INDIANAPOLIS – There was a noticeable absence from Nebraska’s Big Ten Media Day contingency on Thursday.
Adrian Martinez, the Huskers’ fourth-year starting quarterback and arguably the face of the program, was not among NU’s three player representatives at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Head coach Scott Frost made sure to clarify that Martinez was not there because he’d already requested this week off to return home to Fresno, Calif., for one last break before the start of fall camp.
But even though he wasn’t in Indianapolis, Martinez was still at the forefront of discussion for Nebraska.
Maybe more so than any of his previous three seasons, the Huskers’ hopes in 2021 are directly linked to Martinez’s performance.
In a rollercoaster career that saw him go from a potential Heisman Trophy candidate to temporarily losing his starting job, NU will likely go only as far as Martinez takes it this year. According to Frost and his teammates, Martinez has never been more prepared for that responsibility.
“Not that he hadn’t worked hard before, but he’s really kicked it into gear this offseason, and I’ve been thrilled with the effort that he’s put in,” Frost said. “Like I’ve said, I think he’s in a really good place. He’s kind of weathered the highs and lows of the bright spotlight of being the quarterback at Nebraska. I think he’s comfortable in his own skin and with who he is, and I think he’s confident.”
For Martinez and Nebraska to finally get over that hump, though, he has to take better care of the football.
For as many times as Martinez has flashed game-changing potential over the past three years, a nagging tendency to make costly mistakes at the worst possible times has marred his tenure in Lincoln.
Martinez has thrown 20 interceptions with 27 fumbles (15 lost) in 28 career starts as a Husker. He was picked off eight times as a true freshman in 2018, then nine times as a sophomore in 2019.
He only had three interceptions in seven games last year, but he turned the ball over four times alone in the regular-season finale at Rutgers.
On the flip side, Martinez also has 53 total touchdowns and a 64-percent completion rate for his career.
If he can figure out how to take better care of the football, it will directly lead to more success and wins for Nebraska. His quarterback coach, Mario Verduzco, probably put it best earlier this spring.
“No more friggin’ turnovers. That’s it,” Verduzco said in the spring. “Just got to take care of the damn football.”
Senior tight end Austin Allen, NU’s lone offensive player at Big Ten Media Day, said Martinez had taken some significant steps in locking in better both mentally and physically.
Martinez trimmed his body down closer to where he was during his breakout freshman campaign in 2018, and he’s looked like a completely different athlete from where he was the past two years.
“Adrian does look physically better,” Allen said. “He looks better on the practice field. He looks better running. He’s a great leader, and he keeps growing as a leader. He knows this is the year that he needs to change Nebraska.
“He needs to get Nebraska going in the right direction because he’s been here. He’s seen himself successful his freshman year. He’s seen his sophomore and junior years where things were a little shaky. He’s coming with the mentality that, ‘I’m giving it all I’ve got because this is all I’ve got left.’ It’s all or nothing, really. He’s got to give his all because Nebraska’s given its all to him.”
There’s likely not a more important player on the roster in terms of impacting Nebraska’s 2021 success. Still, Martinez has become somewhat of an afterthought on the Big Ten and national college football stage.
Unlike previous years, he’s hardly mentioned in any preseason all-conference selections or award watch lists.
But as far as Frost is concerned, under the radar is precisely where Martinez needs to be.
“I think he’s starting off in the right place right now, and I think he’s got a great opportunity to go earn any accolades and attention that he can get,” Frost said. “I think he can do it.”
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