Through the first two seasons of David Braun's tenure at Northwestern, the head coach has often been criticized for his conservative decision making, specifically on fourth down and short.

Last year against Washington, for example, Braun kicked an 18-yard field goal down 15 in the middle of the third quarter. It's decisions like that one that have sometimes put him in hot water with fans on social media after games.

Now, as with any coaching tendency, there's context. First -- something Braun would never let on because he's a coach who protects his players -- is that Northwestern had no reason to trust its offense last season. On a fourth down situation, especially one with more risk near midfield, you simply have to be able to trust your quarterback.

Last season, Mike Wright and Jack Lausch weren't the right guys for those scenarios. Now, mathematically, was Braun probably still making some mistakes? Absolutely. But his personnel group is still context that matters.

Yesterday against Oregon, though, Braun went for it on fourth down four times. He'd gone for it three times total in the two prior games this season. This was a stark change in strategy from Northwestern's head coach.

Given that Oregon came in ranked No. 4 in the nation having just beaten Oklahoma State by a score of 69-3, it isn't hard to see Braun's logic. Go for it on fourth down because, if you don't, you put the ball back in the hands of Dante Moore and this high-flying offense.

"Specifically for Oregon, we knew that we'd have to find a way to steal a couple of possessions. And, like, how can you do that? It's fourth down conversions," Braun said in his postgame presser.

But Braun was also surprisingly reflective and candid about his fourth-down decision making in general outside of the motivators against Oregon specifically.

"We understood, number one, if we want to score points on offense, I as a head coach have to get over some of my brain that's wired as a defensive coach, and I think I've grown in that area," Braun said. "So some of it's just like general thought process as a program."

David Braun has his critics, and they aren't always wrong, but one thing that is true about Northwestern's leader is his honesty. Braun is an earnest coach, and he'll tell people what he's feeling, what he's seeing and what he's thinking.

Listening to him talk about fourth downs, it seems like he's aware his defensive coach tendencies might be getting in his way. Turning over a new leaf in that way could be major change for this Wildcat offense.

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