Nebraska Football: Hopes for the quarterbacks in Red and White Game

LINCOLN, NE - APRIL 21: Game ball used by the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the Spring game at Memorial Stadium on April 21, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - APRIL 21: Game ball used by the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the Spring game at Memorial Stadium on April 21, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 10: Quarterback Adrian Martinez #2 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers runs against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 10: Quarterback Adrian Martinez #2 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers runs against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

Adrian Martinez: Making proper reads

This may seem a little silly to put on the list for quarterback, but this is a new-look Nebraska Football defense. Under new defensive line coach Tony Tuioti,  they are going to be aggressive and get to the quarterback as often as possible. Although hopefully that won’t be the case on Saturday, I still expect them to be aggressive.

It will be interesting to see how Adrian Martinez reads the Nebraska Football defense and the wide receivers. Although he has probably seen this defense over the course of spring ball, this is the first time in simulated game action that they will be at full blast. They will be flying around and trying to make as many plays as possible because this is a big game for them as well. Fortunately for Martinez, both the Davis and Daniels brothers will be on the same team. He will not have to deal with them.

I expect to see a lot of checkdowns on Saturday just so Martinez does not risk injury. Even still, the plays that will be called and the formations that will be used should be similar to a real game. How will Martinez read the  Nebraska Football defense? Will he be able to recognize when players are dropping back into coverage? Will the defense disrupt the tempo of the offense? That has been one thing that has been talked about over the course of spring ball. The offense has been moving at a torrid pace. I do not expect that to change on Saturday. That could possibly affect his reads as well. The offense, even though it has performed well, is still not a well-oiled machine quite yet, nor would  I expect it to be. Even still, Martinez knows enough from Year One to be able to make solid throws in Year Two.