The last time Nebraska football played a game in Fresno, Calif. it was 99 degrees for a 7:40 pm kickoff in mid-September.
So you can imagine the biggest adjustment thus far in Lincoln for early enrollee freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez has been the April artic blast we’ve seen around the state
However, other than weather, things have been fairly seamless for the Fresno native as he makes his way through spring practice.
“It’s been great,” Martinez said. “I would say the toughest adjustment has been the weather. I’ve had a lot of guys help me along, and have been good brothers to me, so everything has been good.”
Make no bones about it, Martinez came to Lincoln early to win the starting quarterback job. History is against him, as no true freshman quarterback has started a season opener at NU, but it has been done by players like Tommie Frazier (1992) and Cody Green (2009) by mid-season.
We’ve also seen three redshirt freshmen start games recently at Nebraska in Eric Crouch (1998) Taylor Martinez (2010) and Tommy Armstrong (2013).
Adrian Martinez is walking into a unique situation in that he’s on the same starting point with all the other quarterbacks on campus.
Never before has a coaching change happened at NU where the newly hired staff was able to recruit a highly touted signal caller to enroll early and match their system. That's what makes Martinez's situation different from all the other freshman quarterbacks in recent history.
“I want to try to be the best that I can be personally,” Martinez said. “I want to try and gain the starting role, and I think that’s all the quarterback's goal. Obviously, as a team, we want to win a championship.”
Martinez is coming off a season where he missed his senior year with a shoulder injury, but as a junior, he passed for 2,562 yards and 25 touchdowns, to go along with 1,462 yards rushing and 14 scores on the ground.
He’s the type of quarterback new head coach Scott Frost wants to build with going forward, but the question is can he play now?
Frost doesn’t seem like he’s in any hurry to make that decision on Martinez, or any of his quarterbacks for that matter. He’s already set the stage for a potential August competition.
“We have until September to figure out who’s going to be the first guy on the field,” Frost said on Tuesday.
Thus far Martinez said he’s a big fan of what he’s seen from Frost and his offense.
“It’s fun out there,” Martinez said. “We play fast out there. Coach Frost is pushing us, and it’s a lot of fun for me personally because it gives me the freedom to run the ball and play and have fun.”
We are also nearly a week away from the April 21 Red-White spring game, and Martinez is looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of 90,000 fans in Memorial Stadium.
“I just want to learn the offense, get comfortable with things and earn the respect of the guys and try to prove myself in a way, and I feel like I’ve done that so far,” Martinez said.
