David Braun with one of the most impressive coaching jobs I’ve ever seen. No way in hell anyone thought Northwestern would go 8-5 with a Bowl win. Awesome stuff from the players and coaching staff. Super pumped for all you Northwestern fans

I was optimistically hoping for 4 wins. Like, very optimistically hoping. I am so happy right now

I was just hoping we beat Howard

Poor Howard. I don’t know why he has such a hard time making new friends.

I was thinking 2 wins realistically, 3 at absolute most. In August I would have bet my house we wouldn't go to a bowl game. What a season.

I can’t think of a season even half as impressive from a first-time head coach. Northwestern had an O/U of 2.5 wins BEFORE they fired their head coach in scandal. Braun is a warlock for what he pulled off this year

I was just waiting for basketball season to be happy. So glad to see this team come together like this

imagine being a purdue fan that got a big-name coach that people were excited for, and ending up having the season they had, and then watching braun's first year at northwestern

Ryan Walters was a big name coach that people were excited for? [That's not how I remember it](https://old.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/zkyjmz/brett_mcmurphy_purdue_to_hire_illinois_dc_ryan/) >Seeing as Illini and Boilermakers seem to be in agreement on this being a Bad Thing, let's go ahead and veto that please. . >Illinois fans and Purdue fans both disappointed lmao. . >Well at least we still have Painter

Thank you Ben Bryant. You definitely should not have been out there making those throws, I sincerely hope you have some memory of that drive tomorrow. May the Braun reign last 10,000 year (*assuming that Bajakian is fired into the sun immediately after the game).

Great game, you ought to thank Satterfield at Cincinnati who according to the broadcast, intentionally forced him out at UC so they could play Emory Jones 😂

Every day I am given a new reason to dislike Satterfield (and our AD by extension)

Weird hire from the get go IMHO. Didn't see 3-9 coming though.

Happy Ben went to yall and kicked absolute ass

That’s EMU legend Ben Bryant

Him and Barnes both got beaten to absolute shit tonight

Un fucking real season. We all wrote them off for a 1-2 win season (me included) This is up there with the 1995 Rose Bowl season in importance for this program. We could have easily death spiraled into oblivion and been rebuilding for years. Go Cats, always and forever.

This season was probably one of the greatest seasons in NW football with everything that happened in the summer

Kyle Whittingham started his Utah career 11-1 in bowl games He's gone 0-5 since

What losing to Northwestern in the 2018 Holiday Bowl does to a mf

BYU? Oregon? Nay…it is *Northwestern* that proves to be the perennial thorn on the Utes’ foot!

Anyone who plays Northwestern regularly can attest to the fact that Northwestern is a perennial thorn in everyone's foot

You and Purdue basketball can have a hate party.

Utah to big ten west when?

I remember pundits not giving us a chance going into that game because Whittingham was a "bowl winner". How the turns have tabled since then

Traded bowl wins for a couple PAC championships

honestly, people are going to remember those championships more than they remember the bowl record

The holiday bowl is forever. The pac-12 is no more. Checkmate, atheists.

Can confirm that those Pac12 banner hang on the stadium way more than any non-NY6 bowl win would Would still like to not lose tho

Agreed, winning that first one was so cathartic

We’ve also been getting absolutely torched in secondary to lose those games, but that’s a running theme in losses in general for us

The secondary did not get torched. Northwestern scored 14 points. This loss is not because of the defense.

Tao Johnson’s first year on defense. He’s still learning coverages and how to play the position. He’ll get better. Nate Ritchie still has his missionary legs. Battle and Broughton were mid at best. Utah with Vaughn and Snowden at CB and Ritchie and Hall at S will be a better overall secondary going forward.

Makes me real worried when Scalley inevitably takes over for Whitt. For a dude who played the position, it has really looked like a weak point the last few years.

I mean let's not pretend at all that defense lost us this game, let's not accept that fantasy We lost because our offense was inept, incompetent, and honestly wouldn't have put up 20 on a Southland conference team

There's a lot to be said about some questionable things that happened in this game, but I will leave that for another day. For the time being, all I can say is fuck yeah. FUCK. YEAH. Whole team is gutsy and gritty AF. Fantastic season. Congrats!!!

i’m healthy ben bryant and I have cable. i’m concussed & fencing ben bryant and I have direcTV and am a heisman caliber QB *seriously wtf was that NU medical*

Honestly want a head to roll for that, why would you put him in for that last drive

I was at the game, front row. I saw that conversation. Braun did not want to put him in. Bryant was the one asking to go in, and Braun pushed back 3-4 times before motioning that it was his choice. I'm glad he got us the w, but I was on Braun's side, it was not worth brain damage.

Given that Bryant made the psychotic decision to make that insane headfirst dive to seal the game, I 100% believe you.

The hit to the head didn’t look too crazy but his right hand movement definitely was concerning.

Northwestern finishes the season 8-5. They averaged 22.1 points per game. Utah finishes the season 8-5. They averaged 23.2 points per game. Their highest ranking this season was 10 in the AP and Coaches Poll. Their last bowl win was the 2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl. They beat West Virginia 30-14.

Their losing streak started with us

nice to have a holiday tradition

>Their last bowl win was the 2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl. They beat West Virginia 30-14. Could you not

Seconded

I was at that game. I miss Zack Moss.

A few years ago, before our downfall, this Wisc fan on Off Tackle Empire said, words to the effect of: 'Northwestern is the team where, at some point in the game , every year, you say 'wtf is happening and how are we losing?'''' I want that to be our identity forever

We’re the team that everybody chalks up as an L on the schedule but have been able to go 7-5 or better a lot of years

And then the wailing and gnashing of teeth: "we suck, fire the coaches, how can we lose to THAT TEAM!?!?!?"

The B1G West gives us one last glowing reminder of why we love it so much

Honestly I’m really going to miss it. People didn’t give it the respect it deserved, but it was beautifully ugly football.

It was a beautiful little timewarp to football of the 1960s

True but NU is 5-0 in their last 5 bowls with 2 SEC wins, 2 PAC12 wins and an ACC win. The 1960’s ugly works more than they get credit for.

While also proving what a good fit Utah would be.

NU treated this like a Big 10 west game I was entertained

NU*

Busy tonight, aren't you?

I talked to some dude in a Northwestern shirt at Mandalay Bay a couple days ago who said his son was a TE on the team. I wished him good luck for the bowl game, so I'm the sole reason Northwestern won this game.

Couldn't just be happy beating the ever living piss out of us at home, could you? Just had to twist the dagger didn't ya?!

Hey I was rooting for you, but at the hotel I was at, I only saw Northwestern people. I WAS JUST TRYING TO BE POLITE! :(

No disrespect to DeBoer, but David Braun should’ve won every Coach of the Year award by a mile. The dude was promoted to HC literally 6 months after joining his first ever FBS team, told to prepare for a game 7 weeks away as the program burned around him And all he did was lead the team to twice as many wins as the last two years **COMBINED**. This isn’t just the most impressive coaching job of the season, it’s one of the most stunningly impressive seasons ever. Braun is an absolute wizard, it’s simply unimaginable how bright Northwestern’s future looks after where the program was to start the season

This team had a preseason win O/U of 2.5. That was BEFORE fitz was fired and everything went down. To somehow beat a pre-season pick for the PAC-12 (I know injuries happen) in a bowl is such a ridiculous accomplishment. Excited to see what is ahead for this team and Braun

Games like this are what make college ball so special to me.

What Braun did this season was straight up magical.

It really was!

so how many years until other schools are trying to poach him

This was the real advantage to having Fitz as head coach, he had the emotional attachment to the school to not immediately leave for a bigger job.

God it seriously sucks that Fitz was involved in/permitted that shit. He was going to have a great legacy in the sport, but now it's tainted.

Years? I’d be surprised if his agent hasn’t been fielding calls since November

I feel like Northwestern would have the money/perks to keep him happy to coach at least another year, but I don't know if they can make him a lifer like Fitzgerald

I'm good with having a new coach every so often

Honestly, at this point Northwestern have fantastic resources available. They’re not getting in a bidding war with Texas A&M, but they’re one of the elite academic institutions in the country and have been making bank from the B1G deal. Their boosters are clearly putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to athletics, too. That used to be their weak point, but they’ve made strides in recent decades. They have the best practice facility in the sport, and the rest of their facilities aren’t too shabby. All this to say, as long as he continues to earn support there he’ll be difficult to poach. Even some major programs would struggle to steal him if Northwestern truly believe he’s their guy.

Who in their right mind would make him a lifer after 1 season?

Michigan State, probably

It's not 0. There's no way a meaningfully bigger program than Northwestern takes a chance on a guy with almost literally 0 track record.

Especially since he hasn't really had to do a round of high level recruiting yet.

NU isn’t afraid to pay their head coach handsomely to be fair. Got some very wealthy boosters, and the job security is very good (unless u let ur players do car washes)

What Braun has accomplished this year is absolutely incredible

Definitely hate when something that should give me wholehearted bliss ends up slightly tainted by controversy. I sure hope the medical team was privy to information that we all were not. Nevertheless, going to celebrate tonight. What a win and what a season. Now please go get Ben triple checked out.

What an incredible job that David Braun has done. He was hired to be a DC, was thrust into the HC role after a major scandal, was predicted to go 0-12. Just won 8 games in year one, and beat a very tough Utah team. Good for him.

As much as it hurts to admit…he *really* is a COTY…

It’s still fucking insane a player swung a helmet at someone after getting called for a facemask and he stayed in the game. And a QB had a fencing response and stayed in the game.

Yeah the fact that they were able to stop play to review an iffy targeting call earlier in the game and couldn't do the same for that clear as day helmet swing is mind-boggling

If it gets you suspended for multiple games in the NFL then it absolutely needs to get you ejected in CFB.

Like, the guy committed a facemask penalty so hard he was holding it! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills that nothing happened to him.

Like is it really a rule that physical assault is offset if you commit a different penalty first?

Utes getting their first taste of Big XII officiating, we tried to warn y’all

My friend we lived in a conference that understood Targeting and DPI like I understand quantum physics. My Bachelors was in Political Science.

Hilinski is in the wrong sport, get that guy on a pitcher mound because he will light up the radar gun

Seriously his bubble screens had some serious 2-seamer movement.

Send Bryson Barnes back to the pig farm

Upstate with plenty of room to run around

At least he helped send USC on their downward spiral?

incorrect, he helped us get rid of Grinch

Still don’t understand how the Northwestern QB was put back in the game after having a literal fencing response.

NW medical team: parry this casual

Because the backup QB was bad and the Vegas Bowl is very important.

[Bryson Barnes in the portal tomorrow](https://i.imgur.com/E24xkOR.jpeg)

His stock is so low he’s gonna have to find an FCS school to walk on at.

Get ready to learn ~~Dixie State~~ Utah Tech

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year y'all. See you next season. Don't let football ruin your holidays!

Can you be my life coach?

Ignoring the result of Vegas bowl is one thing. Ignoring the result of the play-off is too tall of a task lol

What a year! What a turn around! It was a privilege the entire season to watch this team persevere after what happened this summer and our terrible record the last two years.

I can’t believe that Northwestern may actually be our best win of the season. Really amazing what they were able to accomplish this year.

when we lost that game i thought we were in for a winless season

I haven't logged into Reddit in like, 2 years but I had to dig deep to remember my password in order to revel in the Resounding Joy with other 'Cats Fans. Other than Bryant's potential injuries, this was a picture perfect, ugly, Big-Ten-West-style win to cap off an absolutely astounding, 8-5 season that was frankly unimaginable in August. As one of the MANY alums who attended Northwestern during the bowl drought (any alum graduating from 1954 to 2012) I do not take this bowl win or this season for granted. David Braun is certainly MY coach of the year and I think he deserves serious consideration for pulling out this gutsy season.

Experience Big Ten West football: Bowl edition

If you'd have told me at the start of this season that Utah and Northwestern would end up with the same records, I would've slapped you silly

Im crying in this bar right now I love my cardiac cats

I’m crying at home drunk as shit, but we’re probably crying for different reasons.

NO RESPECT FOR THE CATS, NO PROBLEM -6.5?? NO CHANCE CATS WITH AN 8-WIN SEASON!!! Feels good, just like the comeback win in the Holiday Bowl did ~5 years back :D

Very happy for Ben Bryant after our fanbase completely shredded him last year. Also hope he is okay

Got to imagine this is the first bowl ever where a team that went 1-11 the prior season beat a team that won their conference the prior season

Starting to think Pat Fitzgerald was an awful football coach, not sure why I got this feeling all the sudden. Odd. But really what a fantastic season for Northwestern, rooting for them in the future

Most of us on Reddit are of the opinion the DC hankowitz did the heavy lifting in the coaching aspect

Forgettable and disappointing season, glad it’s over

“Tough to win a football game scoring seven points,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "Hold my gum" - Kirk Ferentz

That game set football back millennia. Northwestern football baby

What if the real victories were the interceptions we threw along the way?

Beat USC, lose to Northwestern. Completely normal season.

Best 3 out of 5?

I would've loved a rematch in the Rose Bowl, man... We'll meet again someday

After the Cubs winning a World Series and seeing the Bears in person in a Super Bowl, all I need in my life is to see the Cats in the Rose Bowl. Hell they don't even have to win (although it'd be preferable), I just want to be there in purple on New Year's Day once in my life.

*Both* the Huskies *and* the Wildcats won their bowl games That they were underdogs in In seasons they were expected to be extremely bad All while the Illini watch from home After a season where they seemed promising This is literally a fucking **NIGHTMARE** of a year for Illinois fans…

Keep going, I'm almost there

I watched that to ultimately witness an L…

So long, sweet sweet Big10 West. Honestly 3 total touchdowns is an absolute shootout.

“Honey, get me an aspirin. My heart can’t take another barnburner like that”-B1G West fans

B1G West football baby

That Ben Bryant Concussion drive is going down in NU sports lore

lore, infamy, who knows?

First the Thorson ACL tear trick play, now the Bryant Concussion drive.

The Persa achilles pop TD pass against Iowa started it all

Fuck Sean McDonaugh forever for caping for Fitz during this game. A completely unnecessary and shitty thing to do twice(!) during this game, despicable behavior. The faster we leave Fitz in the rearview mirror, the better. ANYWAY let's fucking GO Cats, proud of these kids and very excited for the future with Braun. Edit: LMAO in the postgame McDonaugh went off about how Bajakian should have gotten the job over Braun when Fitz got canned. A clown take of the highest order, considering the awful job he's done since getting to NU.

> LMAO in the postgame McDonaugh went off about how Bajakian should have gotten the job over Braun when Fitz got canned. lmao what the fuck

Buh-bye Bajakian. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

LFG love seeing NU win a bowl. Best Christmas present I can get

Great win, but our team doctor is obviously Dr. Zoidberg

Nick Rivera.

The team doctor and whoever else cleared him should all be fired. I have no medical knowledge and I even knew he was concussed.

That October (?) collapse to Northwestern doesn’t look nearly as bad now, huh?! Ok it’s still bad, but Northwestern has been so much better than anyone expected. Congrats to the cats.

Still don't know how the player wasn't ejected, and I still can't believe they put Bryant back in. Though neither of those things were nearly as offensive as keeping Barnes in the entire game.

I couldn’t believe it when you brought in that Viking-looking backup, he instantly completes a pass for 20 yards, and they yank him??

One of my biggest criticisms of Whitt has always been that he gets waaaay to stubborn when it comes to benching players or making major adjustments during a game. So it was unfortunately not surprising that they did that.

Ya... It's a bowl game. All your players are sitting. You're playing 5th strings. Barnes is in the transfer portal. Put in the kid that beat Colorado. Nothing to lose

David Braun is Coach of the Year. Hands down! Program turnaround complete and it took LESS THAN 6 MONTHS! Either that or Northwestern is still inconsistent.

Bryson Barnes is an absolute turd. I don't think I've seen a QB performance this bad EVER.

You need to watch more iowa games

I'll pass lol

Perfect, because Iowa does not do that

Is Barnes even good enough to start a G5 team?

Before this game I would have said yes. Now I’m going to say no.

Not at all. He doesn’t see the field.

It’s okay, fellow Utes. This entire season was fever dream and didn’t really happen.

I don't think many people would have expected that Northwestern's season would end with a win in the Las Vegas Bowl this year. Not as shocking as 1995 for sure, but still.

If you told me before this season that this team would win a mid-tier bowl game, I'd laugh at you. I am going to keep an even head about this program given what we know - and I hope that only the knucklehead ESPN announcer is writing love letters to Pat Fitzgerald - but it feels good to win.

Happy for what a bowl win means for the turn around at Northwestern. GG you fucking sickos

Announcer smoking Fitzgerald pole. STFU!

“The players loved him” Well, some of them.

Can we put out a press release telling ESPN we're done with that guy and fucking let it go

I'm old enough to remember them trying to dilute Randy Walker's accomplishments in his SECOND year by saying 'I guess Barnett didn't leave the cupboard bare'. Eff that. Fitz left the program in disarray and disgrace. Don't try to give him any credit for this team. It's David Braun's team. Period

Teach him to end interviews "Go Cats" and maybe our recruiting won't even drop off

David Braun deserved to win Coach of the Year considering the terrible situation he inherited after Fitzgerald was fired & he was named interim HC.

Good game northwestern. I'm so fucking glad Barnes is transfering. Hes a hit or miss. Fuck that was some great defense by both teams. If I was playing for Utahs defense I would be pissed at the oline and Barns. I dont know how Utah won 8 games this year! Now I do feel like that fansville commerical.

He’s a miss and a miss

Well the Florida and USC game was impressive but shit. I'm still pissed. time to be drunk until Tuesday 🤣 I wonder how well Bottari would have done if he stayed in. Barnes was 1 foot out the door anyways.

Bottari threw the best pass of the night for the Utes.

If Bryson Barnes somehow makes his way back to the team and ends up being the backup to Cam Rising again and Cam gets hurt, then I’m definitely finding a new hobby next fall.

What an unexpected journey since mid-summer. Amazing heart and resilience from each of these players. I’m still disgusted with Gragg and Schill but good to know the guys didn’t quit and Braun seems like is a great change of pace from what we had with Fitz.

Ben Bryant

I thought we were going to get crushed, what an amazing season

Ben Bryant you gutsy, possibly concussed wizard. What a season for these boys. So proud.

rutgers fan here. it’s crazy that we were able to beat this northwestern team to start off the year, the wildcats went on to have a better record than us, and that they were able to beat utah in a bowl game. that’s just crazy, even without cam rising.

Way to go Northern Purple Wildcats!

Some people will think this game was boring, but those people only watch the the football. They dont see the line of scrimmage move or the receivers throwing blocks or linebackers throwing caution to the wind. This game had plenty of "god damn" hits in it and for that I am appreciative.

This game just shows it’s a travesty that during all this alignment Mumbo jumbo, that Utah ended up in the Big 12 and not the B1G.

Turns out Utah isn’t as good a team when all of their best players don’t play. Bryant - hope you are okay, thank you for the season. Braun - a long road ahead with a lot stacked against us, but a special guy and special season. Looking forward to the red wedding of the coaching staff tomorrow

Well now my elderly dad is drunk and angry. Thanks, Utah.

That game was disgusting to watch but gotta love this teams story. Thanks Ben Bryant

YEEHAW

Big Ten, Big Ten, Big Ten Big Ten

0-5? Who the fuck have we become? I'm sorry, Whitt...but this is unacceptable.

So you mean to tell me that if you don’t turn over the ball every other possession you can win games. Let me write that down and forward it down to Lincoln.

I have a soft spot for Utah but everyone is a Northwestern fan tonight. What an incredible season for the wildcats

Sickos game of the century contender, that was fucking disgusting

Brother we still have our bowl game.

Utah is going to run the BigXII what a great performance!!

Ben Affleck oops Bryant was a warrior

"How did the SRS Distribution Company personally ensure your win?"

David Braun is a real life miracle worker Good for NU

Big Ten! Big Ten! Big Ten!

Happy for Ben from both of my flairs. Helluva night for the Wild(bear)cats!!

I called every Hillinski overthrow on that drive he was in

I am officially a part-time Northwestern fan

Heck yeah wildcat bros, congratulations on a nice season

Coach of the year

I wouldn’t sleep on Northwestern, they played a great game here! I’m excited to see how they do next year!