Adrian Martinez

Honors & Awards
» Team Captain (2019, 2020 & 2021)
» Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Semifinalist (2021)
» First Three-Time Team Captain in Program History
» Maxwell Award Watch List (2019, 2020, 2021)
» Unitas Golden Arm Watch List (2021)
» Walter Camp Award Watch List (2019)
» Davey O'Brien Award Watch List (2019)
» Manning Award Watch List (2019, 2020, 2021)
» Freshman All-American (2018, Football Writers Association of America)
» Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (2021, Coaches)
» Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten (2018, Coaches & Media)
» Nebraska Offensive Back of the Year (2018, 2019)
» Three-Time Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Oct. 22, 2018; Nov. 5, 2018; Nov. 12, 2018)
» College Football Performance Awards Co-National Performer of the Week (Oct. 22, 2018)
» National Freshman of the Week (Athlon Sports, Sept. 10, 2018)
» Nebraska Outstanding Male Newcomer (All Sports, 2018-19)
» Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Award Finalist (All Men's Sports, 1 of 10, 2021)
» Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award (2021)
» First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 (2020)
» Academic All-Big Ten (2019, 2020, 2021)
» Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2018, 2020; Spring 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
» Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
» Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)

Nebraska Records
» Career Total Offense Yards (10,792)
» Career Total Offense Yards (10,792)
» Career Total Offense Yards Per Game (276.7)
» Career 300-Yard Total Offense Games (19)
» Career 400-Yard Total Offense Games (5)
» Career 250-Yard Passing Games (16)
» Season Total Offensive Yards Per Game (308.0 in 2021)
» Season Completion Percentage (71.5 in 2020)
» Season 400-Yard Total Offense Games (3 in 2018)
» Season 300-Yard Total Offense Games (7 in 2018)
» Game Completion Percentage [min. 20 att.] (90.0 at Iowa in 2020)
» Freshman Completions (224 in 2018)
» Freshman Completion Percentage (64.6% in 2018)
» Freshman Passing Yards (2,617 in 2018)
» Freshman Total Offensive Yards (3,246)
» Freshman Passing Touchdowns (17)
» Freshman Total Touchdowns (25)

2021
Adrian Martinez started the first 11 games of the season at quarterback before missing the final game of the year due to injury. He completed more than 61 percent of his passes for 2,863 yards and 14 touchdowns, becoming the first player in school history with four 1,000-yard passing seasons. Martinez averaged 308.0 yards of total offense per game, breaking his own school record set during his freshman season. He also ranked fifth on Nebraska's season charts in total offense (3,388), sixth in passing yards (2,863) and ninth in completions (189). For his performance, Martinez earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades from the conference coaches.

Martinez eclipsed 1,000 season passing yards in only four games, joining Tommy Armstrong Jr. as the second Husker to throw for 1,000 yards in the first four games of a season. In addition to his work through the air, Martinez rushed 133 times for 525 yards and a career-high 13 scores, leading the Huskers in all three categories. Martinez became only the eighth Husker to total 10 passing and rushing touchdowns in the same season. He also became the first Nebraska quarterback and only the fourth quarterback in Big Ten history with four 500-yard rushing seasons.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Martinez ranked second nationally n in 70-yard runs (2) and fifth in 60-yard runs (2). He also ranked seventh nationally in 30-yard passes (26). Martinez ranked 21st nationally in passing yards game at the conclusion of the regular season and 15th with an average of 308.0 yards of offense per game. He also ranked seventh nationally in yards per completion (15.2) and yards per pass attempt (9.4). On the ground, Martinez ranked 2nd nationally with a career-high 13 rushing touchdowns at the end of the regular season.

At the end of the 2021 regular season, Martinez was one of only three active FBS players with 8,000 career passing yards and 2,000 career rushing yards. He was only the fourth Big Ten quarterback and 24th quarterback in FBS history in the 8,000/2,000 club. Martinez ranked seventh in Big Ten history for career rushing yards by a quarterback (2,301) ands second among all active FBS quarterbacks with 2,301 career rushing yards. He also ranked seventh among all FBS players with 35 career rushing touchdowns and ranked ninth with 10,792 career total offense yards.

Martinez accounted for 343 yards of offense at Illinois, out-gaining the Illini by himself. He threw for 232 yards and one touchdown and posted his fifth career 100-yard rushing game with 111 yards on 17 carries with one score. In the win over Fordham the next week, Martinez accounted for 287 yards of offense in less than three quarters, completing 17-of-23 passes for 254 yards and one touchdown and rushing eight times for 33 yards and two scores. Against Buffalo, Martinez accounted for 354 yards of offense. He completed 13-of-19 passes for 242 yards, including a pair of 68-yard touchdowns. Martinez also had a 71-yard run en route to posting his sixth career 100-yard rushing game with nine carries for 112 yards. Martinez totaled 323 yards of offense and accounted for two touchdowns at No. 3 Oklahoma. He completed 19-of-25 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown, while rushing 17 times for 34 yards and one score. Martinez accounted for 316 yards of offense at No. 20 Michigan State. He completed 24-of-34 passes for 244 yards and rushed 21 times for 72 yards and two scores. Martinez played only 2 1/2 quarters in Nebraska's win over Northwestern, and he threw for 202 yards and rushed for 50 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Martinez also tied his career high with four total touchdowns against the Wildcats. Martinez accounted for 329 yards of offense against No. 9 Michigan, throwing for 291 yards and rushing for 38 yards. He tied his career highs with three passing touchdowns and four total touchdowns against the Wolverines. At Minnesota, Martinez threw for 241 yards and one touchdown. He threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns against Purdue, completing 14 passes to become Nebraska's all-time leader in completions. He also eclipsed 10,000 yards of career total offense against the Boilermakers. Martinez also had a four-yard touchdown run against the Boilermakers. Against No. 6 Ohio State, Martinez threw for 248 yards and one touchdown and added 51 rushing yards with one touchdown. The Ohio State game marked the 20th game of Martinez's career where he had both a passing and rushing touchdown. Martinez accounted for 374 yards at No. 19 Wisconsin against a Badger defense that entered the game No. 1 in the country in total defense, allowing only 216.3 yards per game. Martinez passed for 351 yards and rushed for 23 yards, posting both a rushing and passing touchdown while becoming Nebraska's all-time leader in total offense.

During the season, Martinez was recognized as oen of 20 national semifinalists for the Jason WItten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. The award is the first college football honor to focus primarily on a player’s leadership, both on and off the field.

2020 (Junior)
Martinez played in seven games with six starts as a junior. He was 108-of-151 through the air for 1,055 yards and four touchdowns, completing 71.5 percent of his passes. His completion percentage was a Husker season record, led the Big Ten and ranked fourth nationally. His 71.5 percent ranked fifth in Big Ten history and was the fourth-best mark in a Big Ten Conference season.

In addition to leading Nebraska in passing, Martinez was also the Huskers’ leading rusher, carrying the ball 91 times for 521 yards and seven touchdowns. Martinez became the third player in program history to lead Nebraska in both rushing and passing in the same season and was the fourth Husker quarterback to lead NU in rushing. In addition to ranking fourth nationally in completion percentage, Martinez was second nationally in rushing yards per game among all FBS quarterbacks (74.4). He averaged 254.1 yards of total offense per game in his six starts.

Martinez accounted for 190 yards of total offense at No. 5 Ohio State. He completed 12-of-15 passes for 105 yards and carried the ball 13 times for 85 yards and one touchdown. At Northwestern, Martinez posted his fourth career 100-yard rushing game with 102 yards on 13 carries. Martinez came off the bench two weeks later to lead the Huskers on a seven-play, 54-yard touchdown drive late in the game against Illinois. He completed 3-of-4 passes for 43 yards on the drive, including a 4-yard touchdown pass that marked his 400th career completion. Martinez also rushed for eight yards on two carries against the Illini. 

Martinez returned to the starting lineup at Iowa, accounting for 202 total yards. He completed 18-of-20 passes for 174 yards, breaking his own Nebraska record for highest completion percentage in a game (90.0). He accounted for 287 yards of total offense and three total touchdowns in the win at Purdue. Martinez completed 23-of-30 passes for 242 yards and one touchdown and carried the ball 13 times for 45 yards and two scores. He amassed 207 yards of offense and two touchdowns against Minnesota, including 96 rushing yards. 

In the final game at Rutgers, Martinez posted his fifth career 400-yard total offense game, extending his Nebraska record in that category while also tying Tommy Armstrong Jr. with his school-record 13th career game with 300 yards of total offense. Martinez completed 24-of-28 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown, and he rushed a career-high 23 times for a career-high 157 yards and two scores. His 412 yards of total offense ranked 14th in Nebraska history.

2019 (Sophomore)
Martinez, only the second sophomore to serve as team captain in modern Nebraska football history, started 10 of 12 games in 2019, missing the Minnesota and Indiana games due to injury. Martinez completed nearly 60 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,956 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he rushed for 626 yards and seven scores. Martinez’s average of 62.6 rushing yards per game was the highest by a Husker quarterback since 2012, and he averaged 258.2 yards of total offense per game to rank third in the Big Ten.

After being limited to 178 yards of total offense against South Alabama, Martinez totaled 356 yards at Colorado. He threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns against the Buffaloes while rushing for 66 yards and two scores, tying his career highs with two rushing touchdowns and four total touchdowns. Martinez had 301 yards of total offense against Northern Illinois, when he accounted for three total touchdowns. Martinez had his most prolific game of the season at Illinois, posting a career-high 446 yards of total offense, the third-highest total in school history. He completed 22-of-34 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 118 yards to post just the second 300-yard passing, 100-yard rushing game in the history of Nebraska football. The performance marked the fourth time Martinez produced a game with 400 yards of total offense, a Nebraska career record he achieved in only 15 starts. 

Martinez totaled 128 yards of offense against No. 5 Ohio State. The next week, Martinez completed 13-of-20 passes for 145 yards against Northwestern before suffering an injury that kept him out of the fourth quarter. In his return to the field, Martinez totaled 305 yards of offense at Purdue, throwing for 247 yards and leading Nebraska with 58 rushing yards. He tied his career high with a pair of rushing touchdowns against the Boilermakers. Martinez also eclipsed 1,000 career rushing yards, 4,000 career passing yards and 5,000 career total offensive yards at Purdue. He became the 12th Husker quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards and just the fourth player in school history with 4,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards. Martinez accounted for 309 yards of offense against No. 15 Wisconsin, throwing for 220 yards and rushing for 89 more. He totaled 288 yards of offense at Maryland, including 94 rushing yards on only 10 carries.

At the conclusion of his sophomore season, Martinez ranked second all-time at Nebraska in 300-yard total offense games (12), third in career completion percentage (62.4) and 250-yard passing games (10), fourth in 300-yard passing games (3), fifth in completions (373) and total offensive yards (5,734) and seventh in passing yards (4,573).

2018 (Freshman)
Martinez made 11 starts during a record-breaking freshman season. He made school history by starting the season opener against Colorado, becoming the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener in Nebraska history and just the second freshman quarterback - true or redshirt - to start a season opener. Martinez was just the third true freshman in Husker history to start at quarterback, joining Tommie Frazier (7 starts in 1992) and Cody Green (2 starts in 2009).

Martinez was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times in 2018, the first quarterback to win the award three times since Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett in 2014. Martinez was also recognized as an honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection and a freshman All-American.

Martinez rewrote Nebraska’s freshman record book in 2018, and he also left his mark on the Huskers’ overall season charts, including averaging a school-record 295.1 yards of total offense per game. Martinez ranked 12th nationally in total offense per game in 2018 and was first among freshmen. Martinez’s average of 295.1 yards of total offense per game was the ninth-highest mark by a freshman in NCAA history and the third-best mark by a true freshman.

Martinez completed 64.6 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,617 yards, ranking second in school history in completion percentage, sixth in completions (224), eighth in passing yards and 10th in passing touchdowns (17). Martinez also rushed for 629 yards, the fourth-highest rushing total of any true freshman in school history. His dual-threat ability helped Martinez account for 3,246 yards of total offense, which was the fifth-highest total in Nebraska history. He had a school-record seven 300-yard total offense games, including three 400-yard total offense games, tying the Nebraska season and career records in that category. 

Martinez set freshman records for completions, completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns, total offense and total touchdowns (25), and he was fourth nationally among all freshmen in passing yards per game. Martinez averaged 237.9 passing yards per game and 57.2 rushing yards per game in 2018, becoming just the second true freshman in FBS history to average 200 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game and the first to hit those averages as a Power Five program. Overall, Martinez was just the sixth freshman - true or redshirt - to average 200 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game. He was also one of just four FBS quarterbacks - regardless of class - who averaged 225 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game in 2018.

With Martinez leading the way, Nebraska averaged 456.2 yards per game in 2018, the program’s highest total since 2012. The Husker offense totaled more than 500 yards of offense in five of Martinez’s 11 starts, including four games with more than 560 yards of offense. Martinez helped Nebraska gain at least 450 yards in seven consecutive games the longest such streak in school history. 
Martinez dazzled in his career debut against Colorado before exiting the game in the fourth quarter with an injury. He set then-Nebraska true freshman records with 187 passing yards and 304 yards of total offense against the Buffs, while becoming the first true freshman quarterback in Husker history to rush for 100 yards. For his efforts, Martinez was named the national freshman of the week by Athlon Sports.

Martinez played the first full game of his career against Purdue and accumulated 323 passing yards and 414 yards of total offense, the 12th-highest individual total offense game in Nebraska history. The next week at No. 16 Wisconsin, Martinez was even better, throwing for a career-high 384 yards and amassing a career-high 441 yards of total offense, the fourth-highest total in school history. 

Martinez topped 400 yards of total offense for the third time in four games while leading the Huskers to a win over Minnesota. He completed 25-of-29 passes for 276 yards, with his 86.2 percent completion rate setting a Nebraska record for a quarterback who attempted at least 20 passes in a game (he would break his record in 2020 at Iowa). Martinez also rushed for a career-high 125 yards against the Gophers. For his efforts against Minnesota, Martinez was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week. 

At No. 8 Ohio State, Martinez accounted for 338 yards of total offense and three touchdowns en route to being named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week. He was honored again the next week after leading Nebraska to more than 600 yards of offense and 54 points - the most points NU has ever scored in a Big Ten game - against Illinois. Martinez accounted for 345 yards of total offense against Illinois. He wrapped up his freshman season by helping Nebraska rally from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit at Iowa, although the Huskers lost on a last-second field goal. Martinez completed a career-high 26 passes against the Hawkeyes. He finished with 336 yards of total offense at Iowa, becoming the first Husker to have seven games with 300 or more yards of total offense in a season.

Before Nebraska (Clovis West HS)
Martinez displayed his ability as both a passer and running threat for Coach George Petrissans at Clovis West High School in Fresno, Calif.

Martinez missed his senior season because of an injury but shined during his junior year, completing 220-of-366 passes for 2,562 yards and 25 touchdowns, with just four interceptions. On the ground, Martinez ran for 1,462 yards and 14 touchdowns. Martinez also led the offense as a sophomore, throwing for better than 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for more than 900 yards.

Martinez was ranked as the No. 56 player in the ESPN300 and was the No. 4 pocket passer. Rivals and 247Sports both ranked him among the nation’s top 10 dual-threat quarterbacks, with Rivals ranking Martinez as the nation's No. 98 overall prospect and 247Sports listing him as the No. 142 overall prospect. Martinez was also selected to participate in the 2018 Under Armour High School All-America Game. He had dozens of scholarship offers and chose Nebraska over Tennessee. 

Personal
Adrian is the son of Tony Martinez and Deanna Martinez and the stepson of Kristi Vincent. He earned his degree in management in May of 2021. He volunteered his time with the Nebraska Football Road Race, a Day of Service, Make-a-Wish, Husker Heroes and local hospital visits.