playing for a trophy and in an in-state battle. The sense of urgency and the need for execution is going to be at an all-time high.”
Here are four storylines from Braun’s final weekly press conference ahead of Saturday’s regular season finale:
Offensive persistence key against Minnesota
The ’Cats were locked in a battle with Minnesota throughout Saturday afternoon, and victory was never assured. However, Braun believes the final drive showed what his team is truly capable of.
“It’s a credit to (offensive coordinator Zach) Lujan, credit to the communication going on,” he said.
With just over three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, redshirt freshman guard Ezomo Oratokhai was flagged for illegal hands to the face, setting NU back 15 yards.
Needing to cut down the distance for a potential graduate student kicker Jack Olsen field goal, graduate student quarterback Preston Stone completed two consecutive passes, the first to sophomore wide receiver Hayden Eligon II and the second to graduate student tight end Hunter Welcing.
The ’Cats gained a first down, earned an easy field goal and ran down the clock. Those extra seconds wasted proved to be vital on Minnesota’s final drive, as the Golden Gophers nearly ran out of time before missing the game-tying field goal.
Braun believes that persistence is something the team has improved throughout the season.
“The balance of positioning ourselves for a really advantageous field goal and managing the clock is a reflection of the overall growth not only with our players, but for the program,” Braun said.
Leadership proves ever important at season’s end
NU is on its fifth starting quarterback of Braun’s tenure, and each has proven to be their own kind of leader. Braun’s newest weapon under center especially showed up off the turf on Saturday by supporting redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Boe.
Boe saw action at the quarterback position five times against the Golden Gophers, despite Stone’s strong performance that earned him Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Each time Stone was sidelined for his backup, he was supportive.
“It takes a lot of maturity on Preston’s end to handle that, and that’s where I give Preston a lot of credit,” Braun said. “He was the one that was fired up for Ryan to go in and have that opportunity.”
Stone wasn’t the only offensive leader. Braun also mentioned Eligon and graduate offensive lineman Caleb Tiernan as key cogs in the NU offensive machine.
One moment that Braun appreciated from Eligon took place after a false start penalty on Saturday. Following the play, instead of letting his nerves get the better of him, Eligon focused on the team by telling his teammates to calm down and move onto the next play.
Tiernan has been a leader all season, and Braun has noticed him step up throughout the year.
“The active leadership that’s going on, not only on gameday but in practice and in meetings with (Tiernan) right now,” Braun said. “It would not shock me if Caleb Tiernan was a captain in the NFL someday.”
Wide receiver growth starts to shine through
The offense is coming off of its highest-scoring Big Ten performance of the season, and Braun gave credit to everyone, but especially his receivers. Entering the season, the group was largely unproven. Wilde was the only receiver with known production, but he had yet to see time in the system.
With just one game remaining in the regular season, the strides made by the crew are some of the most notable on the team for Braun.
“It’s been really exciting to see the growth in that wide receiver room,” he said. “It’s easy to talk about (junior Griffin Wilde), but to see the emergence of (Eligon), and I know (sophomore Drew Wagner) is banged up, but his emergence. (Redshirt sophomore) Ricky Ahumaraeze has an incredible catch against Minnesota.”
Wilde and Eligon combined for 238 yards, over 70% of the team’s total, and a touchdown. Wilde set a career high in receptions, and Eligon set career highs in receptions, yards and a career-long 38-yard reception.
This year was always going to be a year where the ’Cats relied on a new crop of receivers following the departures of every player who hit triple digit receiving yards last year sans the out-for-the-season Cam Porter. The emergence of Eligon and Wilde has helped mitigate those losses.
Mixed bag of injury updates
Braun delivered some good news and some bad news in the injury department.
Wagner, who missed Saturday’s game against Minnesota, is out for the upcoming trip to Champaign, while redshirt junior defensive lineman Anto Saka will be back.
The availability of graduate student defensive lineman Aidan Hubbard will be decided later in the week, while redshirt sophomore defensive back Damon Walters has “not been progressing at the rate we anticipated,” according to Braun.
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