Taylor Martinez for 2012 heisman

The obvious follow up to the title of this post is, "though he might suck at times this year." But though at times this year he may suck like a $3 prostitute, as he did in Nebraska's 17-3 victory over South Dakota State University, Martinez still has a promising future in front of him. In the words of sports editor Chuck Stark, who was blogging for the Kitap Sun when Nebraska demolished Washington earlier this year, "boy he is quick."


Stark was watching what can gleefully be referred to on the internet as an "asskicking." One where Martinez scored four touchdowns and ran for 137 yards. But what is Martinez then? Is he the bum who scored once and turned the ball over three times at SDSU, or the guy who scored four touchdowns at Washington?

The answer is that Martinez is what many husker fans have known he is since the moment they heard he was going to start, a talented rookie quarterback. The kid's speed is certainly first class, and his throwing decent as well. Considering that Nebraska hasn't had a game breaking quarterback since Eric Crouch, there's reason for Husker nation to be excited.

But if fans thought Martinez was going to become the best quarterback in college football overnight, than they were a bit naive. He has the potential to win the hiesman at some point in his college career, but he still has a loong way to go as a football player before he reaches that point.

Martinez's blazing speed has covered up some glaring errors in his game against inferior opponents. But when it comes to facing talented, well coach football teams, he's going to make more than his fair share of rookie mistakes. He's fortunate that he has the patented Pelini pass rush and secondary to rely on, but until he learns to step up in the pocket and not make stupid throws under pressure he's never going to light up the scoreboards as a throwing quarterback. And, if he keeps leaving himself open to taking big shots when he runs he might not even make it through the season.

That said, it's not exactly time for Cornhuskers everywhere to start pushing the panic button. Martinez's 75 yards against the Jackrabbits is nothing to sneeze at, and the speed he showed against Washington is very real. Husker fans can reasonably expect at minimum a thousand yard rushing year out of him, and a year like that will cement his place among college football's best quarterbacks coming into the 2011 season.