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Adrian Martinez has a new piece of Nebraska football history to his name.
He is the first player in the program’s history to be named a team captain three times.
The fourth-year quarterback earned the honor again along with three first-time selections. The quartet was announced via Twitter by the school on Saturday night before the Huskers officially hit game week on Sunday.
The other three are a trio of juniors in defensive tackle Damion Daniels, cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and tight end Austin Allen.
Daniels and Allen are each entering their fifth seasons in the program, while Taylor-Britt is entering his fourth.
Interestingly, none of the Huskers’ five “super-seniors,” the sixth-year players who are using the NCAA’s extra season of eligibility, are among the named captains. Certainly, though, that group will provide leadership and experience on Nebraska’s defense.
Martinez enters his fourth season as Nebraska’s starting quarterback. He’s started 27 games and appeared in 28. He has been through ups and downs on the field over that time and has talked more recently about learning to deal with the spotlight that follows off the field when you’re the starting quarterback at Nebraska. He has been nearly universally praised for the offseason work he did to get himself into prime shape, and coaches and teammates haven’t been shy when talking about his level of play during preseason camp.
“He’s playing at the highest level I’ve ever seen of him,” fourth-year tight ends coach Sean Beckton said earlier this month. “So now he has to continue that. He can’t go backward. He’s got to make sure he continues to strive forward and keep leading this offense and this team. …
“We’re excited about it because that’s the Adrian Martinez we’ve been wanting to see. He’s at a really, really good spot right now. Everybody across the board on the team knows it, and they’re following him. When the team follows the quarterback, you’re really going to have a great team. He’s playing at a high level.”
Daniels (6-foot-3 and 325 pounds) has seen his stock rise steadily in the program. He’s been essentially a part-time player for the Huskers up front, but is seen as a potential breakout candidate this season and has flashed the potential of being a game-changing force in the middle of the NU defensive line.
“I think he’s probably having the best training camp practices that I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” defensive line coach Tony Tuioti said recently. “He’s been doing a really good job leading the charge for us on the defensive line.”
Allen’s role, too, has steadily grown in recent seasons. He is considered potentially one of the top tight ends in the Big Ten this fall. The 6-9, 255-pounder from Aurora was been on the captain track the entire offseason. Head coach Scott Frost said as much during Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis last month, where Allen was one of NU’s three player representatives.
“Austin’s seen a lot of different things, been through some struggles in his three years, and I think that gives him a determination to make sure while he’s at Nebraska that this thing goes the way he wants it to,” Frost said then. “He’s pushing himself, he’s pushing everybody else. He can want to be a leader, and that’s great. He can want to be a captain, and that’s also great. My guess is the team will vote him one because that’s the kind of leadership he’s giving us.”
Taylor-Britt moved full time to cornerback last year and emerged as one of Nebraska’s best players and one of the top defensive backs in the conference. He was named second-team All-Big Ten by the league’s coaches, who clearly saw the impact he had on defensive coordinator Erik Chinander’s unit over the shortened season.
He could have declared for the NFL Draft, but instead decided to return for a fourth and final season in Lincoln.
“Do I think Cam has part of his game he can work on? Absolutely. Do I think that he’s done a nice job of putting himself into a position to be one of the top corners in the country? Absolutely,” Chinander said Monday. “So he’s just got to keep upping the ante, and he can do whatever he wants. The potential is unlimited there.”
