Adrian Martinez wrapped up his first chat with reporters since Sept. 30, started toward the locker room and flashed a quick smile.
“Long time no see, you guys,†he said.
It’s been nearly as long since the sophomore Nebraska quarterback saw game action, but that hiatus appears to be nearly over.
Martinez said Tuesday that he expects to start Saturday at Purdue after missing consecutive games with a knee injury suffered on the last play of the third quarter Oct. 5 against Northwestern.
“It’s allowed my body to recover, it’s allowed me to recover and I’m back ready to go,†Martinez said of the 24 days since he last played. “I feel like my arm’s juiced up and everything’s recuperated. I’m ready to be back and I’m fired up.â€
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So, you expect to start then?
“Yeah, you know, I feel physically ready and I expect to go,†he said.
Martinez missed one game last year with a right knee injury and missed two this fall with a left knee injury. He continued to sport a brace on his left leg Tuesday at practice, but was clearly excited about the prospect of returning to action.
“There’s no doubt. I’m not happy about sitting out and being hurt, but there’s something to gain from it,†he said. “… I feel like you get the most out of playing and practicing and things like that, but being out, I had the chance to coach up the other Qs and be a good teammate and sit back and observe a little bit. I picked up some insight form that and I’m looking to use it moving forward as a leader.â€
Martinez, not surprisingly, was happy and proud of the way sophomore Noah Vedral and freshman Luke McCaffrey played in his absence. Both have played through pain, too, as Vedral suffered an ankle injury against Minnesota on Oct. 12 and appeared to re-aggravate it against Indiana on Saturday. McCaffrey played almost a half against the Hoosiers before an apparent left knee injury of his own.
Vedral and Martinez were in pads on Tuesday — McCaffrey was not.
“I loved their play, man. I thought they played great,†Martinez said. “Real props to Noah and to Luke for just preparing. You could see it in practice, and you knew it was going to come in the game. When Luke got in there and I heard the 'Luuuuke chants,' that was so cool. I was so pumped for him. I was really proud of him for stepping up and playing hard. He’s a tough kid.â€
The pair of reserves combined for NU’s most efficient day passing so far, completing 19-of-22 for 272 yards and a touchdown in a 38-31 loss to IU. Vedral and McCaffrey also combined for 97 rushing yards (73 for McCaffrey) and two Vedral scoring runs.
“We were really driving the ball all game and you can see, I think the difference-makers in that game are the turnovers and really we shot ourselves in the foot,†Martinez said. “And that’s kind of been the story of the season offensively a little bit there, and it’s something we need to get cleaned up because when we didn’t do that, we found ways to score and they were moving it all game.â€
Martinez had his own turnover issues before getting hurt, but he is Nebraska’s clear starting quarterback for a reason, given his size and arm strength, and ability both as a passer and a runner.
On the season, the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder has completed 60.3% of his passes for 1,245 yards (8.5 per attempt), seven touchdowns and five interceptions, and added 341 rushing yards and three scores in six games.
Now, after three-plus weeks of recovery, he feels like he’s ready to get back to action.