Adrian Martinez Quotes - 11-6-21

Adrian Martinez
Quarterback
On his decision to play despite multiple injuries
“More information I am sure will be disclosed after the season, and I will go more in depth there, but really It was a tough choice and I wanted to do for my teammates and wanted to do for our team, simple as that, and continue to fight and lead the guys. It is really as simple as that for me. Essentially, they did not know what it was like, All right, let’s go. Let's play. My face was numb and swollen. Finish the game. After the game, a couple days later, found out what it was and then the decision to come to play came about a day later.”
 
On personal opinion about not going for a first down on 4th-and-4 at the Ohio State 13 midway through the fourth quarter
“Confidence in our defense, I think that gives us a chance to win the game there. And we have a hell of a punt and all the confidence in the world and those guys have been doing a good job all game. We are going to do it, our coach wants us to do, and I had faith in that point.” 
 
On early game decisions
“I have to make some plays. I was getting into more of a rhythm running the ball. I would say they were not necessarily giving me the best options to keep the ball, the Ohio State defense. But in the second half, it was more kind of deliberate on my part, deliberate on what we were calling and getting into a rhythm. It was a combination of those things.”
 
On losing so many close games
“It is tough. At the end of the day, I am proud of our guys for continuing to fight. Proud of the way we had each other's backs out there, stuck together through everything through the noise through whatever. It's about the brotherhood and the brotherhood is strong here in Nebraska, and we believe in each other so we are going to keep pressing on. Yes, it hurts. Yes, it's another top team that we've lost a close game to, and a game that we felt we had the chance to win. There's nothing else to do but to continue to press on and learn from this game.”
 
On tight end Austin Allen getting two early catches but not getting targeted later in the game 
“Part of that is going through my progression like I normally would and if he's a guy that's open, he's the guy that's open. It's not necessarily forcing the ball. I mean, Austin's one of our best players and I need to do a better job of getting him the ball."
 
On the Ohio State game compared to other games
“Personally, and I'd like to say as a unit, we try to approach each game as its own thing. Just because of some of the things in the past where we've lost those close games, it's not our identity. So, we are approaching this game with a new mindset there. It's just about staying consistent. We kept engaging each other and knowing it was going to happen at some point believing it was going to happen and that's what it's about for us. I mean, we had the mindset to come out fast and start strong. That's our goal every game, but I can't necessarily put a pin on exactly what happened today."
 
Looking back on plays
 “You can't expect calls. You just have to play the game and roll with the calls, if they are awesome. If not, whatever, let's rock, I mean, its part of football.”
 
Making the decision to continue to fight despite not being eligible for postseason
“It was tough. It was really tough. I mean, it's incredibly tough. In my fourth year here, and the past three years, we haven't made postseason plays. Well, it hurts. It hurts and knowing it's not just me, it puts things on the line here physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever it may be. I mean, it's our program. There's tons of guys sacrificing. I'm just one of those guys, and it hurts. I know how much time and the commitment we put into this, hard work from top down, and it's not easy swallowing that result. But we do have two more games that we are looking forward to, trophy games that we're going to go attack. We have no other option.

NU Athletic Communications