Onus squarely on Martinez to produce

No matter who takes snaps for the Nebraska football team, from Jerry Tagge to Turner Gill to Tommie Frazier to Scott Frost to Eric Crouch to Jamal Lord to Zac Lee to Taylor Martinez, you can count on a lot of scrutiny.

Martinez, who enters his junior season, has had a checkered career so far at Nebraska. 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 162 of 288 passes (56.3 percent) for 2,076 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. As a runner, he gained 875 yards on 188 carries (4.6 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.

The vibe, however, was much different as in 2010, when Martinez was a big play waiting to happen the first ten games. 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.

He was more of a team leader than as a freshman but will never be confused for a martinet. 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 were down a bit this year. He threw one more interception on 93 more passes.

Though a segment of Husker fans will clamor for a change whether it’s freshman Brion Carnes, wide receiver Jamal Turner or for that matter incoming freshman Tommy Armstrong, Martinez will be the starter until further notice.

However, the 2012 season is when you stop rationalizing Martinez’s shortcomings. For openers, Martinez will not be learning a new offense and Nebraska appears to have a more-clear cut identity under current offensive coordinator Tim Beck than it did under Shawn Watson. The Huskers run a mixture of zone read, pistol and old school option. However, those three principles are much more in tune with each other than when Nebraska was trying to marry West Coast Offense principles with a variation of the 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.

Martinez has also taken the time to address his fundamentals (or lack thereof) this offseason.

Martinez returned to his native California and worked with noted quarterbacks guru Steve Calhoun. Addressing Martinez’s footwork was the biggest objective.

After the Huskers 30-13 Capitol One Bowl game loss to South Carolina, Beck and Martinez identified five or six areas Martinez needed to improve during the offseason. Footwork topped the list, and on advice of his father, Casey, Martinez went to Calhoun's Armed & Dangerous camp last month.

They worked on dropping back with his right foot rather than his left and squaring his shoulders on throws.