Nebraska Football: Adrian Martinez gets Freshman All-American honors

Nebraska football quarterback Adrian Martinez put together an outstanding freshman season for the Huskers and it earned him All-American honors.

There was no shortage of talented freshman quarterbacks in college football this season but when it comes down to it, Adrian Martinez of Nebraska football is among the best.

And that’s not just a subjective opinion shared by Nebraska football fans, because on Monday, Martinez was named to the Freshman All-American team by The Football Writers Association of America. Martinez shared the position with Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, who will be playing in the national championship game tonight.

In his first season with the Huskers, Martinez put up some spectacular numbers as he completed 64.6 percent of his passes, threw for 2, 617 yards and 17 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions. He averaged 7.5 yards per pass attempt and also rushed for 629 yards and eight touchdowns.

Martinez got the news as the Huskers get back to work in their offseason conditioning programs this week. On Sunday, Martinez tweeted out a reference to it, signaling that the freshman sensation is ready to get back to work.

While Nebraska football finished with a 4-8 record this past season, had Martinez not missed the fourth quarter of the Colorado game or the entire game against Troy, the Huskers likely would have finished 6-6. As it was, the freshman nearly led Nebraska to upsets over both Iowa and Ohio State on the road. The Huskers lost each game by single digits. Iowa actually won a last-second field goal.

However, Nebraska did score one big win this season by defeating Michigan State, a team that has had a lot of success in the Big Ten over the past 5-6 years. The Huskers also finished 4-2 after a 0-6 start.

Martinez will be without his top target in the passing game as wide receiver Stanley Morgan is graduating, however, JD Spielman will still be in the mix and another up-and-comer is Mike Williams, who transferred as a JUCO last season but played a limited role.

Martinez will also have two dangerous threats in the backfield next season in Maurice Washington and incoming freshman Wandale Robinson. Robinson is listed as a running back but was the No. 2 all-purpose back in the country according to 247 sports for the 2019 recruiting class and this past weekend at the All-American Bowl, he showed why.

With Martinez, Robinson, Washington and Spielman, as well as others like Williams, Jake Stoll and some incoming freshman, Nebraska football will be loaded with talent again in 2019.

So maybe this time next year we will be talking about Martinez being on a few more All-American teams and not just the one reserved for freshmen.