Ad Disclosure
Rapid Reaction: Adrian Martinez fuels Nebraska to dominating win over Northwestern
Published:
Final Score: Northwestern 7, Nebraska 56
Brief Recap: Nebraska came in looking to create a spark of intensity on both sides of the ball. The Huskers were able to do so early and often as they dominated Northwestern from start to finish. Dual-threat quarterback Adrian Martinez was able to extend drives for Nebraska through the RPO-schemes. Nebraska scored 3 touchdowns in the first quarter, all of them on the ground from Martinez. Nebraska went into halftime with a 35-7 lead over Northwestern by outgaining them in total yards accounted for 398-to-198.
In the second half, Nebraska head coach Scott Frost wanted his team to clean up the mistakes left in the first half. Nebraska’s defense only allowed 106 total yards of offense from Northwestern’s offense. Nebraska scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and one touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Key Player: Adrian Martinez has had an up-and-down career at Nebraska, but he had one of the biggest games of his career versus Northwestern. Martinez scored 3 rushing touchdowns all in the first quarter. He also threw for 202 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 completions and only 6 incompletions. That 1 passing touchdown came in the third quarter on a 38-yard pass to Samari Toure. He completed a 70-yard pass to Toure in the first play from scrimmage in the first drive of the game for Nebraska.
Key Moment: Several plays helped set the momentum for Nebraska in the first quarter. The biggest play that resulted in a touchdown for Nebraska was the 19-yard RPO run play in their third drive of the game. Martinez was a smart and elusive playmaker as he used his legs to completely throw off the Northwestern defense. That play made it clear that Northwestern could not be able to stop Nebraska’s dynamic offense.
Key Stat: 56 points scored. Nebraska was able to score the most points in four years of Scott Frost as head coach. This was also the highest Nebraska has scored in a B1G game as a member of the B1G.
What it means moving forward: After some disastrous results some close losses, Nebraska is finally showing the progress of development in the fourth year of Scott Frost as head coach. While they are not going to be contending for a conference title, they are on a path where Nebraska could be playing in their first post-season bowl game since the 2016 season.