Martinez is No. 1, but battle with McCaffrey far from over

Nebraska may have answered the looming question of who its starting quarterback would be to open the season this week at Ohio State, but the situation still appears far from settled.

Head coach Scott Frost confirmed Monday that junior Adrian Martinez would be the No. 1 quarterback against the Buckeyes on Saturday. Yet he made it clear several times on Monday that redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey was only a play or two away from potentially taking over that role.

“I feel like I’ve got two guys that are playing at a really high level,” Frost said. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement out of Adrian this year. I’ve seen a lot of improvement out of Luke this year. Both those guys are capable of moving our offense and doing a great job.”

The reports all offseason had been that McCaffrey, who played in four games last season while preserving his redshirt, gave Martinez all he could handle each day in practice.

In the end, Frost admitted that Martinez, who has 21 career starts under his belt to McCaffrey’s zero, got the nod to open the year primarily because of the advantage of experience.

Beyond that, though, he said the competition remained a total toss-up.

“First, let me say that I don’t know how much separation there is,” Frost said. “I think we have two first-string quarterbacks. That’s the way we feel about them. I really believe that if Luke would’ve been the one playing and we would’ve had the same camp, it would probably be Luke (as the starter).

“They both had tremendous camps, and we see ourselves as having the luxury of having two starters.”

Martinez compared this extended offseason to what he went through as a true freshman two years ago when he beat Tristan Gebbia for the starting job during fall camp. Martinez said he’s thrived on the competition with McCaffrey the past few months just as much as he did against Gebbia in 2018.

“It was more similar to that first year than it was to last year, and I think it brought the most out of myself and Luke,” Martinez said. “It really got us going, and I think it was only a positive change.”

Frost isn’t the only Husker who hasn't see many differences when Martinez or McCaffrey was on the field.

Senior guard Matt Farniok, who had served as Martinez’s starting right tackle the past two seasons, said he felt equally comfortable with McCaffrey running the offense as he did with Martinez.

“I mean, (McCaffrey) is an extremely talented guy,” Farniok said. “Honestly, if he’s behind us, there’s really no drop-off. He does a great job of pushing himself and Adrian. He’s an ultimate competitor, and he’s someone that loves this game of football.

“No question, if he is ever in the game and we need him, there’s 100-percent confidence behind him because I know he’s going to make the right call, and I know he’s got confidence in himself to make the play.”