Regardless of who takes the snap from center for the Nebraska football team, he is subject to an intense microscope. That pressure intensified to a greater degree after Tommie Frazier led the Huskers to consecutive National Championships in 1994-1995.
The pressure intensified whether it was Scott Frost, Eric Crouch, Jamal Lord, Joe Dailey, Zac Taylor, Sam Keller, Joe Ganz, Zac Lee and now Taylor Martinez.
Frost carved out his place in Husker lore by leading the team to a split National Title with Michigan in 1997. What added to the angst Husker fans initially showed against Frost was the fact that he was a native Nebraskan who decided to go to Stanford initially as he was heavily courted by then Cardinal head coach Bill Walsh, who was also a Hall-of-Fame NFL head coach. Frost then transferred to Nebraska after Walsh retired from coaching.
Crouch won a Heisman Trophy in 2001 but like Martinez had a polarizing career. Keep in mind, for all of the good things Crouch brought, he presided over the two embarrassing losses (62-36 to Colorado and 37-14 to Miami) that contributed to sending the Huskers into a tailspin. Those were Crouch’s last two college football games.
Lord took a ton of heat from fans and justifiably so but even with his athleticism was better suited to being a defensive back. Dailey would have been well suited as an option quarterback but the problem is that Bill Callahan became the Huskers head coach during his sophomore year and in came the West Coast Offense. Taylor was perhaps the saving grace of the Callahan years. Keller was a flop after transferring from Arizona State. Ganz and Lee did some good things but were only starters for one year.
You look at the raw numbers of Martinez’s first two seasons and there appears to be very little difference. In 2010, he completed 107 of 195 (54.8 percent) for 1,631 yards, ten touchdowns and seven interceptions. As a runner, he gained 966 yards 172 carries (5.6 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns. In 2011, Martinez completed 152 of 272 passes (55.9 percent) for 1,973 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. As a runner, he gained 837 yards on 172 carries (4.8 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.
Knowing what we know about Martinez's career up to this point, interpret the stats however you see fit, but don't forget to factor in his injury last year game as well as the offensive coordinator change from Shawn Watson to Tim Beck.
Statistics can convince you of just about anything so sometimes you have to look beyond just the raw numbers.
In the first ten games of 2010, Martinez was a big play waiting to happen. He rushed 887 yards on 112 carries and 12 touchdowns. In the passing department, he completed 63 of 119 for 1,161 yards, ten touchdowns and three interceptions. After sustaining an ankle injury, however, Martinez became pretty ordinary as he carried 50 times for 79 yards. In the passing department, he completed 44 of 76 for 470 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.
Nebraska, however, gave up 29 sacks last year but more specifically they gave up 12 sacks in their last 2 games (seven against Oklahoma and five against Washington). So far they've allowed just 15 sacks this season entering the Capital One Bowl game against South Carolina.
Martinez made a noticeable improvement this year on moving the chains by making good decisions in the passing game - whether to hit a check-down or scrambling.
He was more of a team leader.
His running stats are down a bit as some zealots point out the fewer jaw-dropping runs this season but much of Martinez's 2010 running stats came in the first few games against suspect defenses. Great highlights, but not very meaningful numbers. Also, turnovers are down a bit this year. He threw the same number of interceptions on about 77 more passes.
The cynics would point out that Martinez has not played well in big games. At which point I say, “Let me know when there’s a little one.”
The Huskers 48-17 loss to Wisconsin was the only game he played terrible. The rest of the time he was somewhere between OK and good. In the 28-25 loss to Northwestern he played well but the defense gave the game away and the 45-17 loss to Michigan was a total team failure as was the aforementioned loss to Wisconsin.
The other factor becomes, are the Huskers using him right? Nebraska appears to have a more clear cut identity under Beck than they did under Watson. The Huskers run a mixture of zone read, pistol and old school option. The zone read and pistol suit Martinez well but not the old school option, which gets the fans going from a nostalgia standpoint but doesn't suit Martinez's running skill which is a straight ahead burst or nothing.
To execute the option, you need to have a physical guy playing quarterback. Martinez is not that guy. The quarterback needs to step up and into traffic in order to force the edge to commit to him or the running back. Martinez runs back and out instead of into pursuit and outside. He doesn't really force the pursuit to commit as more often than not, Martinez runs towards the running back.
Some people would argue that coaching staff has hamstrung Martinez by turning him into a game manager. However, it should also be pointed out that the Huskers have faced much better defenses in 2011 than a year ago. This season, Nebraska has faced five teams (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State) that rank in the Top 25 in total team defense and will be facing a sixth (South Carolina) in the Capital One Bowl. In 2010, the Huskers faced only one defense (Missouri) that ranked in the Top 25 in total team defense. That was the game Martinez got hurt in 31-17 win but in that contest it was running back Roy Helu that did the heavy lifting in rushing for a school record 307 yards.
Does Martinez still need to improve more? Sure, what sophomore doesn’t but he has improved more than the numbers suggest and more than his critics want to acknowledge.
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