The needle on the buzz-o-meter has pushed into the red area, and Taylor Martinez hasn't yet taken a snap.
A young quarterback with blazing speed. A team in need of an offensive spark. A fan base with memories and dreams of option keepers and oxygen mask-seeking defenders.
Throw in a nickname like "T-Magic," and Betty Crocker couldn't concoct a better recipe for hype.
What happens, then, when Martinez actually plays Saturday night against Western Kentucky?
And what if he starts?
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini declined Thursday to name his starting quarterback, saying the answer will come Saturday.
Zac Lee? Cody Green? Martinez?
Know this: No quarterback in Nebraska history has started the season's first game as a redshirted freshman.
Not Gill. Not Frazier. Not Crouch.
Maybe T-Magic?
"I don't know where he got the name from, and I don't know how it came about," wide receiver Niles Paul said, "but we call him T-Magic."
Safety P.J. Smith doesn't know the nickname's origin, either. Not a clue. He said he doesn't think Martinez gave himself the nickname, noting Martinez is quiet, reserved and humble.
But check out what Martinez writes to Husker fans on what appears to be his authentic Facebook page for fans:
T-Magic "The Uncanny Ability To Make Things Happen!"
3 Is A Magic Number
Martinez Magic
Not surprisingly, fans have responded with praise:
"Hey taylor i watched you in the spring game you were outstanding you were the best qb out there i believe you should be the starter this year you remind of tommy frazier"
"TMagic, how would (you) personally rank your Fall Camp? Strengths & Weaknesses."
"Hope you are kicking some butt in fall camp!"
"If Nebraska ... starts you you will win the Heisman Every Year you play you are the Definition of a man Good Luck this year."
"Starting QB this year man. Good luck."
A little much for someone who's never played? Perhaps. But Smith isn't scoffing at the accolades. Or the nickname. Not after seeing what Martinez did one day in practice.
Smith described how Martinez dropped back to pass and barely eluded a pass rush. He broke free. Somebody hit him, and Martinez spun away. Then came a stiff arm. Then another hit, and another spin move.
"Actually, he spun twice, and the same time he was spinning, he was falling, and somehow, he kept his balance," Smith said. "We had a guy like two feet from him. ..."
Thirty yards later. ...
"That kid's amazing. Amazing. He flies around, he's fast. We'll be in coverage, and nobody's open, and next you know -- pshwoo! -- he'll just take off. And you're like, 'Aw, s--.' I mean, he's just gone."
Headache for a defensive coordinator, perhaps?
"He's hell," Smith said. "You'll have to put a spy on him, but I don't even think a spy can hold him."
While Martinez turns heads with his speed, his improved passing throughout fall camp is what's kept him in the thick of the starting race.
The first week, Paul said, Martinez was rushing.
"Then you saw him get comfortable back there with us and finally catch a rhythm back there with all the receivers," Paul said, "and he started putting the ball in places it was supposed to be."
Said Smith: "His passing got really better. He's throwing good balls. He'll squeeze a couple of balls here and there, and you're like, 'How the hell did he get in that in there?' "
Both Paul and Smith emphasized that Nebraska has three good quarterbacks, that any three are qualified to start.
For now, only one is causing a fervor among Big Red.
We'll hear from Martinez in a couple of days, after he's played. Until then, he's off-limits to the media.
If you're wondering what he's thinking, there's this Facebook message from Martinez, posted Aug. 14 -- two days after his absence from practice (excused, Pelini said) created a stir:
"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." -- Michael Jordan
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