The Nebraska football team doesn't have to play the nation's top-ranked team in Ohio State this season. However, Husker fans still have plenty of reasons to root against the Buckeyes this weekend. A former star quarterback and interim head coach, Mickey Joseph is taking his Grambling football team up against Ryan Day and Co. Joseph knows full well what's in store for him on Saturday afternoon.
The Buckeyes enter as heavy favorites over Grambling, who is coming off a blowout win against Langston, an NAIA program. Ohio State is paying Grambling $1 million this week to lighten up its non-conference schedule after knocking off the Texas Longhorns in Week 1.
Why Nebraska football fans still have a reason to root for Mickey Joseph this weekend
"We understand what we’re getting into," the former Nebraska football coach said in his weekly press conference leading up to the game. "We understand what’s gonna happen. We understand there’s not balance in the scholarship, there’s not balance in what they have resources wise and what we have resources wise. We all know why we’re playing the game."
Joseph's brutal honesty doesn't mean he's giving up hope of pulling off an upset. He simply knows that it's a tall order.
"I spoke to the coaches today and said, ‘The game better be clean. It better be clean.’ Clean to me is that we don’t have nine people on the field, we don’t have 13 people on the field. It’s clean. We play within the system, and we swing. We swing. We fight every play."
Grambling finished 5-7 last season and 2-6 in the SWAC in Joseph’s first year leading the program. They did not face a Power Four opponent in 2024, and the Buckeyes will be the only one on their schedule this year.
It's a safe bet that fans of Mickey Joseph and what he tried to do when he took over the Nebraska football program from Scott Frost will be rooting for him to pull off the ultimate upset on Saturday.