Cornhuskers find redemption in 51-41 win over Cowboys

Last week, Taylor Martinez and the Nebraska offense pulled a disappearing act.

But on Saturday, the Magic was back as the Cornhuskers totaled 542 total yards and beat Oklahoma State 51-41 in Stillwater, Okla.

One week after being pulled from the game for the second time in six starts, Martinez finally displayed the golden arm his coaches and teammates have raved about all year long. The redshirt freshman shredded the Cowboy defense with 323 yards and five touchdowns passing and added another 112 yards on the ground.

For his effort, Martinez was named the FBS National Offensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Foundation.

"Taylor Martinez grew up today," offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. "It's a big step in his career. Today you got to see what we see every day in practice. He has a great arm and he can compete with his arm. He's just young. He's a redshirt freshman, and he's never played at this level until now."

Martinez's 435 yards of total offense broke his old freshman record set just two weeks ago at Kansas State and was the third-highest total in Husker history.

He also became the first Husker to pass for 300 yards and run for 100 in the same game.

"In practice, we always pass the ball like that," Martinez said. "Today we just showed everybody else that we can throw the ball like that instead of dropping back and running. My receivers did a great job of finding me and they made great catches."

Martinez added that games like this were not uncommon for him in high school. He said he threw for five touchdowns in a high school game once — and was pulled at halftime because the game was such a blowout.

NU coach Bo Pelini gave credit to Watson, who surprised Oklahoma State with his playcalling. After displaying an offense heavy on the zone read and light on passing plays — the most passes Martinez had attempted in one game coming into Saturday was 17 — for most of the year, Watson opened up the playbook and caught the Cowboys off guard with Martinez's arm.

"Watson called a heck of a game," Pelini said. "I thought he kept them off balance and took what was there. I thought Taylor read well, and I think we executed our offense the way it needs to be executed."

Saturday also served as a redemption game for the Huskers' beleaguered receiving corps, which struggled mightily against Texas. Brandon Kinnie, who dropped a sure touchdown a week ago, caught his first three career touchdowns. Mike McNeill — who had just six catches coming in — finally found his niche in the passing game, hauling in five passes for 61 yards.

But the redemption was bigger for no one but Niles Paul. The senior dropped several passes against Texas, including a couple of touchdowns, and was berated by fans in the parking lot and on his Facebook page. Paul responded with the best game of his career Saturday, catching a career-high nine passes for 131 yards.

Paul also returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown and had a 24-yard punt return.

The senior said the opposing fans tried to give him a hard time Saturday, but he just blocked them out and let his play do the talking.

"I didn't pay much attention to their fans," Paul said. "All I did was turn around and say, ‘God bless.'"

danhoppen@dailynebraskan.com