Adrian Martinez, Kansas State Football News: Draft Scout Player News

07/09/20 - QB Adrian Martinez, rSr/2023, Kansas State

Adrian Martinez's struggle was real last season. But the Nebraska junior quarterback thinks what he learned could produce benefits that are just as real. He sheds quite a bit of light during a recent "No Struggle No Story" podcast, acknowledging that his injuries last season coupled with his team's losing wore on him mentally. He also acknowledged the inherent challenges Nebraska faces in striving to become a national power again. Throughout the interview, the California native shows signs of personal growth. Yeah, the whole college thing - learning, coping, growing, thriving - seemingly is working for him. "A big operation like this, turning around one of the top football programs in the country, is tough," said Martinez, noting the strength of the Big Ten Conference. "It's going to take some time. I think we knew that."

He's now 9-12 in two seasons as Nebraska's starting quarterback after going 5-5 in 2019. Coming off a strong freshman season in 2018, he admits he felt the weight of high expectations entering last year. Then came an overtime loss at Colorado in the second game, then a 48-7 home loss to Ohio State in the fifth game. He felt pressure mounting. "It was tough," said the 6-foot-2, 225-pound native of Fresno. "I won't lie. It definitely got to me a bit during that stretch of the year, when we lost to Ohio State in a big way in a prime-time game. That was tough. We were hoping for a better result." He alluded to his injuries. First, it was a knee injury that occurred near the end of an Oct. 5 home win against Northwestern. He missed back-to-back games - losses at Minnesota and to Indiana in Lincoln. - Lincoln Journal Star

rSr/2023