The Northwestern football program had a tough opening to the season on Sunday, falling 24-7 to Rutgers at SHI Stadium, and despite a non competitive game, interim head coach David Braun said that it was a relief to get back out on the field after a turbulent summer as a result of hazing allegations that resulted in the firing of Pat Fitzgerald.

“This the lightest I've been since I took over, just from a standpoint where we're playing football,” David Braun said, via Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. “It's an opportunity to look around, look at these guys. They've been working so hard to get to this point. Are there plenty of things that I need to work on that are very apparent that I'm taking notes on as the game goes? Absolutely. I need to be so much better in this role and look forward to being much better. But in terms of the heaviness of it, if anything, it was a relief to get to game day.”

Braun took over for Pat Fitzgerald when he was fired on July 10 amid the hazing allegations.

Braun is surely disappointed with the effort and result for Northwestern football against Rutgers. Northwestern scored its only touchdown with 19 seconds left in the game.

Northwestern will be preparing to play against UTEP next week. It is a matchup that Braun and the program will certainly expect to win, especially with it being a home game.

Now for Braun and Northwestern, it will be about improving for the rest of the season.