PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Adrian Martinez, the freshman gunslinger, finally notched a win as the starting quarterback for Nebraska. Not only did Martinez pass for 276 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-29 passing, he rushed for 125 yards and a score against Minnesota. His performance against the Gophers earned Martinez Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.
–LB Dedrick Young, a senior from Arizona, had an interception to go along with seven tackles against Minnesota. Young has at least seven tackles in four of Nebraska’s seven games, proving to be one of the more consistent presences on the Cornhuskers defense. His interception was his first takeaway this season.
–DB Tre Neal, a senior, had a season-high 10 tackles against Minnesota. His effort came one week removed from a four-tackle, one interception effort against Northwestern. Neal expressed how relieving it was for Nebraska to get its first win of the season.
“I think it’s one of those things where we got the monkey off our backs,” Neal said. “So it’s a relief in the sense of we’re not just thinking about trying to win a game every day. That’s not something we’re worried about now. We knocked that out (of) the door, and we can move on and kind of work toward the next game and build on the success we had last week.”
–RB Maurice Washington, a freshman from California, made a big splash against the Gophers by notching the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. Washington racked up 109 yards on 14 carries to go along with a touchdown.
“When the ball gets kicked off he’s ready to play. I love guys like that,” coach Scott Frost said. “The best thing about Maurice is he loves football and you can see that in the way he plays. You can tell when a guy doesn’t even have the ball in his hands and he’s trying hard; he must love the game. Maurice has a passion for the game and he’s going to keep getting better, too. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
SERIES HISTORY: Nebraska and Bethune-Cookman will be meeting for the first time on Saturday.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “There is absolutely no question, recruiting is going really well. We need it to because we need to supplement what we have already on the team with some more talent, some more guys that already love the game. We’re going to love on each other. I’ll say it again, there is not another place in the country you can be 0-6 and have that kind of energy and full stadium.” — Scott Frost on his team’s recruiting efforts and having a sellout crowd