EVANSTON - Northwestern came roaring back from a 31-10 fourth-quarter deficit to stun Minnesota, 37-34, in overtime in their Big Ten home opener on Saturday night at Ryan Field.
It seemed like the same old, same old when the Gophers opened up a three-touchdown lead headed into the fourth quarter. After all, they had won the last two games in the series by 28 and 27 points, respectively, and seemed headed for another lopsided win for their fourth win in a row over the Wildcats.
Then Ben Bryant and the offense went to work, rattling off 21 unanswered points in regulation, capped by a touchdown with just two seconds remaining, before scoring the final touchdown to capture the win in overtime.
Bryant had one of the best games by a Northwestern quarterback in recent memory, throwing for 396 yards and four touchdowns.
Wide receiver Bryce Kirtz finished with 10 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns, tying the record for second-most receiving yards by a Wildcat in program history.
Wide receiver AJ Henning and tight end Charlie Mangieri caught touchdowns as well, and senior running back Cam Porter reached the end zone for the first time this season.
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's dramatic comeback victory.
Ben Bryant locked down the starting quarterback spot: To parrot interim head coach David Braun, Bryant is Northwestern's starting quarterback. Period.
The sixth-year transfer from Cincinnati showed flashes through his first three games before putting it all together to lead the Wildcats’ thrilling rally.
"We're very proud of Ben," Braun said. "What I'm most proud of him for is just the resiliency, the toughness, the intangibles.
"If you want an indication of who Ben Bryant is and what he stands for, all you have to do is watch him put that on full display for a full game tonight."
Bryant threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns on nearly 50 attempts. That's the most yards of his college career, the most attempts since he slung the ball 57 times against Ohio in 2021 for Eastern Michigan in 2021, and tied for his most touchdowns with the four he threw for Cincinnati against Indiana last season.
The Wildcats needed absolute excellence to come back in this one and Bryant delivered in spades.
"It's a lot of emotions," Bryant said on winning a game with such a huge workload. "This team, we've been through so much. It's so nice to get that victory in the West and to do it the way we did.
"It came down to more than four quarters, which Coach Braun talks about all the time, and I'm very happy with how we executed."
So long as he's healthy, Ben Bryant is Northwestern's starter this season.
Bryce Kirtz is dangerous when healthy: Bryant's not the only one who has shown flashes. Kirtz has played well in spurts throughout his Northwestern career but has always been hampered by injuries.
Minnesota got to experience what a fully healthy Kirtz can do on Saturday night.
"I've had four knee surgeries over the past four years," Kirtz said. "Tonight really brought it all to light and it really just showed me why all that hard work and all that time in the training room paid off."
Kirtz put together the best single-game performance by a Northwestern wide receiver in nearly 40 years, finishing just 11 yards shy of the all-time single-game receiving record jointly held by Jim Lash (1972) and Todd Sheets (1980).
The Wildcats have their toughest test of the season on Saturday when they host No. 7 Penn State, but they'll do so knowing they have a potential game-changer at wide receiver.
This team believes in itself: It takes a special group to rip off three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Braun described the unwavering faith on the sidelines throughout the game, even when they fell behind by three scores multiple times.
"I kept going up and down the sideline and this is what I keep coming back to with this team," he said. "For the first time since I've been here, you look in their eyes, you looked at their body language and they weren't flinching.
"Because we got this. We've got this. We talk about four quarters or however long it takes. There was belief. They expected victory tonight."
This is a team filled with veterans that have suffered their share of defeat in their careers. By coming back to beat Minnesota they beat PJ Fleck and the Golden Gophers for the first time since 2018. They won their first one-score game since beating Nebraska in Ireland in 2022, and their first Big Ten West game at Ryan Field since burying Illinois in December of 2020.
This was a team weighted by losing streaks and negative momentum in almost any way you want to slice it over the last two-plus seasons. And they shouldered their own struggles behind a steadfast belief that they had the chance to turn this game, if not this season around.
"Stay the course," Braun said was the message he gave to his team headed into the fourth quarter. "The results weren't showing up yet, but the areas this group had been challenged in kept showing up. Stay the course.
"I can't tell you how many young men came up to and said 'Coach, we've got this. We've got you.' Again, it's a reflection of them and how special this group is."
Northwestern nearly took itself out of the game with penalties: Time for the vegetables. Even in a thrilling win, the Wildcats still have something to work on.
Before last night, Northwestern had eight penalties through three games. They met that three-game total in one night, earning eight flags for 87 yards against the Gophers. Six of those, for 67 yards, came in the first half when Minnesota built their 24-7 lead.
"We have to clean some things up, but tell you what, I don't think we were penalized enough until this game," Braun said. "Sometimes penalties are aggressive penalties where we're straining, I'll live with those.
"We're going to keep playing with urgency and edge, and we'll let the officials officiate the game. There are some things technique-wise we can clean up...but I don't think we were playing with enough edge in our first three games and I'll live with aggression penalties from guys playing their butts off. I think that's what we saw tonight."
The Wildcats will need to find a way to bring that edge and channel it without putting themselves behind schedule if they want to stand a chance against Penn State this week.
Northwestern should start to consider dropping Braun’s interim tag: Braun has done a Herculean job so far and has led Northwestern to a 2-2 record through four games when many picked them to win two games all season. He has established a team culture of brotherhood and connection between himself and the players built upon mutual care.
It's apparent in each interview and press conference how much he loves, respects and trusts his team, and how that love, respect and trust is given in return by his players.
In a postgame press conference filled with emotion, no moment may have struck harder than senior captain, safety and returner Coco Azema talking about the passing of his brother.
"I lost my brother a month ago," Azema said. "First things first, [Coach Braun] was like, ‘Hey, do you need to go home? What do you need? Do you need me to come there, do you need me to come to the funeral?’
"Then he sent [safeties] coach [Matt MacPherson] to come to the funeral with me. Seeing that guy care for us so much, it's never wavering. No matter what happens, he didn't blink, and he got down to his role. I want to go fight for somebody like that."
It's been amazing to watch Braun's rise from defensive coordinator to interim head coach to delivering two wins at Ryan Field to double last season’s win total. It shouldn't happen today or tomorrow, but Northwestern should start to entertain the idea of dropping his interim tag at the end of this season.
Braun was dealt one of the worst hands in recent college football history and has come up with aces so far. He's united the team after the sudden firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald with very little administrative support, stewarded the program with poise with the media and has delivered an improved on-field product on a few months notice as a rookie head coach.
"God has given me a gift to have patience and poise with a deep burning fire inside me of passion and competitive spirit," Braun said when asked about his mentality as a coach. "I think at times over the past couple weeks I've really leaned into that patience and poise and haven't put on display that competitive fire.
"I told our guys, ‘You’re going to see more of that [fire] out of me.’ We saw more of that from our captains and our leadership, and we saw it at practice. I have to set the tone Monday and moving forward and continue to show up for this team."
If Northwestern goes big-coach hunting this offseason, they should be wary. They'll have Michigan State and almost assuredly others in the same neighborhood offering a bigger check and more prestige. A coach in the building can be worth two in the carousel.
It may be tempting to take a swing at an outside coaching prospect, but is there someone Northwestern can trust for the long haul, who can lead the program through mine fields the way Braun has so far? The Wildcats have systemic issues to face with a small roster, pending lawsuits on all fronts and a stadium rebuild on the horizon.
While he has plenty to prove as a recruiter, and his ability to work the portal is equally uncertain, Braun seems to be a good football coach who wants to be in Evanston. And that's not something Northwestern should take lightly.
