Mickey Joseph says things 'slowed down' in second game coaching Nebraska

On3 imageby:Justin Rudolph10/03/22

The Nebraska Cornhuskers picked up their second win of the season on Saturday at home against the Indiana Hoosiers. The Cornhuskers won 35-21, overcoming their recent bout with late game jitters. Nebraska’s interim head coach Mickey Joseph revealed what played a vital role in the Cornhuskers’ victory in his second game leading the program.

“Yeah, like I said before, it slowed down a little bit; slowed down more,” said Joseph. “The referee knew my name this time. That was pretty cool, and I know his name. It still didn’t help. We still got line flags, but it did slow down a little.”

“It was just coaching the kids the same way. Coaching them and staying engaged with them. And I thought the coaches did a really good job of helping me do that.”

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There is still a long road ahead of Joseph and the Cornhuskers, who are battling to become bowl eligible for the first time in nearly seven years. If Nebraska can achieve that goal under Joseph’s leadership, it could possibly lead to a permanent spot as head coach. And that will give the referees plenty of opportunities to learn his name and vice versa.

Wisconsin‘s surprising decision to part ways with coach Paul Chryst on Sunday could have an effect on the coaching search at Nebraska, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

Feldman took to Twitter to weigh in on the situation, saying the performance of interim coach Jim Leonhard could determine whether the Badgers go after one of the Cornhuskers’ top candidates.

“One intriguing aspect of the Badgers making this coaching move now is it gives Jim Leonhard seven regular season games to show what he can do running the Wisconsin program,” Feldman wrote. “…If you’re a Nebraska fan, you might want to root for Jim Leonhard to win almost all of those seven games–save for the Nov. 19 game in Lincoln–so the Badgers don’t try and hire Wisconsin native Lance Leipold before the Huskers could.”

Leipold is in his second season as the head coach at Kansas, but likely won’t have to stay past this year if he doesn’t want to. He has the Jayhawks off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2009 and ranked No. 19 in the AP poll, their first appearance in 13 seasons.