Nebraska Football: Is Taylor Martinez Improving as a Passer?

If Nebraska is to contend for conference titles and national titles, NU must have improved performance from Taylor Martinez. Without effective quarterback play, a good argument can be made that it doesn’t matter how well the team performs in every other area. Martinez’s growth, maturity and improvement are critical for Nebraska to have the success the team and the fans demand.

Looking at the intangibles, Martinez has experience working for him. 2012 will be his third year as a starting quarterback (assuming, as just about everyone does, that he wins the job in the spring). It will also be his second year working with Tim Beck’s offense, meaning this will be the first time Martinez hasn’t had to learn a new offense in the offseason.

In an article in the Omaha World-Herald, Martinez has also said he has devoted himself in the offseason to improving his footwork, which he said was one of the primary causes for his struggles in the passing game. Most commentators reviewing Martinez’s performance cited his (ahem) unorthodox mechanics as a reason why he struggled as an effective passer.

But his explanation—that he did not have ample time during the season to correct mechanical issues in his throwing motion—does make a lot of sense. Any golfer knows you don’t try to fix issues with your swing in the middle of the round; you wait until after the round is over to fix them on the range. If Martinez is using the offseason as his “range time” to improve his throwing mechanics, one would have to think that is an optimistic sign for his improvement.

Martinez has frequently cited his game management skills as the biggest area of improvement between his freshman and sophomore seasons. And it’s true that Martinez seemed to be running the game smarter, making better decisions in terms of keeping or pitching the ball as well as protecting himself when he did run the ball.

But let’s take a look underneath the hood and see how his statistics compare between his freshman and sophomore campaigns. Although he’s a quarterback, I think it is illustrative to compare his rushing statistics first:

• 2010: 162 attempts, 965 yards, 5.96 yards per carry
• 2011: 189 attempts, 874 yards, 4.62 yards per carry

So the statistics bear out what we probably knew intuitively: that Martinez was not nearly as effective of a running threat in 2011 as he was in 2010.

But how about his passing numbers?

• 2010: 59.2 percent completion, 8.3 yards/attempt, 10 TD, 7 INT, 138.78 QB rating
• 2011: 56.3 percent completion, 7.3 yards/attempt, 13 TD, 8 INT, 126.52 QB rating

In almost every comparative category, Martinez’s numbers as a passer went down in 2011 compared to 2010. Does that mean he had a worse year throwing the ball in 2011 compared to 2010? Not necessarily. Let’s take a look at a critical statistic that can explain the difference in his overall numbers.

• 2010: 196 passing attempts, 15.07 attempts/game
• 2011: 288 passing attempts, 22.15 attempts/game

In 2011, new offensive coordinator Tim Beck asked Martinez to throw almost 100 more times than he did in 2010, which averages out to over seven additional pass attempts per game. So the solutions to Nebraska’s offensive woes may be more complex than just whether Martinez is improving as a passer. It may also hinge on Beck’s ability to find the right run/pass balance that maximizes the skills of his players on the field.

Look at the Wisconsin game as a case in chief. With 9:40 left in the second quarter, Nebraska held a 14-13 lead over the Badgers. From that point until the end of the half, Nebraska called two designed running plays and 10 passing plays. We all remember how that ended. Two Nebraska interceptions, 14 unanswered Wisconsin points and the game functionally being over at halftime.

So in looking forward to 2012, it’s fair to say that Martinez has some work to do improving his passing skills. To his credit, he acknowledges as much in his World-Herald interview. But Beck also has some work to do in year two of his role as offensive coordinator to find better ways to utilize all of his offensive weapons, both Martinez and his stable of running backs led by Rex Burkhead, in ways that maximize their ability to succeed.

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