Despite loss, NU finds ‘relief’ after hazing fallout
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Northwestern interim coach David Braun on Sunday had the usual disappointment, frustration and self-critiquing that stems from a largely noncompetitive loss to open a season.
But Braun felt something else after a turbulent summer that forever changed the program, the university and his own life: a sense of relief.
Northwestern fell 24-7 to Rutgers at SHI Stadium, avoiding its first shutout since 2019 by scoring a touchdown with 19 seconds to play. It was the Wildcats’ 12th loss in a row.
It also was the program’s first game without longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired July 10 amid hazing allegations.
The result vs. Rutgers was unacceptable, Braun said, but the competition brought familiarity for a team that has had few normal days since Fitzgerald’s firing.
“This the lightest I’ve been since I took over, just from a standpoint where we’re playing football,” said Braun, who was promoted from defensive coordinator July 13. “It’s an opportunity to look around, look at these guys. They’ve been working so hard to get to this point. Are there plenty of things that I need to work on that are very apparent that I’m taking notes on as the game goes? Absolutely. I need to be so much better in this role and look forward to being much better.
“But in terms of the heaviness of it, if anything, it was a relief to get to game day.”
Braun made it clear that Northwestern came to Rutgers to win and “fell well short” of its goal. He also remained confident that the team would respond, despite no wins on U.S. soil since Oct. 16, 2021, and the coaching change in July.
Other than Fitzgerald, no coaches or players have faced discipline from the hazing allegations, and athletic director Derrick Gragg told ESPN he didn’t anticipate further personnel changes unless new information surfaces.
Northwestern lost only a few players to the transfer portal in the month after Fitzgerald’s firing. Fitzgerald’s son, Jack, a freshman tight end, has remained with the team as a student assistant and attended Sunday’s game.
“This group’s resilience … a loss, we’re not going to accept the result,” Braun said. “We’re frustrated and totally not OK with the result. But the way that our guys will be moving forward, I have no doubt about that.”
Northwestern allowed 16-play touchdown drives on Rutgers’ first two possessions, with the Scarlet Knights possessing the ball for 21:44 en route to a 17-0 halftime lead. The opening half for Northwestern featured a successfully executed pass on a fake punt that came up short of the first-down marker, and a late interception thrown by quarterback Ben Bryant, who didn’t appear ready for the snap before rushing his pass.
The Wildcats prevented big plays on defense but struggled to get off the field, as Rutgers converted 8 of 18 third-down chances and all three of its fourth-down opportunities.
“At the end of the day, it all comes back to me,” Braun said. “I’m excited to look at the film and see where I can be better. We’ve got enough talent on this team. People are going to tell us otherwise, but we’ve got enough talent on this team to go win football games. There’s going to be no excuses or explanations.”
Backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan‘s 1-yard pass to running back Caleb Komolafe prevented the shutout, but Northwestern finished with only 201 yards, committed three turnovers and needed the final drive to achieve a positive net rushing total (12 yards). Northwestern’s offense also struggled in 2022, finishing 127th nationally in scoring at 13.8 points per game — worst among power conference teams — and 123rd in average yards per play (4.54).
Rutgers had five different players record sacks and finished with 8 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles and interceptions by Max Melton and Robert Longerbeam. Northwestern’s yards total marked the lowest Rutgers has allowed in a Big Ten game.
“There were plays out there that we just didn’t make, and to keep sustaining drives, we didn’t have the ball much today,” said Bryant, a transfer from Cincinnati who made his Northwestern debut and had 169 passing yards and no touchdowns.
Linebacker Bryce Gallagher, who had a game-high 19 tackles, echoed Braun in saying that the game was “very relieving” after the summer. But he added that simply reaching the season wasn’t the goal for a team that has dropped 17 of 19 Big Ten regular-season games since getting to the conference championship game in 2020.
“Unfortunately, with football, some things happen and you don’t always get the results you want to, but I know we have a winning football team in that locker room,” Gallagher said. “We have winning attitudes, and we will come back and turn this season around.”
Braun, who had never coached in the FBS before joining Northwestern in January, made his head-coaching debut while also serving as defensive coordinator. He said he regretted several calls, especially in the first half, but praised the defensive staff for communicating well and helping him when his attention had to be on Northwestern’s offense.
Last month, Braun talked about how the team was “worthy of doing something great” after what it had endured. Asked Sunday if Northwestern simply needs a good day, he said, “That day’s coming, can’t wait for it.”
The Wildcats open their home schedule Saturday against UTEP.
“It’s really easy to get emotional and passionate about, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ You start talking about this linear growth, but that’s not the way any season looks,” Braun said. “It doesn’t matter if you win a national championship or you’re scratching for your first win on the season. There’s got to be ups and downs. We just happened to start off the season on a disappointing loss.
“Our guys will rebound, they’ll bounce back.”
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Shwetha Surendran
The NCAA sent a letter to Kalshi, a company that offers prediction markets on college basketball and football, expressing its concern about the company’s “commitment to contest integrity and the protection of contest participants,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by ESPN.
In the letter, dated Oct. 30, NCAA chief legal officer Scott Bearby asked Kalshi how it monitors collegiate sports markets for integrity concerns and activity by prohibited customers, who it considers a prohibited customer, whether it will report integrity concerns to the NCAA and whether the company will cooperate with NCAA investigations.
“We welcome Kalshi’s stance on its efforts to protect the integrity of NCAA competitions and to reduce instances of abuse and harassment directed at student-athletes and other participants,” Bearby wrote.
The NCAA also asked if Kalshi would ban prediction markets similar to prop bets, which the company began offering this fall.
Prop betting markets, Bearby noted in the letter, heighten “the risk of integrity and harassment concerns.” In March last year, NCAA president Charlie Baker called for a ban on prop bets on college athletes in states with legal sports wagering.
The NCAA also asked Kalshi in the letter to review language on its website that the NCAA says implies a relationship between them.
“Kalshi has robust market integrity provisions required by our status as a federally licensed financial exchange,” a Kalshi spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. “We value the NCAA’s feedback and are working on adjusting the language on our site. We are currently reviewing and addressing their additional requests.”
Prediction markets like Kalshi have emerged over the past year and are competing with traditional sportsbooks in the betting market. Kalshi is battling multiple lawsuits by state gambling regulators, who allege that the company is violating state laws by offering event contracts that mimic sports bets. Kalshi argues that it does not fall under state jurisdiction and is instead regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency.
In March, Kalshi announced a partnership with IC360, an integrity monitor used by many collegiate and professional leagues.
The NCAA has faced an increasing number of alleged betting violations by players in recent years. In September, the NCAA announced that a Fresno State men’s basketball player had manipulated his performance for gambling purposes and conspired with two other players in a prop betting scheme. In total, the association has opened investigations into potential betting violations by approximately 30 current or former men’s basketball players.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami has asked the Atlantic Coast Conference for clarity on a number of officiating decisions made in its loss this past weekend to SMU, including a critical 15-yard penalty in the final moments of regulation.
Miami lost the game, 26-20. The Hurricanes, who were as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 last month, have dropped two of their last three games and are now ranked No. 18.
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said Miami has not gotten an answer from the ACC. It’s unclear if any explanations will be coming.
“Certainly, we’re waiting what the response is, as well as on the roughing the passer one which we certainly don’t agree with,” Cristobal said Monday. “But at this point in time, the best we can do is turn it in and hope for a better result next time.”
The Hurricanes’ Marquise Lightfoot was called for unnecessary roughness against SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings with about a minute left in the fourth quarter, giving the Mustangs 15 yards and a first down. Miami had called time out just before the fourth-and-9 play was snapped, and the Hurricanes argued to no avail that Lightfoot did not hear the whistle.
Replays showed that Lightfoot, who did make contact with Jennings, tried to hold the SMU quarterback up after apparently realizing the play was dead.
That penalty gave SMU the ball on the Miami 37, and the Mustangs went on to kick an overtime-forcing field goal.
Miami also was incensed about how a pass interference flag that would have aided the Hurricanes was picked up, and how officials missed a Hurricanes receiver getting tackled in the end zone on a play that wound up as a Miami interception in overtime.
Miami was called for 12 penalties in the game for 96 yards, compared with four by SMU for 40 yards. The eight-penalty differential tied Miami’s biggest of the season; it had 13 penalties compared with five by Florida State when those teams played in Tallahassee last month.
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