Mickey Joseph, Nebraska hope to play spoiler against Iowa

At 3-8, Nebraska doesn’t have anything tangible to play for. The Cornhuskers don’t have a bowl, they don’t have a Big Ten West crown. Instead, they have things like pride. They want to send Mickey Joseph, the interim head coach, out on a high note. Perhaps most importantly, Nebraska wants to play the role of spoiler for rival Iowa.

Mickey Joseph confirmed that much while speaking to the media in the week leading up to the game.

“Yeah, they can be the spoiler,” Mickey Joseph said. “Yeah, we talked about that, and I think it’s the next game and I know it’s a rivalry game.”

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“So, I know they’re going to be up for it. They’re going to come out and play at full force this game.”

With a win in this game, Iowa would win the Big Ten West. If they lose, things get more complicated. With a loss, Iowa could still win the Big Ten Championship, but the Hawkeyes would need Illinois and Purdue to lose to Northwestern and Indiana respectively, which isn’t likely.

This will likely be Mickey Joseph’s last game as the Nebraska head coach. There is still some chance that Nebraska removes his interim tag, but most people expect an outside hire.

Nebraska leads the all-time series over Iowa 29-20-3. However, Iowa has won the last seven games in this series.

Mickey Joseph believes Nebraska is better now than how he found it

This has been a difficult season for Nebraska. After firing Scott Frost early in the year, Mickey Joseph was promoted to interim head coach. Both coaches played for Nebraska and wanted what was best for the program. It hasn’t worked out, though.

Now, approaching what will likely be Mickey Joseph’s last game, he feels that the program is better than how he found it.

“Well, I think they’re better now than when I found them. I think there is a better team, a more confident team,” Mickey Joseph said.

“No, they haven’t gotten the wins, but I think they’re better people right now. They can see the growth in themselves, and I can see the growth in them. I think that they know that they can build something here; we’re a couple of pieces away. Because we played some close games, and when we come back on Sundays, we identify what happened. so we know where a couple of pieces away that we need to get up in here to help us get over that hump.”