Nebraska football: Ball placement important for Adrian Martinez
The Nebraska Football quarterback will have to focus on making tighter throws.
As we get closer to Saturday’s Nebraska Football game against Ohio State, one thing has really stood out to me from last week’s game. There is no doubt that Adrian Martinez is a good quarterback. Last week’s game against Illinois proved that. He single-handily helped give them a victory in what was a tough but fun environment.
As I watch several highlights from the game and the game replays, one thing that has really stood out to me is Martinez’s ball placement. What I mean by that is, he threw passes high last Saturday, and that needs to change. To his credit on Saturday, wide receiver J.D. Spielman seemed to like the ball high. However, Spielman is five-foot-nine, and there is no doubt that he was getting leveled on every single high throw.
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To his credit, Spielman showed exactly how tough he is on Saturday. Although he had to go to the sideline at one point during the game, he hung in there for most of the game. Spielman cannot afford to take that same level of contact that he endured against Illinois. That was a lot to ask of him to begin with.
Overall, Martinez needs to focus more on putting the ball in the numbers of the receivers. I understand that at times he will probably have a collapsing pocket. This Ohio State defensive line is talented and special in many ways. However, he needs to make sure he can execute the low, tight-window throws. If he can do that, he will definitely have a chance at more success. What he did against Illinois last Saturday worked pretty well. However, Illinois is a different animal than Ohio State.
Throwing the ball high is something he has done throughout the course of the entire season to this point. He has gotten the ball down the field. It is not something that is so alarming that needs to be fixed right away. However, he definitely should focus on trying to throw the ball a bit lower. Especially as we head into conference play, and the competition gets tougher, he will need to focus on throwing the best balls to his receivers. If he can do that, he will have even more success than he has had already to this point in the season.
I can’t wait to see what Martinez does on Saturday, and I think he’ll have a chance at being successful. If Nebraska football could pull off the upset against Ohio State, that would certainly be quite the sight.