Adrian Martinez

[J-MAGIC]

Did we seek them out because they were the guys we wanted above ALL other quarterbacks, or did we seek them out because they were the best we thought we could realistically get? 

No way to know for sure, but I feel fairly confident that at least Torres would never be a Nebraska commit if we were winning 11-12 games a year.

Yes, if we were winning 11-12 games a year and were one of the very best programs in the country we would be recruiting a lot better? What are you arguing for here?

With more wins we can definitely pull in some more top 100 four-star guys and maybe be a consistent top 15 recruiting school, but without a natural recruiting base this is always going to be primarily be a scout-and-develop program that's heavily dependent on finding under-the-radar guys. The staff evaluated everyone they thought they had a realistic chance at and chose the best one. I think there's some writing on the wall that we chose Torres over four star MJ Morris and higher-rated AJ Bianco. I think it's inarguable recruiting has tailed off a little this year because of the lack of wins (I would also argue not being able to get anyone on visits until a month ago has hurt a lot more), but some of you guys are way overreacting to a slight dip that is easily fixable if the wins come. 

 

[Undone]

Back to Martinez himself. Physically and athletically I believe Adrian is on an incredibly high level in terms of where his ceiling is.

If his shoulder injury stuff has completely healed (which I think you have to admit is a bit of a mystery all around) I really think he's going to do extremely well this season. The big things holding our offense back from upping our PPG mark by about 7-9 points this season is question marks at running back & receiver.

 

[suh_fan93]

The big things holding our offense back from upping our PPG mark by about 7-9 points this season is question marks at running back & receiver.

Cleaning up fumbles, interceptions (and penalties) would drastically help this offense.  I am hoping by now or going into year 4 now for Martinez this will finally be the case.  To what extent still remains to be seen obv.  After everything at this point I am hopeful that he can end his career on a higher note.

 

[Mavric]

Cleaning up fumbles, interceptions (and penalties) would drastically help this offense.  I am hoping by now or going into year 4 now for Martinez this will finally be the case.  To what extent still remains to be seen obv.  After everything at this point I am hopeful that he can end his career on a higher note.

Problems with interceptions are being vastly over-blown.  Martinez had thrown one interception ALL YEAR entering the Rutgers game.  That was the forced deep throw against Northwestern.  (the receiver didn't make much of an effort on the ball either but that's a different discussion).

Fumble stats aren't as readily available but the Rutgers game being the last game seems to stick out in people's minds.  It seems pretty plausible that it wasn't so much Martinez being careless as not being used to the sleeves.  After he took the sleeves off, he didn't fumble again (granted, small sample size).  I know he had fumbles in other games as well but I kind of think it seemed worse than it was because of the last game.

 

[suh_fan93]

Problems with interceptions are being vastly over-blown.  Martinez had thrown one interception ALL YEAR entering the Rutgers game.  That was the forced deep throw against Northwestern.  (the receiver didn't make much of an effort on the ball either but that's a different discussion).

Fumble stats aren't as readily available but the Rutgers game being the last game seems to stick out in people's minds.  It seems pretty plausible that it wasn't so much Martinez being careless as not being used to the sleeves.  After he took the sleeves off, he didn't fumble again (granted, small sample size).  I know he had fumbles in other games as well but I kind of think it seemed worse than it was because of the last game.

Even his coaches (Verduzco) have said publicly multiple times that he just needs to 'take care of the damn football'.  He isn't wrong.

 

[Mavric]

Even his coaches (Verduzco) have said publicly multiple times that he just needs to 'take care of the damn football'.  He isn't wrong.

No, he isn't wrong.  But particularly the interception part is being over-played.  For whatever reason Verdu was really upset about the NW INT.  He even said that's what got Martinez benched.  But that doesn't change the fact that it was his only INT in the first six games.  You can't do much better than that.  

It's more the four turnovers in the last game we played that almost cost us a game that we should have won easily that is stuck in people's minds.

 

[Fru]

Problems with interceptions are being vastly over-blown.  Martinez had thrown one interception ALL YEAR entering the Rutgers game.  That was the forced deep throw against Northwestern.  (the receiver didn't make much of an effort on the ball either but that's a different discussion).

Fumble stats aren't as readily available but the Rutgers game being the last game seems to stick out in people's minds.  It seems pretty plausible that it wasn't so much Martinez being careless as not being used to the sleeves.  After he took the sleeves off, he didn't fumble again (granted, small sample size).  I know he had fumbles in other games as well but I kind of think it seemed worse than it was because of the last game.

Was it Luke that threw the flukey interception against Minnesota? WR whiffed it and it just fell right into a Minn players hands.

 

[Mavric]

Was it Luke that threw the flukey interception against Minnesota? WR whiffed it and it just fell right into a Minn players hands.

Yes.

 

[suh_fan93]

I don't think the interceptions are being overplayed versus just plain old turning the ball over whether it be by int or fumble.  Better decision making.  Not a stat but if he can make better decisions going into year 4 and clean up the turnovers Nebraska's offense will be much for the better.

 

[Fru]

Yes.

Just found it. Was at the beginning of the game that set up their first TD. 

I remember seeing a tweet a while back, I'll try and find it, it said something like "Since 2000, only 10 QB's in all of college football have thrown 6 interceptions with less than 80 attempts" and Luke was the most recent inductee to that club. 

Edit: Here's the tweet 

 

[Archy1221]

Problems with interceptions are being vastly over-blown.  Martinez had thrown one interception ALL YEAR entering the Rutgers game.  That was the forced deep throw against Northwestern.  (the receiver didn't make much of an effort on the ball either but that's a different discussion).

Fumble stats aren't as readily available but the Rutgers game being the last game seems to stick out in people's minds.  It seems pretty plausible that it wasn't so much Martinez being careless as not being used to the sleeves.  After he took the sleeves off, he didn't fumble again (granted, small sample size).  I know he had fumbles in other games as well but I kind of think it seemed worse than it was because of the last game.

Taking all three seasons, Martinez has been turnover prone and the interceptions were a standout especially considering his INT/TD ratio.  Add that to his fumble history and that is why people are concerned and hope he buttons it up.  
 

If AM plays all 13 games and has over a 2/1 TD/INT ratio and under .3 fumbles per game I believe this offense will have had a great year.  His ability is there, but the drive killing turnovers combined with stupid penalties hurt

 

[funhusker]

edit: Nevermind @Archy1221...I can't count

I was thinking 13 games meant the Huskers were playing in the Big Ten Championship and a bowl.  I was going going to say we'd all be happy with AM playing in 13 games no matter his stat lines...

 

[Archy1221]

Fixed it for you.

I think we all be happy if AM plays in 13 games this year, no matter what his stat line looks like  :thumbs

True

 

[Lorewarn]

I'm sure the Oregon fan base felt the same about Mariota who didn't have offers from any big names.  Or 3 star Lamar Jackson who went on to win the Heisman at Lousville.  Most schools interested in him didn't want him to be a QB.  I'm sure fans at UCF didn't think much of 2 star McKenzie Milton.  Johnny Manziel is another 3 star with a short offer list who didn't look like much on paper.  Taylor Martinez was a 3 star that nobody expected much from.    

Not all great QBs come with a 4 star plus profile.  Staffs target who they like and secrets are pretty tough to keep at Nebraska.  If we were after a big name, it would be plastered everywhere.  We targeted those two guys because we wanted them.  We liked their character, their skill set, and the staff feels either could be the guy at some point in the future.  

Slamming a kid like Torres who hasn't even set foot on our field yet is a pretty crappy thing for a fan to do imo.   

Calm down, dude. You didn't answer my question and I didn't slam anyone. I was asking a question that didn't get answered.

The reason I was asking the question was because the other guy was arguing that since we wanted these quarterbacks, that's proof that we're not getting "leftovers" on the recruiting trail. All I was trying to get at is that that doesn't leave room for understanding that our wanted targets change and downgrade as our ability to recruit top talent gets less and less doable. 

 

[Undone]

Looking at the last three years, if I'm remembering correctly I think that most of Adrian's fumbles happen when he's stretching to get an extra yard, or when he dives and tries to plant his left hand as he extends his right arm for the best spot on the down.

I think that's just more of a maturity/development thing that he needs to clean up in year four here; just remember that it's better to wrap up the ball with both hands and not convert that first down and be able to punt it away than to risk a fumble (especially in your own territory).

As @Mavric said, he had done an incredible job of ball placement and decision making so as to avoid interceptions in his six starts heading into the Rutgers game. He made big strides in that department in year three over year two.