Martinez Gains More National Recognition

 

The honors continued to roll in for Taylor Martinez on Monday, as the redshirt freshman was announced as one of 16 semifinalists for the 2010 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, in addition to earning a pair of player-of-the-week honors.

Martinez is the only freshman among the Davey O'Brien semifinalists and is one of four quarterbacks from the Big 12 Conference to make the list. He is the first Husker to be a semifinalist for the award since Eric Crouch, who won the award in 2001. The Davey O'Brien Award also features a fan vote that accounts for five percent of the voting total. Fans can vote for Martinez by visiting www.voteobrien.org.

A native of Corona, Calif., Martinez has led Nebraska to top-20 national rankings in rushing (fifth), scoring offense (10th) and total offense (17th). He has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,046 yards and eight touchdowns. On the ground, Martinez has rushed for 870 yards on 100 carries, scoring 12 times.

Martinez needs only 130 rushing yards to become just the third freshman in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to both run and pass for 1,000 yards. Martinez is also 223 yards away from posting the highest rushing total ever by a freshman quarterback. Among the individual NCAA leaders, Martinez ranks in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards per game (9th) and scoring (t-10th) and is among the top 25 individuals in passing efficiency (20th) and total offense (23rd).

In addition to being a Davey O'Brien semifinalist, Martinez was also honored as the Big 12 co-Offensive Player of the Week and the Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week. The Big 12 honor marked Martinez's second honor in the past three weeks, while he was named the national freshman of the week for the fourth time this season. On Sunday, Martinez was also selected as the Walter Camp Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week.

Martinez was honored with those awards following an outstanding performance in Nebraska's 51-41 win at previously unbeaten Oklahoma State last Saturday. Against the Cowboys, Martinez completed 23-of-35 passes for 323 yards and five touchdowns, with each of those totals setting a Nebraska freshman record. He added 112 rushing yards on 19 carries to become the first Husker and only the fifth freshman in NCAA history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in a single game.

Martinez's 435 yards of total offense set a Nebraska freshman record and ranked third overall in Husker history. Through seven games, Martinez has already set Nebraska freshman records for season passing yards (1,046), longest rush (80 yards, twice) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (3), along with tying Ahman Green's freshman record of five 100-yard rushing games.

Martinez has also set Nebraska freshman game records for rushing touchdowns (4), passing touchdowns (5), passing yards (323) and total offense (435), and he also owns the Nebraska quarterback record for most rushing yards in a game (241).

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