No Moral Victory: Northwestern Knows There’s More to Clean Up

By: Charlie Spungin, NUSports.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Northwestern had no quit in its road opener against No. 5 Indiana. Facing setback after setback, the Wildcats continuously responded before ultimately falling to the Hoosiers, 29-23, on the road on Friday night. Though Northwestern came close, the team isn’t pleased just hanging with the defending national champions. They want to win these types of games.

After entering the halftime locker room with a 12-0 deficit — a half in which Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun said “could not have gone worse” — Northwestern came out in the second half and outscored the Hoosiers 23-17.

“What an incredible reflection of this team’s maturity, composure, resiliency in terms of the way that they responded in the second half through ups and downs,” Braun said. 

The Wildcats scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, the most that a team has put up in a single quarter against Indiana the Curt Cignetti era, as fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles threw for more yards than any opposing QB has posted against Indiana in the Cignetti era. For the first time since 1997, Northwestern came within one touchdown of defeating an AP Top 5 team. 

But to Braun, the Wildcats beat themselves on both sides of the ball with unforced penalties, missed tackles and poor communication. There’s no satisfaction in the close loss.

“This is a game we should have won,” Braun said. “What an incredible opportunity for us to go back to work.”

In the comeback effort, Chiles finished the contest by completing 75.9% of his passes (22-of-29) for 293 passing yards and three touchdowns — two through the air and one on the ground. Chiles became the first Northwestern quarterback to post these figures in a game against a ranked opponent since Brett Basanez in 2005.

Chiles said that the second-half turnaround, in which he totaled 237 yards through the air by completing 17-of-21 passes, came from taking a deep breath.

“I had to calm down,” Chiles said. “I was too excited. I knew this game was winnable, and it’s a great opportunity coming in against the defending national champion and coming out and showing we can beat them. The score being 12-0 at half, we know we can do this. We can score two more touchdowns, defense to get stops. We’re good. We came out, we relaxed a little bit."

Even entering the contest, Northwestern faced setbacks. Key contributors third-year offensive lineman Ezomo Oratokhai, fifth-year defensive back Braden Turner, both of whom were All-Big Ten Honorable Mentions last season, and third-year wide receiver Hayden Eligon were ruled out. In addition, fourth-year defensive back Josh Fussell went down with an injury on the first play from scrimmage.

Through it all, other Wildcats stepped up. Third-year tight end Luke Dehnicke hauled in seven receptions for 140 receiving yards, the most receiving yards by a Northwestern tight end in a Big Ten game since at least 1995. Seventh-year defensive back Brenden Deasfernandes and fifth-year defensive back Montae Pate stepped into key roles in the secondary.

“If somebody’s hot, somebody’s hot,” Chiles said of Dehnicke’s performance. “He was open, and I also gave him a chance down the field late. I feel like he’s a great addition to the offense, and he’s going to make a lot of plays in the future. He’s just going to keep getting better from here on.”

In his tenure leading the Wildcats, Braun has made it clear that moral victories are something that he will not accept. In addition, he has preached the program’s goal of winning a Big Ten Championship.

“If we had walked off this field victorious, the message would have been, ‘Not all is won,’ Braun said. “Just because we won one football game and one Big Ten game on the road against Indiana doesn’t mean that this is going to be a magical season. It’s one win. This is also one loss. Not all is lost.”

For fifth-year linebacker Braydon Brus, Friday night’s contest served as a microcosm of the ever-evolving growth and relentlessness that the Wildcats play with.

Brus, who recorded five tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack, lauded Braun for the culture he has built in Evanston.

“Early in my career, I’ve been on some teams where a little adversity in a game would crush us, and I think you saw today that we were willing to go in there and fight,” Brus said. “It was self-inflicted adversity, but I think that just goes to show Coach Braun’s leadership and the belief that he has instilled in us, in our team.”

After taking the Hoosiers to the brink, Northwestern put the college football world on notice. With a new era on the horizon, Braun said he anticipates the Wildcats proving themselves right for the lofty expectations they placed on themselves.

“There’s this acknowledgement that if you don’t believe we can’t play with anyone in the country — not just play with, but beat anyone in the country — you’re not looking at the same game,” Braun said. “What an incredible opportunity for us to acknowledge that and know it’s on us to get things cleaned up and put ourselves in a position to consistently execute and win on the road in these environments.”