For those searching for a quarterback controversy in Lincoln, you’ll have to either wait or look elsewhere.
In the midst of by far his worst performance this season, starter Taylor Martinez was yanked in favor of Zac Lee in the third quarter of Nebraska’s 20-13 loss to Texas. Based on the numbers, the move made sense; at the time of his benching, Martinez had completed just four-of-12 passes for 63 yards, and was held to 21 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Following the game, head coach Bo Pelini was peppered with questions about the future of the position. As expected, and as it should be, Pelini said Martinez is still his starter.
“I’m not talking about the quarterback situation anymore,” an exasperated Pelini said. “Taylor’s our starting quarterback. Nothing is really changed.”
Pelini refused to lay the blame for his team’s offensive ineptness -- 202 total yards -- solely at the feet of his freshman, instead putting some of his frustration at the hands of the receivers coughcoughnilespaulcoughcough.
“We wanted to find a spark, and we wanted to settle Taylor down,” Pelini said. “It wasn’t Taylor, trust me, it wasn’t just Taylor. We had a couple of touchdowns we should have had with Martinez with dropped balls. We weren’t pointing the finger at Taylor when we made the change. We made that decision.”