‘Wouldn’t change a thing’: Adrian Martinez reflects on his lone season with K-State
Adrian Martinez will finish his lone season at Kansas State with an oversized ring on his finger. He will leave Manhattan as a conference champion. His final college football game will happen later this week against mighty Alabama at the historic Sugar Bowl inside the iconic Superdome.
All things considered it’s been a good year.
Mostly.
If he’s being honest, Martinez would have preferred to stay healthy for 13 games and he would have liked to finish out the season as K-State’s starting quarterback rather than spending much of his time on the sideline with injuries while Will Howard emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 12.
But it’s easy for Martinez to say he has no regrets about transferring to K-State after spending his first four seasons at Nebraska. His college career would already be over had he stayed with the Cornhuskers, who only won four games and are still looking to reach their first bowl since 2016.
“Shoot, this year has been very up and down and probably not how any of us envisioned it,” Martinez told reporters inside the Superdome on Tuesday. “But we wouldn’t change a thing. We’re Big 12 champs, we’re at the Sugar Bowl. It’s where we want to be right now.”
The ride might not be over for Martinez.
Fans haven’t seen him in uniform since he suffered a lower-body injury against Baylor in early November, but he is now back at practice and wearing one of those green, no-contact jerseys that K-State quarterbacks use whenever they are preparing for the next game.
He is feeling healthy again — not quite 100%, but good enough to take the field and throw a few passes or run for a few first downs against Alabama if he is called upon by K-State coach Chris Klieman.
When Klieman last spoke with media, he said the Wildcats would look to get him involved in some way as a change-of-pace option, with Howard serving as the team’s unquestioned quarterback.
When Martinez went down with his injury, he circled the bowl game as his return date. Remember, this is his first bowl game. He has been working hard to give himself a chance to go out with a bang.
“It’s never easy going through an injury, but you find a way to battle back and it’s part of the sport,” Martinez said. “I have dealt with a lot of different injuries in my career. I hate to say that I have gotten accustomed to being injured, but I know to deal with them, that’s for sure.”
It will be interesting to see how much K-State looks to use Martinez if he is cleared to play at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The Wildcats could deploy him in a wildcat package that utilizes his speed as a runner. They could also insert him for trick plays alongside Howard. They could even let him handle a full drive or two by himself.
K-State may owe him a shot in the Sugar Bowl after all he did for the team early on this season. Even though Howard was the quarterback who led the Wildcats to glory, it was Martinez who made clutch plays during road victories against Oklahoma and Iowa State.
He has thrown for 1,261 yards and six touchdowns this season to go along with 615 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
For now, Martinez isn’t worried about how much or how little he plays compared to Howard.
“I think both of us really just want to win,” Martinez said. “For me, whatever that looks like I am willing to do. I think we are on board with that. All hands on deck is kind of the approach.”
Martinez and Howard are good friends. That has helped both of them support each other this season.
That isn’t about to change.
“We constantly have each other’s back,” Martinez said. “I think Will and I have a really good relationship and understand what it takes to play quarterback. (Offensive coordinator Collin Klien) does as well. That has really been a healthy relationship for all of us, to continue to communicate and make sure we are on the same page.”
At this time last year, Martinez was searching for a new college football team. The three seasons before that he was home with no bowl game to look forward to.
He much prefers ending things against Alabama at the Sugar Bowl.
“One of the coaches today said, ‘Hey, this is your last Tuesday practice in college, ever,’” Martinez said. “That is good perspective. I might as well enjoy it. It’s surreal and it hasn’t fully hit me yet, but what a place, the Sugar Bowl. Might as well have it be your last game. It’s a pretty good way to go out.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 8:16 PM with the headline "‘Wouldn’t change a thing’: Adrian Martinez reflects on his lone season with K-State."