The Nebraska football team closed out their 2018 NCAA campaign with a disappointing loss against the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, the team was 4-2 for the second half of their season and has shown potential for a great season in 2019. A large part of the team's future success is likely to rest upon the shoulders of quarterback Adrian Martinez. A multiple-time Freshman of the Week winner in the Big Ten, he also joined a special club of other quarterbacks thanks to his impressive stats.

Martinez's impressive offensive outbursts

Over the course of the season, it was Adrian Martinez who was the driving force of the Nebraska offense.

In several games, Martinez posted incredible numbers where he recorded over 300 yards of total offense on his own. He was in beast mode in many games. These performances earned him several weekly honors and may push him towards Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

In particular, he looked amazing in a loss against No. 16 Wisconsin. In that road game against the Badgers, the freshman quarterback completed 24-of-42 passes for 384 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 57 yards on the ground and a touchdown to give him a game with over 400 yards on his own.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers' star didn't achieve any other games with 400 yards but had several in which he recorded 300-plus yards of offense. That included the recent win against Illinois (345 yards) and the loss at Iowa (336 yards) to close out the season.

It's clear that he is a force to be reckoned with as a dual offensive threat.

Martinez part of exclusive QB club

The Nebraska Cornhuskers' offense put its name in the history books for consecutive games with high total yards. In addition, Adrian Martinez also made history of his own. The freshman quarterback finished out the season with 2,617 total passing yards and 629 total rushing yards.

Those numbers put Martinez in with some impressive company. He's now the seventh NCAA football quarterback to finish a season with 2,600-plus yards passing and 600-plus yards rushing. Check the official stats below for the seven players to achieve that, courtesy of Sports Reference.

As seen in the list above, among the past college quarterbacks that Martinez joins are former Cleveland Browns draft pick Johnny Manziel and current NFL star Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans.

Also on the list is Alabama's star quarterback, Jalen Hurts, and former Ohio State star, J.T. Barrett.

While Mariota is the only one to have continued to make a big name for himself in the pro league, Adrian Martinez certainly has some great future potential. Martinez doesn't appear on any of the top 20 offensive stats lists for the past NCAA season, but one has to think he'll be moving up and on to those lists next season. Nebraska Cornhuskers fans are certainly looking toward the future with this bright offensive star on their team.
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