It’s always a big weekend when “Big Noon Kickoff” comes to town, and now Northwestern gets to experience that thrill.
“Big Noon Kickoff” will be in Evanston, IL for Northwestern’s Week 3 home matchup against No. 4 Oregon on Saturday in what will be the show’s first ever trip to the Wildcats’ campus (12 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). Northwestern head coach David Braun underscored what this weekend means for the program.
“This is exciting,” Braun said when asked about what it means to have “Big Noon Kickoff” in Evanston. “This is why you play in the Big Ten. ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ coming to campus. The students are back. We need Wildside at a whole ‘nother level. The lakefront needs to be packed with purple. We need to create a home field advantage. It may be a smaller venue, but it can still be an incredible advantage for the Cats.
“These are days that you dream of when you dream of playing college football. I think it’s really important that we tune that out during the week, acknowledge it on Saturday, take a moment to take it in and say ‘yeah, this is awesome,’ and then focus on executing.”
Northwestern has been playing its home games at Martin Stadium, which is where its soccer and lacrosse teams play, since 2024, as renovations to Ryan Field continue to take shape.
This will be the Big Ten season opener for both teams. Northwestern began the year with a 23-3 loss on the road to Tulane, followed by a 42-7 win at home over Western Illinois. Meanwhile, Oregon, the reigning Big Ten champion, has throttled its first two opponents, beating Montana State (59-13) and Oklahoma State (69-3).
Braun is in his third season as Northwestern’s head coach, with the program a combined 13-14. In 2023, Braun’s first season at the helm, the Wildcats went 8-5 after going 1-11 the year prior. Braun was originally hired to be Northwestern’s defensive coordinator that same year, but he was later promoted to head coach after Pat Fitzgerald’s dismissal in the wake of hazing allegations surrounding the program.
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