Nebraska Interim HC Mickey Joseph Takes Blame for Blowout Loss to No. 6 Oklahoma

Mickey Joseph's first game as interim head coach for the Nebraska football team went a lot like many of games during the Scott Frost era.

Speaking to reporters after the Cornhuskers' 49-14 loss to Oklahoma, Joseph shouldered the blame for his team's performance.

"This is on me, not my players, not my assistant coaches," Joseph said. "I've got to do a better job, and I will. I've got to accept responsibility for it, and I have. We've got eight games left, and we're going to get ready to win some games."

Joseph was originally hired as an associate head coach, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator on Frost's staff in December. He spent the previous five seasons as an assistant at LSU.

After a 1-2 start to the season, which included blowing an 11-point lead against Northwestern and a loss to Georgia Southern, Frost was fired as head coach on Sept. 11.

Joseph took over on an interim basis. The 54-year-old played quarterback at Nebraska from 1988-91.

The Cornhuskers got off to a good start against the sixth-ranked Sooners. They went 77 yards in six plays on their opening drive, capped by Casey Thompson's 32-yard touchdown pass to Trey Palmer for a 7-0 lead.

Oklahoma went on to score 49 unanswered points before Nebraska broke the streak with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

It's dark times for the Nebraska football program right now. The team hasn't had a winning record since 2016 and hasn't won a bowl game since the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl when Mike Riley was head coach.

Things have gotten so bad that the crowd at Memorial Stadium was chanting for Urban Meyer before kickoff and during the game.

Nebraska, perhaps mercifully, has next week off to regroup before hosting Indiana on Oct. 1.