STILLWATER, Okla. — Taylor Martinez went from running himself into the Heisman Trophy race to getting benched, only to re-emerge as a sudden passing sensation.
Martinez set a Nebraska freshman record with 323 yards passing, threw a careerhigh five touchdown passes and the 16th-ranked Cornhuskers knocked No. 14 Oklahoma State from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 51-41 victory Saturday.
Martinez, who came in trailing only Michigan’s Denard Robinson in yards rushing by a quarterback, showed off his arm while also running for 112 yards on 19 carries.
“I’ve seen him do it day after day. I promise you he’s no different now than he was going into this game,” Coach Bo Pelini said. “I think this game hopefully will keep giving him more confidence.
“He threw it all over thefield. He made some great throws in that game, and he showed what we knew he was capable of doing. He can hurt you with his feet. He can hurt you with his arm.”
Martinez had only three touchdown passes and had never thrown for more than 150 yards in his first six starts. He even got benched in favor of Zac Lee after the Cornhuskers fell behind Texas in a 20-13 loss last week.
Martinez rallied the Huskers for the go-ahead score with 55 seconds left before halftime, delivering a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kinnie for a 31-27 lead. Then he kept Nebraska ahead by evading the Cowboys’ pressure with some throws downfield.
Kendall Hunter ran for 201 yards and two touchdowns in trying to lead Oklahoma State (6-1, 2-1) to only the third 7-0 start in school history, but Nebraska (6-1, 2-1) clamped down after a high-scoring first half and forced the Cowboys to go three-and-out on three of their four drives in the second half.
In other Big 12 games, Austen Arnaud passed for two touchdowns, Alexander Robinson ran for 120 yards and two scores and Iowa State put another home loss on No. 19 Texas, 28-21. The Longhorns (4-3, 2-2), back home for the first time since a 34-12 loss to UCLA on Sept. 25, dropped a second consecutive game in Austin for the first time since 1997. The Cyclones (4-4, 2-2) forced four turnovers by Longhorns quarterback Garrett Gilbert. ... Matt Williams’ 36-yard field goal with 2:09 left capped Texas Tech’s comeback from a 10-point deficit and gave the Red Raiders a 27-24 victory over host Colorado (3-4, 0-3) The Red Raiders (4-3, 2-3) started the game-winning drive at midfield after Austin Zouzalik thwarted the Buffaloes’ rugby punt strategy by grabbing the line-drive at his 47. ... Jay Finley rushed for a school-record 250 yards, Robert Griffin threw for a career-high 404 yards and four touchdowns and Baylor (6-2, 3-1) became bowl eligible for the first time since joining the Big 12, beating Kansas State (5-2, 2-2) 47-42 in Waco, Texas. ... Jerrod Johnson broke Texas A&M’s (4-3, 1-2) career record for total offense, and backup Ryan Tannehill threw three touchdown passes to help the Aggies rollpast hapless Kansas (2-5, 0-3) 45-10 in Lawrence, Kansas. With 139 yards passing and 28 rushing, Johnson raised his career total to 8,888 yards, snapping the record of 8,876 Reggie McNeal compiled from 2002-2005.
Sports, Pages 39 on 10/24/2010