Longtime Nebraska starting QB Adrian Martinez transfers to Kansas State

Former Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez is transferring to an old Big 12 rival of the Huskers.

Martinez announced Thursday evening that he would be heading to Kansas State. Martinez is immediately eligible to play for the Wildcats in 2022.

Martinez played in at least 10 games in three of his four seasons at Nebraska and has been Nebraska’s primary starter during his time with the Huskers. He completed 65% of his passes as a freshman and threw for 2,617 yards and 17 TDs with just eight interceptions in 2018. That was Nebraska’s first season with Scott Frost in charge.

Things really never improved from there, however, for both Martinez and Frost. Nebraska didn’t make a bowl game in any of Martinez’s seasons with the school and was 3-9 in 2021. And while he's been solid in his time with Nebraska, his tenure with the Huskers — much like Frost's — will be more known for turnovers and missed opportunities by Nebraska fans.

Martinez started the first 11 games of the season and was 189-of-306 for 2,867 yards with 14 TDs and 10 interceptions. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 512 yards and 13 touchdowns. No other Nebraska player had more than four rushing touchdowns.

Martinez miss the final game of Nebraska's season with a shoulder injury and entered the transfer portal soon after the regular season was over. At KSU, he's the likely candidate to follow Skylar Thompson as the team's starter.

Thompson has been Kansas State’s starting quarterback since 2018, though he played in just 12 games over the past two seasons because of injuries.

Thompson has been productive in Chris Klieman’s offense when healthy, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Martinez have a solid season in 2022 if he’s Kansas State’s starter. The KSU offense returns star sophomore running back Deuce Vaughn and Phillip Brooks and Malik Knowles are solid wide receivers.

Martinez will also have a chance to start for a second consecutive season at Oklahoma with the Wildcats. Nebraska played at Oklahoma in Week 4 in 2021 and lost 23-16 to the Sooners after cutting OU’s lead to seven with less than six minutes to go.