Northwestern opens one of the most intriguing seasons in its history on Sunday at Rutgers.

The Wildcats are trying to snap an 11-game losing streak, the program’s longest since 1989. It will be their first game without Pat Fitzgerald as its head coach since 2005, and their first game without him on the sideline in any coaching capacity since 2000.

Instead, Northwestern will be led by interim head coach David Braun, who will be the boss for the first time in his career, at any level.

On top of it being Braun’s first game, it’s the first game since the hazing scandal that cost Fitzgerald his job and placed the program under a microscope all summer long.

Other than that, it’s just another season opener.

With all that drama as a backdrop, here are five things to watch on Sunday as we get our first glimpse of the new-look Wildcats.

We know next to nothing about Braun in action. He arrived in January as the new defensive coordinator and ascended to the big chair shortly after Fitzgerald was fired on July 10. Unless you’re a FCS football buff and followed his North Dakota State defenses, this is likely the first time Northwestern fans will see him on a sideline of any kind.

It will be interesting to see Braun’s sideline demeanor. His personality is quiet and reserved, and he has been a calming influence since taking over the program. He’s been guarded with the media, and understandably so. He’s tried to keep the focus on football, so he must be as relieved as anyone for the season to start.

As if Braun’s plate weren’t full enough, he’ll also be calling plays on defense as the team’s defensive coordinator this season.

Will Braun be a CEO-type of head man that lets his assistants do their jobs? We imagine that will be the case, especially on offense, where he will likely give offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian more free rein than he’s had before.

Will he get emotional or demonstrative on the sideline, as Fitzgerald often was? Will he be aggressive and take more shots, as a coach of a team with low expectations? Will he use analytics and play percentages, as Fitzgerald usually did? What will his defense look like?

In his first game with the lead headset, Braun will learn as much about himself as a head coach on Sunday as we will as observers.

Braun said on Monday that the program has already selected its starting quarterback but, in a Fitzian piece of gamesmanship, that he won’t announce him before Sunday. That is a sound decision. It’s worth noting that regardless of who wins the starting job, the quarterback will be Northwestern fifth different opening-day starter in the last five years.

We fully expect the starter to be grad transfer Ben Bryant. Even though he doesn’t present the same dual threat as the athletic Brendan Sullivan does, Bryant may be the perfect QB for this team. He is a two-year starter (one season at Eastern Michigan and one at Cincinnati) who has taken more snaps at the college level than all but two quarterbacks in the Big Ten (Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa and Wisconsin’s Tanner Mordecai).

Northwestern had the worst scoring offense in the Power Five last year at 13.8 points per game, an atrocious number. But their biggest problem was turnovers: the Wildcats turned the ball over 31 times and had the worst turnover margin (-19) in the nation.

The Wildcats aren’t going to be USC, or Wisconsin apparently, and throw the ball all over the yard. But if Bryant can just take care of the football and get the ball where it needs to go, the Wildcats should be much improved.

Bryant’s demeanor and experience are similar to Peyton Ramsey, who, as a smart and steady grad transfer, turned around a struggling offense and led the Wildcats to the Big Ten championship game in 2020.

Northwestern has just one bona fide returning starter on the offensive line in captain Josh Priebe, so there are multiple question marks.

The left side of the offensive line should be in good shape with Priebe, who has 16 career starts under his belt and is the unquestioned leader of the room, and tackle Caleb Tiernan, who has prototypical size and has looked promising in limited reps. That will be the strong side.

At center, junior Ben Wrather has made starts at a couple different positions in his career and will be relied upon to be the linchpin of the retooled line. At right tackle, Zachary Franks is finally healthy and should be ready to take on a starting job for the first time in his four years in Evanston.

The right guard spot was up for grabs this fall, a battle between senior Dom D’Antonio and true freshman Jordan Knox. D’Antonio has a big edge in experience, but we’re picking Knox to get the starting nod as one of the few true first-years who may have the size, strength and athleticism to play on the line in the Big Ten.

Northwestern’s offensive line has struggled with injuries the last couple years, but Braun and Bajakian would like nothing more than to be able to control the clock with Cam Porter and the running game on Sunday – and throughout the season. The offensive line will determine whether they’ll be able to do that.

Jim O’Neil’s two-year stint as defensive coordinator was an unmitigated disaster, and the unit’s Achilles’ heel was failure to stop the run. The Wildcats finished 110th in the nation against the run last season, and that was an improvement from the year before.

Braun said at spring practice that improving the run defense was his top priority as a coordinator; the question is whether he has the personnel to do it. The Wildcats have eight defensive tackles – two returning scholarship players, two walkons, two transfers and two freshmen. From that mix, they hope to find a reliable “two pair and a spare” to plug things up in the middle.

Najee Story is the only proven commodity in that group, a junior who showed signs of turning into a playmaker last season. Beyond him, the Wildcats hope that Brendan Flakes made a leap in his development after playing in just two games last season, and that their two grad transfers, Reginald Pearson from Bethune-Cookman and Matthew Lawson from Fresno State, are ready to plug gaps, if not necessarily make plays.

Carmine Bastone and JP Spencer are the two walkons, and both played quite a bit last season – more than coaches would have liked, in all probability, and they may have to again this season. Either one or both of the promising two freshmen, Tyler Gant and weight room hero Dylan Roberts, may be pressed into duty this year, whether they’re ready or not.

Northwestern’s defensive ends should be able to anchor the edge against the run, and the Wildcats have their top two tacklers back in linebackers Bryce Gallagher and Xander Mueller so the key to completing the set is stability at defensive tackle.

Northwestern would like to bottle up Rutgers’ running game and put the game squarely on quarterback Gavin Wimsatt’s shoulders on Sunday. We’ll see if they can accomplish that objective.

There probably isn’t a team in America more relieved to get this season started than Northwestern. After an offseason of turmoil and turnover, the Wildcats can’t wait to get back out on the field, where everything makes sense.

The Wildcats have a chip on their shoulder and have cultivated an “us against the world” mentality. They even put it on a controversial T-shirt. They feel like the program has been under attack, and they want nothing more than to prove themselves on the field. Braun has said several times that his team is “galvanized” and poised to have a “special” season.

Of course, it could backfire on them, too, if they are a little too tightly wound for this one. Another area of concern is the coaching staff. Not only is Braun new to his role, but there are six assistants coaching in their first game at Northwestern, too. Will there be any miscommunication on the sideline? Will the play-calling and decision-making processes be smooth?

We have a feeling this team will be ready for kickoff -- but it's important that they're not "too ready."