Nebraska vs. Fresno State: Taylor Martinez a One-Man Show

Saturday night's game against Fresno State had Cornhuskers fans on the edge of their seats. While most Cornhuskers fans thought this game would be another tune-up for the more difficult teams on their schedule, Fresno State brought their “Play anyone, anywhere, anytime” attitude into Memorial Stadium and almost upset the Cornhuskers.

The game ended 42-29 in the Cornhuskers' favor, but Fresno State had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter. The emotional roller coaster was a ride that wouldn’t end for Cornhuskers fans. At the controls of the ride was quarterback Taylor Martinez.

The stats themselves would seem to indicate that Taylor Martinez had a dominant performance. I am sure that some people (who obviously did not watch the game) will be using Martinez’s name in Heisman Trophy discussions. Martinez played the part of T-Magic at times but also looked like a quarterback that had the weight of the state of Nebraska on his back the entire game.

Taylor Martinez finished the game with 219 yards passing and 166 yards rushing with three total touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions (one occurred on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the first half) and fumbled twice (both recovered by Nebraska). As Martinez went, so did the Cornhuskers offense. He looked like a one-man show for Nebraska Saturday night.

Martinez’s performance was something to see! He had four plays of over 40 yards in the game. Just as soon as fans had thoughts of bringing in the backup quarterback because they couldn’t stand to see him fumble and make selfish plays, Martinez would run away from defenders and race to the end zone. The fans cheered and the love-hate relationship between themselves and Martinez was back on.

After the game coach Bo Pelini was asked, “Do you just learn to live with some of the mistakes he makes because of what he give you from a big-play perspective?" Bo replied, “No! We want him to clean those up obviously, but no one's perfect. He's only about 15 games in as a starter; he's not going to play perfect. A lot of people would take what he did...I am glad he is on our team.”

It is good to see the head coach back his quarterback. Without Martinez the Cornhuskers would not have won the game. If the Cornhuskers want to improve they must be able to run a more balanced offense. The Taylor Martinez show will not work against the much tougher opponents coming up on the Nebraska schedule.

Instead of living and dying off the big play (mostly provided by Taylor Martinez), the Cornhuskers must be able to produce more consistent plays offensively. During the first two weeks of the season, the Nebraska offense could not find their rhythm. Instead of gaining four or five yards at a time, the Cornhusker offense would gain one yard, negative yards, one yard, negative yards, and then BOOM, a 60-yard play. That kind of offense will work against teams like Tennessee Chattanooga and Fresno State, but when Wisconsin or Ohio State is the opposing team, the Cornhuskers will be in trouble.

There is hope for the Cornhuskers. Taylor Martinez played sloppy football in the first half but came out the second half and looked like a much improved quarterback. In the first half, Martinez only completed two of his 13 passes. In the second half, Martinez was more efficient completing eight of 10 passes. The Cornhuskers need the second-half Martinez to show up each week.

Next week’s opponent, Washington, is a much better team than Fresno State. Last year, Martinez had two completely different performances against Washington. In the first meeting, Taylor Martinez played the part of T-Magic with his 289-yard, three-touchdown performance. In the second meeting with Washington, Martinez had 76 total yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and two fumbles. Which Taylor Martinez will the Cornhuskers have next week against Washington? Cornhuskers fans hope it will be T-Magic!