Northwestern Insider Has “Massive Respect for Raiola” But Predicts Wildcat Win

Northwestern Insider Has “Massive Respect for Raiola,” But Predicts Wildcat Win

Nebraska will try to rebound from one of the most disappointing performances of the Matt Rhule era by welcoming Northwestern to town on Saturday. The Wildcats are very similar to the Minnesota team that just thoroughly beat the Huskers: they run the ball well, prioritize defense, and play smash mouth football. The Big Red will need to bring the juice for an 11am kickoff in Lincoln, against a team they absolutely cannot take for granted.

Interview with Sam Walter, Co-Host of the West Lot Pirates, a Northwestern Football Podcast

David Braun is in his third year of leading the Northwestern program, having gone 8-5 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. Bringing his squad into this game at 5-2, Braun has the look of another Pat Fitzgerald in Evanston. What’s the current view of Coach Braun among Northwestern fans?

It’s funny, the answer to this question right now may not be the same answer if you had asked us a month ago. In general, I’d say that Braun is very well liked among the Northwestern faithful. I think we all appreciate the way that he has kept this team focused on the here and now. It would have been easy to rest on the laurels of going into Happy Valley and knocking off Penn State and then put out a dud against Purdue last weekend, but Braun really had these guys dialed in.

Starting quarterback Preston Stone has completed 59% of his passes for 1,213 yards, with 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions this season. Is he the centerpiece of this offense, or is it more the multiple running backs who have so far combined for more than 1,300 yards on the year?

Without a doubt the centerpiece of this offense is the RBs and the OL. Stone has done a great job shaking off his dreadful performance in the opener at Tulane where he threw 4 picks. He has done a great job settling in to what this offense is designed to do. This team wants to run the ball behind probably the best OL we’ve seen at Northwestern in probably the past 20 years, which is saying something considering we’ve had two first round picks from our OL recently. That said, Stone has 7 TDs to only 1 interception in the past 4 games and really looks comfortable now. He has the moxie to take things over if necessary, just look back 2 weeks to the Penn State game for an example of that.

Northwestern just shut out Purdue, and even played Oregon tough, especially when you look at what the Ducks’ offense has done to other Big Ten teams. What would you say is the strength of defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle’s unit?

It’s tough to really single out one specific strength of this defense considering that it’s currenlty the #11 scoring D in the country. This is a well-rounded squad with a ton of depth. That said, in addition to being the DC, McGarigle is also the LB coach and he continues to churn out outstanding linebackers. Mac Uihlein is the only player in the FBS with more than 50 tackles, 5 TFLs and 3 interceptions. Braden Brus flies around the field like a man with his hair on fire and can be an absolute game changer.

Any other players Nebraska fans should be keeping an eye on?

Robert Fitzgerald. This dude is a heat seeking missile at Safety. Talk about a chaos agent for opposing offenses, it’s Robert Fitzgerald. Offensively, Griffin Wilde is Stone’s safety blanket and will catch almost anything thrown near him.

Nebraska and Northwestern have had some absolutely classic battles since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, including multiple games that went into overtime. How is this game viewed in the Wildcat Common Fans’ eyes?

This matchup is low key one of the best rivalries in the Big Ten that nobody is talking about. Both teams have beaten the other in situations that looked to go the other way on paper. As far as this year’s game goes, the biggest thing on the mind of Northwestern Nation is getting to that 6th win, keeping the momentum that we have built over the past 4 games. We are also very conscious of all the talk surrounding the possibility of Rhule going to PSU and how that may affect the psyche of the Nebraska faithful.

What have you seen from Nebraska and does it make you feel better or worse about Northwestern's chances on Saturday?

We have a massive amount of respect for Raiola. He has the capability of taking over a game and we’ll have to be very aware of him. However, sacks are a huge problem and it seems as if Nebraska is really struggling to run the ball. On D, even though Tony White is gone, that 3-3-5 is still a problem. Despite Minnesota showing otherwise, running the ball will be tough.

Northwestern wins if ______.

They can get to Raiola, if they don’t let receivers get over the top, if they continue to play clean and stay away from penalties and turnovers, and control the time of possession.

Nebraska wins if ______.

Raiola goes off, we lose the turnover/penalty battle, we can’t run the ball.

Final score prediction?

I was going to be cheeky and say NU 24-NU 21, but I’ll say that the Cats stay on a roll and come away with the road W.

Author’s note: Thanks to Sam Walter, one of the hosts of the West Lot Pirates, for sharing his expertise with the Common Fans. Both the Common Fan Podcast (Nebraska) and the West Lot Pirates Podcast (Northwestern) are members of The College Huddle, the largest fan-led online college sports podcast community, made up of one podcast from each fan base represented.

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