Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 2 - Adrian Martinez

The quarterback at the dawn of the Scott Frost era had so much promise. Also, the "Swiss Army knife" who never said no.

Counting down the greatest Nebraska football players by jersey number. | HuskerMax

Dave Feit is counting down the days until the start of the 2025 season by naming the best Husker to wear each uniform number, as well as one of his personal favorites at that number. For more information about the series, click here. To see more entries, click here.


Greatest Husker to wear 2: Adrian Martinez, Quarterback, 2018-2021

Honorable Mention: Jeff Krejci

Also worn by: Rene Anderson, Antonio Bell, Jim Burrow, Major Culbert, Zack Darlington, Mike Demps, Leslie Dennis, Corey Dixon, Isaac Gifford, Aaron Green, Cortney Grixby, T.J. Hollowell, Mickey Joseph, Mike McCashland, Ross Pilkington, Von Sheppard, Caleb Tannor, Aaron Terpening, Patrick Witt

Dave's Fave: Zack Darlington, Swiss Army Knife, 2014-2017


In 2017, the Mike Riley era was crashing and burning.

New defensive coordinator Bob Diaco was a disaster. The defense - which was disgracing the "Blackshirts" name - ranked 12th (or worse) in the Big Ten conference in 11 different statistical categories. The defense did finish eighth in fourth down conversion percentage, but that was largely because teams rarely needed to go for it on fourth down. Offensively, transfer quarterback Tanner Lee threw 16 interceptions in 12 games.

The athletic director who hired Riley - Shawn Eichorst - was fired after an embarrassing home loss to Northern Illinois. Bill Moos was hired from Washington State to replace him. When the Huskers lost six of their final seven games, it was clear Mike Riley was done at Nebraska.

Bill Moos built a nice résumé at Washington State, but he was hired to accomplish one thing: hire Scott Frost as Nebraska's head football coach. Frost had THE perfect résumé to resurrect Nebraska football, checking every box a fan or alum could want:

• Native son. Frost graduated from Wood River High School, west of Kearney.
• Former player. Frost quarterbacked the 1997 team to a national championship in Tom Osborne's final season.
• Husker legacy. Scott's dad Larry was a standout player for coach Bob Devaney. His mom Carol was a decorated track and field athlete at NU, competing in the Olympics.
• Exciting offense. As the offensive coordinator at Oregon, Frost called plays for the Ducks' up-tempo high scoring offense.
• Head coaching success. Frost took over a Central Florida program that had gone 0-12 in 2015 (albeit with significant talent on hand). In his first season, Frost took UCF to a bowl game, finishing 6-7. In 2017, there was magic in Orlando. The Knights went 13-0, defeating Auburn in the Peach Bowl and claiming a share of the national championship. Frost was the hottest coaching candidate in the nation.

Bill Moos got his man, Scott Frost, in late 2017. | University of Nebraska Communications

In Lincoln, Scott Frost was the "break glass in case of emergency" hire. He was widely viewed as the only person capable of restoring the Huskers to their former glory. Nebraska had an emergency, and Bill Moos (with persuasion from others*) broke the glass. On Dec. 2, 2017, Scott Frost was hired as Nebraska's head coach.

*It has been widely reported that Frost had reservations about leaving UCF. He was building something special at UCF. Frost understood the good - and bad - of the Nebraska fishbowl better than most. In Orlando, he and his wife could be relatively anonymous. In Lincoln… no chance. But Frost's dad was in declining health. Nebraska could be a great place to start a family. Frost received pressure from friends and teammates, notably former receiver/radio color commentator Matt Davison. And Frost did not want to disappoint his mentor Tom Osborne. But make no mistake: Frost made his own decision to come home.

Nebraska's near-upset of Ohio State in Columbus was part of a strong finish to Adrian Martinez's freshman season. | Joe Maiorana-Imagn Images

Wanting to honor his commitment to the 2017 UCF team, Frost and his staff (all of whom were hired at Nebraska) stayed on to coach the bowl game. This meant Frost was working around the clock. In December, Frost flew to Fresno, Calif., to recruit a four-star quarterback named Adrian Martinez to Nebraska before flying back to Orlando to lead UCF's bowl practices.

Martinez, one of Frost's first recruits, was to be the centerpiece of Frost's offensive vision to mesh Oregon's speed with Husker power.

Martinez won the starting job in fall camp, making him the first true freshman to open the season as Nebraska's starting quarterback in the post World War II era. His debut against Colorado was exciting: 304 yards of total offense, including 117 on the ground, and three total touchdowns. But Martinez was injured near the end of the game (a loss) and was unable to play the following week against Troy (another loss). The Huskers would get off to an 0-6 start in Frost's first season - the worst start to any Nebraska football season ever.

In discussing Taylor Martinez (no relation), we talked about six words that described his legacy. Most of those same words apply to Adrian Martinez as well.

Wow.

Highlight-reel plays with blazing speed and big throws. Adrian had the creativity and ability to make something out of nothing possessed by few quarterbacks in school history.

Adrian Martinez's five-yard touchdown run gives Nebraska a fourth-quarter lead against Michigan in 2021. His fumble minutes later contributed to yet another one-score loss for the Huskers. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Turnovers.

Adrian had a nasty habit of giving the ball up at the worst possible moment. A sampling from the 2021 season: A strip sack at Illinois that was returned for a touchdown. An interception in overtime of the Michigan State game. A fumble near the end of the Michigan game.

Like Taylor Martinez, their collective turnover numbers were certainly impacted by a desire to make something happen, poor decision-making, and questionable throwing mechanics. Taylor often threw into a crowd. Adrian tended to overthrow open receivers. Both carried the football like it was covered in spikes.

Records.

Adrian holds multiple Nebraska records (notably, total offense, career completions and pretty much every quarterback record for a freshman) and is in the top 10 for numerous others.

Adrian Martinez is helped after being injured on a controversial play in his first game as a Husker, against Colorado in 2018. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Injured.

Adrian Martinez missed his senior season of high school with a torn labrum. He suffered his first injury in the Colorado game of his freshman season, missing one game. Injuries kept him out of two games in 2019. During the 2021 season, he played through a high ankle sprain, a broken jaw,* and one half with a shoulder injury that cost him the final game of his junior season.

*Frost, in an attempt to downplay injury rumors, joked that Martinez was suffering from "lupus and leprosy and smallpox and all these other things." He said this as - unbeknownst to the public - Martinez's jaw was wired shut.  

Polarizing

Due to how eligibility was handled during the COVID-19 pandemic, Adrian could have returned for a fifth season in 2022. When he chose to enter the transfer portal, many fans were happy to see him go.

Adrian Martinez is the only three-time captain in program history. No matter what one thinks of his performance in big moments, his leadership was indisputable.

Overall, Adrian Martinez's career is symbolic of the Scott Frost era: On paper, the sky was the limit. In reality, there were flashes of brilliance, but it was ultimately derailed by painful mistakes and losses.

That said, I really liked Adrian Martinez - both as a quarterback and as a person. I had hoped he would come back for his senior season, but I completely understood his desire for a fresh start. Hopefully, history will look kindly on his career.

* * *

What do you do when life doesn’t go the way you planned? When you get knocked down and/or out?

Do you pout and feel sorry for yourself? Do you fold like a poker player with a losing hand? Or do you dust yourself off, keep battling, and try to make the best of things?

Zack Darlington chose the latter.

Zack Darlington suffered frightening head injuries before his arrival at Nebraska. | Nebraska Athletics

A highly rated dual-threat quarterback, he committed to Nebraska over Ohio State and others in June before his senior season. Less than two weeks later, he was doing summer conditioning with his Apopka (Fla.) High teammates. They were competing to move large tractor tires across the field. Wanting to win, Darlington dived for the finish line as he gave his tire a final shove. He landed in the path of his teammate's tire, which hit him in the head.

“I wasn’t knocked out, but I wasn’t able to do everything," he told the Chicago Tribune in 2013. "My hands seized up, which was really scary. I couldn’t use my hands and my arms were fidgeting and my mouth was like . . . I was trying to say something and nothing was coming out. That was really scary. . . . I felt like I was capable of doing something that my body couldn’t."

For three days after the accident, Darlington was unable to speak in complete, coherent sentences. He developed a stutter and worked with a speech therapist to control it.

In early August of 2013, Darlington was cleared to return to practice with his high school team - coached by his father Rick. Apopka was starting their season with against a team from South Carolina in a game televised on ESPN.

In the fourth quarter, Darlington was knocked unconscious. Trainers struggled to find a pulse. Darlington's 8-year-old brother, a ball boy on the sidelines, thought he was dead. Zack was taken to a hospital via helicopter where he would spend the night.

The next morning, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini called and said NU would honor Darlington's scholarship, regardless of whether he played or not. Pelini was in near daily contact until Darlington enrolled in January 2014.

Zack Darlington completed 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards in the Huskers' 2015 spring game and also had a 19-yard run. | Nebraska Athletics

Darlington sat out as a redshirt in 2014. Pelini and his staff were fired at the end of the season and replaced by Mike Riley. Darlington had a promising performance in the 2015 spring game but did not play in the 2015 season. His career was at a crossroads. He could transfer, quit, pout about not being in the mix, or he could persevere. Darlington chose to put the team above himself, saying "whatever it is, I'll do it."

In spring of 2016, he officially moved to wide receiver. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

That July, punter Sam Foltz was killed in an automobile accident. It was devasting for the team but was especially hard for kicker Drew Brown - one of Foltz's best friends, and Darlington's roommate. In addition to the emotional void in the team, there was a hole in the lineup too: Foltz was also Brown's holder. Darlington saw an opportunity to help the team. More importantly, he saw an opportunity to help his roommate through a difficult time. d

Head coach Mike Riley referred to Darlington as the "Swiss Army knife" of the team. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

Husker fans will remember the 2016 season opener against for the emotional "missing man" formation on their first punt, accompanied by play-by-play announcer Greg Sharpe granting "Husker Nation, permission to shed a tear." But there was another Foltz tribute in that game.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Tommy Armstrong scored to make it 34-10. The Huskers lined up for the PAT in the "swinging gate" formation. Before the team shifted into formation, Jordan Ober snapped the ball to Darlington. Fullback Luke McNitt was behind him, and they started an option look to the right. Darlington could see it was likely to fail, so he slammed on the brakes and cut back. Sam Cotton briefly blocked and released into the end zone where he stood wide open. Two Bulldog defenders over-pursued Darlington's cutback and he briefly had a lane to the end zone. At the last minute, two more players attempted to make a Zack sandwich at the 1. Darlington ducked under their hits and into the end zone for a 2-point conversion - a play that had been designed for Foltz.

Darlington stood up and spun the ball, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It was the first time he had carried a football in a live game since being knocked unconscious three years earlier.

In the 2016 Music City Bowl, Nebraska was in a bind. Armstrong, the starting QB, was out. Ryker Fyfe, his backup, left the game in the middle of a series after getting hit in the back of the helmet. That meant Zack Darlington's first snap as a college quarterback came on fourth-and-35 with his team trailing by 14. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

I'd love to tell you that Darlington overcame the odds and rallied Nebraska to an improbable victory. But that's not how life works. Coming in cold, his first throw was incomplete. Darlington did get another possession, albeit with 1:25 left in the game and starting on his own 2. He completed 2 of 6 passes for 14 yards.

In 2017, Darlington was named to the Peter Mortell Holder of the Year Award Watchlist. The tongue-in-cheek HOTY award is more hijinks than Heisman. Alas, his candidacy was limited to nine games due to illness.

With another year of eligibility available, Darlington decided to leave football prior to the start of the 2018 season. Why? Having realized his goal of being a college football player, Darlington wanted to pursue another dream: being a soldier in the United States Army.

I don't know if that goal came to fruition or not. His Twitter profile says he's the "Head Strength Coach & QB Coach" at a Florida high school.

But no matter that Zack Darlington strives to do, his perseverance and "whatever it is, I'll do it" mantra will serve him well.

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