So far, the Huskers have failed to get over ‘the hump’ and November looks more like a mountain | Football

After a bye week — NU, by the way, hasn’t won going into or coming out of an off week under Frost — the Huskers close with Wisconsin and Iowa six days apart.

Three teams on the slate in November, no wins on the board against any of them since a 37-34 win at Iowa on Nov. 28, 2014. Since then, OSU, UW and the Hawkeyes are a combined 16-0 against the Huskers. In the Frost era, NU is 0-8 against the trio that now forms the “hump” his team has to figure a way over in the next 21 days.

“It’s got to be about today,” sophomore defensive lineman Casey Rogers said. “If you get focused on stuff in the long run, it can really mess you up a lot.”

Said junior quarterback and three-time captain Adrian Martinez, “It’s just about focus and somewhat pride, and a lot of guys on our team have it. A lot of guys care about this program, care about the individuals across from each other. We’re brothers. We’re going to continue to fight, and that is what it is about. It is not about, he said, she said and who’s giving us a chance. None of that stuff matters. It doesn’t. What matters is what we do.

“We know what we are capable of and the execution that it will take on Saturday for us to get the win.”

Ever since the final version of the Huskers’ 2021 schedule came out, November was always going to stand as some form of reckoning. If NU was 7-2 or 6-3, this stretch would have been billed as the true test of whether the program could win the West. Now, it’s a question of how much will the Huskers have left in the tank after a disappointing season to date.