Ratt Mhule
Heisman Trophy Winner
Article
LINCOLN — “The Eyes of Texas” blared from the southwest corner of Memorial Stadium. Husker players flooded off the field, jogging to the locker room.
Every Husker except Taylor Martinez. The freshman quarterback stood behind the Nebraska bench for photos with his family.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, T-Magic was a national phenom, a Heisman candidate, the difference between a brutal 2009 offense and a prolific 2010 offense.
Two hours later, the honeymoon had ended. Martinez grabbed a headset midway through the third quarter and listened to Shawn Watson tell him Zac Lee was taking his place.
“He’s no different than I would be, or you,” Watson said after the game. “He’s stung by it. But he’s going to have to understand it and come back to work. ... He’s still our starting quarterback.”
But what kind of starting quarterback will he be? A jaw-dropping athlete, no doubt.
But what kind of leader? When the going gets tough and defenses shut down the zone read, what will Taylor do?
He’s a freshman with time to learn. But he’s also the starting quarterback — the most important player on a team trying to do big things — the man to whom everyone looks when the deficit is 10 points and panic begins.
After Martinez got yanked Saturday, he spent most of the second half alone on the sideline, arms crossed.
When the offense huddled for a timeout, he didn’t. When teammates reacted to a bad call, he didn’t. When they pumped fists, he didn’t.
Nebraska kicked a field goal, cutting the lead to 20-6. Lee walked to the sideline and picked up a headset. Cody Green grabbed another headset. Martinez stood behind them, listening to nothing but crowd noise.
In the fourth quarter, his expression didn’t change when Lee converted a fourth down and it didn’t change when a penalty nullified it and it didn’t change when Brandon Kinnie dropped a fourth-down pass.
Ricky Henry walked to the sideline and threw his helmet to the ground. Injured Jesse Coffey smacked his crutches against a metal bench. Lee came off the field and soon started encouraging teammates for one final rally.
Martinez blended in to the background.
As time elapsed, he shared a few laughs with the backup quarterbacks.
Only once did he pick up a teammate — patting Kinnie on the head.
Only once did he lift his arms — for about a second, during Eric Hagg’s incredible punt return.
Maybe this is all just the personality of an introvert. We’re all still getting to know Martinez.
With 1:20 left he did respond to the person he knows best. During a break in the action, with defeat all but sewn up, Martinez locked eyes with his dad in the stands.
Casey Martinez came down the stairs and they talked as the clock ran out.
Martinez left his dad when the game ended, then returned for pictures as teammates bolted for the locker room.
Watson said he pulled Martinez because he sensed his frustration. Receivers dropped balls. Linemen missed blocks. Martinez tried and failed to make big plays. He got out of sync, Watson said.
“There were a lot of things happening to him that he couldn’t help,” Watson said. “He got in a situation where it started snowballing a little bit. We went with Zac because he had the experience and the maturity to kind of handle it.”
Bo Pelini also defended Martinez.
“We weren’t pointing the finger at Taylor when we made the change,” Pelini said. “We just felt we needed a spark.”
After completing his radio commitment, Pelini spent at least five minutes talking to Martinez, his dad and his stepmom in a hallway outside the locker room.
The conversation ended with Bo giving Taylor an encouraging pat on the shoulder and walking away.
Then Martinez, his dad and his stepmom entered the massive weight room where, at the east end, media conduct player interviews. It’s a task that goes with the territory of being a team leader.
Casey Martinez opened his phone and took a photo of Taylor’s picture on a wall — he’s the all-time record holder for quarterbacks in the pro agility run and vertical jump.
For 15 minutes, the three Martinezes loitered in a room where players never hang out after games. It was a strange scene — Taylor not 25 yards from reporters who wanted to ask him about his first loss.
A Nebraska spokesman said Martinez had declined interview requests. I approached him and asked again.
“No, I’m good,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, seniors Niles Paul and Roy Helu stood before reporters and did the heavy lifting. They answered questions about what went wrong — and where NU goes next.
Nebraska still has an outstanding defense in a league where defense is optional. And the critical game on the schedule — Missouri — is at home.
But can the offense be trusted? And does it have a leader?
On the field, Martinez’s quiet mind and lack of self-awareness is a gift. He doesn’t get nervous. He keeps to himself. He just plays.
But there’s a reason quarterbacks don’t isolate themselves. It’s hard to lead that way. And quarterbacks must lead, even through adversity, even as freshmen.
Have you ever sat in a dark theater and watched a man pull a rabbit out of a hat or escape from shackles without a key?
It’s jaw-dropping. It’s magic.
But study the trick again. Examine it from a different angle. Sooner or later, a solution emerges. Truth is revealed.
It’s the magician’s job to refine the act.
LINCOLN — “The Eyes of Texas” blared from the southwest corner of Memorial Stadium. Husker players flooded off the field, jogging to the locker room.
Every Husker except Taylor Martinez. The freshman quarterback stood behind the Nebraska bench for photos with his family.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, T-Magic was a national phenom, a Heisman candidate, the difference between a brutal 2009 offense and a prolific 2010 offense.
Two hours later, the honeymoon had ended. Martinez grabbed a headset midway through the third quarter and listened to Shawn Watson tell him Zac Lee was taking his place.
“He’s no different than I would be, or you,” Watson said after the game. “He’s stung by it. But he’s going to have to understand it and come back to work. ... He’s still our starting quarterback.”
But what kind of starting quarterback will he be? A jaw-dropping athlete, no doubt.
But what kind of leader? When the going gets tough and defenses shut down the zone read, what will Taylor do?
He’s a freshman with time to learn. But he’s also the starting quarterback — the most important player on a team trying to do big things — the man to whom everyone looks when the deficit is 10 points and panic begins.
After Martinez got yanked Saturday, he spent most of the second half alone on the sideline, arms crossed.
When the offense huddled for a timeout, he didn’t. When teammates reacted to a bad call, he didn’t. When they pumped fists, he didn’t.
Nebraska kicked a field goal, cutting the lead to 20-6. Lee walked to the sideline and picked up a headset. Cody Green grabbed another headset. Martinez stood behind them, listening to nothing but crowd noise.
In the fourth quarter, his expression didn’t change when Lee converted a fourth down and it didn’t change when a penalty nullified it and it didn’t change when Brandon Kinnie dropped a fourth-down pass.
Ricky Henry walked to the sideline and threw his helmet to the ground. Injured Jesse Coffey smacked his crutches against a metal bench. Lee came off the field and soon started encouraging teammates for one final rally.
Martinez blended in to the background.
As time elapsed, he shared a few laughs with the backup quarterbacks.
Only once did he pick up a teammate — patting Kinnie on the head.
Only once did he lift his arms — for about a second, during Eric Hagg’s incredible punt return.
Maybe this is all just the personality of an introvert. We’re all still getting to know Martinez.
With 1:20 left he did respond to the person he knows best. During a break in the action, with defeat all but sewn up, Martinez locked eyes with his dad in the stands.
Casey Martinez came down the stairs and they talked as the clock ran out.
Martinez left his dad when the game ended, then returned for pictures as teammates bolted for the locker room.
Watson said he pulled Martinez because he sensed his frustration. Receivers dropped balls. Linemen missed blocks. Martinez tried and failed to make big plays. He got out of sync, Watson said.
“There were a lot of things happening to him that he couldn’t help,” Watson said. “He got in a situation where it started snowballing a little bit. We went with Zac because he had the experience and the maturity to kind of handle it.”
Bo Pelini also defended Martinez.
“We weren’t pointing the finger at Taylor when we made the change,” Pelini said. “We just felt we needed a spark.”
After completing his radio commitment, Pelini spent at least five minutes talking to Martinez, his dad and his stepmom in a hallway outside the locker room.
The conversation ended with Bo giving Taylor an encouraging pat on the shoulder and walking away.
Then Martinez, his dad and his stepmom entered the massive weight room where, at the east end, media conduct player interviews. It’s a task that goes with the territory of being a team leader.
Casey Martinez opened his phone and took a photo of Taylor’s picture on a wall — he’s the all-time record holder for quarterbacks in the pro agility run and vertical jump.
For 15 minutes, the three Martinezes loitered in a room where players never hang out after games. It was a strange scene — Taylor not 25 yards from reporters who wanted to ask him about his first loss.
A Nebraska spokesman said Martinez had declined interview requests. I approached him and asked again.
“No, I’m good,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, seniors Niles Paul and Roy Helu stood before reporters and did the heavy lifting. They answered questions about what went wrong — and where NU goes next.
Nebraska still has an outstanding defense in a league where defense is optional. And the critical game on the schedule — Missouri — is at home.
But can the offense be trusted? And does it have a leader?
On the field, Martinez’s quiet mind and lack of self-awareness is a gift. He doesn’t get nervous. He keeps to himself. He just plays.
But there’s a reason quarterbacks don’t isolate themselves. It’s hard to lead that way. And quarterbacks must lead, even through adversity, even as freshmen.
Have you ever sat in a dark theater and watched a man pull a rabbit out of a hat or escape from shackles without a key?
It’s jaw-dropping. It’s magic.
But study the trick again. Examine it from a different angle. Sooner or later, a solution emerges. Truth is revealed.
It’s the magician’s job to refine the act.
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