Mario Verduzco notes Adrian Martinez lacked urgency last preseason

Martinez seemed off according to his coach.

It’s interesting when you hear coaches talk about their players progress from last season. In the case of Mario Verduzco and his quarterback Adrian Martinez, the Nebraska football coach probably would have liked to see more from him last year.

Speaking on the “Husker Sports Nightly” radio show on Thursday, Verduzco had his reservations about Martinez’s performance last year. Although he seemed fine with the playbook, the coach noted the quarterback took things too lightly last preseason camp.

Honestly, I believe it. This sort of lines up with what Scott Frost said earlier this year. When you don’t really have competition, I can imagine that it allows you to kind of take things easy and not worry too much about your starting job. That is not likely to happen this year.

With two quarterbacks breathing down his neck, Martinez is unlikely to make the same mistake this year. There is  viable talent in that room. Although it they may be a bit raw and underdeveloped in some areas, there is no doubt that they are ready to compete. Unlike last year, Martinez has to watch for a quarterback competition.

"“I think he did probably take things a little too lightly (last August), maybe sometimes, as it related to practice when we started fall camp,” Verduzco said. “I mean, he still worked hard and did all those sorts of things. But whether he had as much of a consequential attitude about things as he did his freshman year, I guess that would be up for debate.”"

I am in favor of a competition. We all know what Martinez can do when he is at his best. Unfortunately, we saw what he could do when he was lackadaisical at times. Now, he can’t afford to have that same type of work ethic. I’m hoping this camp will motivate Martinez and make him play at his best.

Nebraska football needs Martinez to play at a high level with the schedule they have this year. There are no easy games, particularly after the first bye week. They are going to need Martinez to be ready to go. Judging by what I have heard this offseason, Martinez is taking a more serious approach to training this year.

Hopefully, this will lead to results. There is no doubt that Martinez is a talented quarterback, and that he has the skills to lead this program. It’s more so just about getting the best out of him every week. It will be interesting to see how ready he will be with this year being a crucial one for everyone involved with the program.