The ides of November: Why ‘pressure’ games are making Nebraska better now and later

He spoke a little quicker, a little louder. His face — often like that of a thoughtful CEO — scrunched as he articulated just how close the offense has been to breaking big plays and the defense has been from stopping them.

Rhule held his fingers the width of a hash mark apart to symbolize the Huskers’ room for mistakes. He held his hands two feet apart to show the gap Nebraska needs to shrink as the fourth quarter of the regular season begins with Maryland in Lincoln on Saturday morning.

“Can we strain that much harder?” Rhule said. “Can we prepare that much better? Can I coach that much better? That’s the difference in winning and losing when the margin of error is this tight for us.”

These are the ides of November, when cold realities — metaphorical and literal — set in around college football. No one has surprises. Everyone has injuries. And only some have earned the right to still be playing for more than pride.

Nebraska, with a 9-22 record in the month since 2015, has had little one the line beyond Halloween in recent memory with the exception of trying for bowl eligibility against Iowa four years ago. Now? Despite the 20-17 loss at Michigan State last Saturday, the Huskers still get three cracks at qualifying for the postseason. With a 3-3 Big Ten record, they’re in a three-way tie for second in the West Division a game back of Iowa.

“We’ve had to learn how to win,” Rhule said. “But winning in November is completely different. You get everybody’s best.”

This is a different spot — a better one — for Rhule in his third “year one” as a college coach. By the time his first Temple team got this far in 2013, the Owls were 1-7. His first Baylor squad in 2017 was 0-8 entering the final month. Young players grinded in relative anonymity during the season’s closing stretch.

What will accelerate Nebraska’s growth this season and help in future ones, Rhule said, is the weight that’s still on each 60-minute affair left on the schedule. He told Husker freshmen this week that every game in November better be a big one that matters. The goal is not to take away the pressure but learn to be comfortable with it.

The Michigan State nail-biter — which came down to the final play and included more twists than a Michigan interstate off-ramp — came with all sorts of external implications attached. Players were aware of them, Rhule said. And that’s good.

“You have to come face to face with your demons and your fears and say, ‘When that was happening, did I play free and loose or did I play tight?’” Rhule said. “Anybody can play when there’s no pressure. But can you play with pressure? That is what we’re trying to learn.”

What that looks like, Rhule said, is a player simply doing his job in the moment. The great ones ball out just the same as if they had nothing to lose.

“We’re lucky that in November we’re learning these things,” said Rhule, who is 14-14 in the month as a college head coach. “We’re learning these things. We’re seeing the adversity.”

Rhule spoke at length about details and nuances that might not concern other programs with less at stake. He discussed instant-replay mistakes that have cost his players. He praised quarterback Heinrich Haarberg for embracing his role on a team that figures to be in close games every week — “you have to want to do that,” the coach said. He lamented not giving defensive back Ethan Nation more chances at punt returner Saturday and told the freshman as much the next day.

He noted how NU’s contingent of freshman receivers fought through a physical Spartan secondary intent on playing man coverage and emerged wiser for the experience. He listed the years of most of the offensive starters — almost all underclassmen amid an avalanche of injuries — as they take their first Big Ten tour.

A November with consequences. And potential rewards.

“In year one of us trying to build something here, for us to be in these types of games, I think it’s really, really, really valuable,” Rhule said. “The only thing I say to our older guys is, ‘Don’t let all this wisdom benefit the young players.’ You win games in November too by your best players making huge plays and showing up.

“We have some really good players. I need them to make big plays that come to them. We need a pick-six. We need a sack-fumble. We need those things. That’s how you win in November.”