MARTINEZ OUT FOR HUSKERS, SMOTHERS TO START
Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez has played his final game of the 2021 season.
Head coach Scott Frost confirmed on Monday that Martinez injured his shoulder at Wisconsin and will be unavailable for Friday’s game against Iowa.
Martinez left the game in the second quarter and made the decision to re-enter the game to start the third quarter, which came as a surprise to Frost at that time.
Martinez was able to finish the game vs. the Badgers. Backup Logan Smothers will be elevated to starter with Heinrich Haarberg the expected backup for the Black Friday contest.
NEBRASKA FOOTBALL MONDAY POST-PRACTICE COMMENTS:
FROST – ADRIAN BATTLED INJURY IN SECOND HALF
Head Coach of the Huskers Scott Frost confirmed that quarterback Adrian Martinez will be out for Friday’s contest against Iowa after playing through an injury in the second half against Wisconsin.
Martinez finished the season as Nebraska’s all-time leader in offensive yardage. Logan Smothers will be set to start with Heinrich Haarberg as the backup.
FROST – CONFIDENCE IN BOTH BACKUP QBs
Head Coach Scott Frost confirmed quarterback Adrian Martinez will not see the season finale against Iowa due to a shoulder injury. In his place, Logan Smothers is expected to start, however Frost adds that multiple quarterbacks could see time…
Frost continued that a multiple quarterback system could be implemented on Friday against the Hawkeyes.
FROST – GAMEPLAN DOES NOT CHANGE WITH NEW QUARTERBACKS
Head Coach Scott Frost addressed the media after Monday’s practice and spoke about his confidence in his backup quarterbacks to run the offense against an Iowa defense without Adrian Martinez…
Frost continued that Logan Smothers is set to start with former Kearney Catholic Star Heinrich Haarberg to be the primary backup as both are receiving first team reps.
FROST – APPRECIATE MARTINEZ’ CAREER
Head Coach Scott Frost was asked to reflect on Adrian Martinez’ career as a Husker if his Nebraska career has come to an end.
Frost declined to comment, but did add he is appreciative of what the head coach and quarterback have been through…
Martinez will likely participate in Senior Day activities and be recognized prior to kickoff, according to Frost.
FROST – ALLEN MOST RELIABLE OFFENSIVE WEAPON
Head Coach Scott Frost heaped praise onto senior Austin Allen, who is likely to smash all of Nebraska’s single-season tight end receiving records against Iowa.
Frost added that the Aurora native has been a steady hand in the offense…
Allen currently has 547 receiving yards on 36 receptions with two scores.
FROST – THOUGHTS ON SENIOR CLASS
Scott Frost will celebrate his senior class this Friday in the final home contest against Iowa. Frost was asked on Monday his thoughts on this class…
It is still unknown how many seniors will be recognized on Friday as all players who were active in the 2020 pandemic season were granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA.
UNK FOOTBALL WINS IN COLORADO COUNTRY, ADVANCES TO TEXAS
Junior quarterback TJ Davis ran for a two-yard touchdown with 1:52 left and the Nebraska-Kearney defense made a tackle at its own three-yard line in the waning seconds to help the 21st-ranked Lopers hold off 13th-ranked Western Colorado, 31-24, Saturday afternoon in an NCAA Division II Playoff game in Gunnison, Colo.
The sixth-seeded Lopers (10-2) win a playoff game for the second time in school history and advance to the second round where they’ll take on second-seeded Angelo (Texas) State.
The Rams (10-2), from the Lone Star Conference, blasted Minnesota-Duluth today at home, 48-14. Earlier this fall ASU won at Chadron State, 28-24. The game will kick off in San Angelo at 1 p.m. (Nov. 27).
UNK VOLLEYBALL AWAITS NCAA TOURNAMENT BID:
After falling to Central Missouri last week in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals, UNK now hopes to make the NCAA Tournament for a 22nd straight year; the 64-team selection show airs tonight at 6:30 p.m. at www.ncaa.com.
The Blue & Gold should be in the field as they were sixth in the most recent Central Region rankings.
NEBRASKA MEN’S BASKETBALL EARNS SUNDAY VICTORY:
Bryce McGowens posted his first career double-double, while Nebraska also got a career-high 15 points from Derrick Walker in the Huskers 82-59 win over Southern Sunday afternoon.
Nebraska took control early on, jumping out to a 14-4 lead in the first 10 minutes.
The Huskers will return to action on Tuesday night when they take on Tennessee State. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be on Big Ten Network and on the Huskers Radio Network.
UNK WRESTLING PLACES 16 IN HOME TOURNAMENT:
The 2nd-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team had 16 placers at the annual Younes Hospitality Open Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.
The event is the largest college open tourney in the country, drawing over 600 wrestlers competing on 16 mats for nearly 12 hours.
UNK had 10 in the top six in the “Elite” Division and six more in the top six in the “Amateur” Division. Overall, 30 Lopers combined for 84 wins on the long day.
The Loper varsity heads to the D1-laden Cliff Keen Las Vegas Open in two weeks with the rest of the team headed to Crete for the Doane University Open.
UNK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL KEEPS ROLLING:
The Nebraska-Kearney women’s basketball team sunk nine three pointers, committed just nine turnovers, was plus six on the glass and had four score in double figures to roll past No. 8 Colorado School of Mines, 76-57, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
The Lopers improve to 3-1 while the Orediggers fall to 3-1. Mines was ranked 23rd in the WBCA Preseason D2 Top 25 poll while being eighth in the latest D2 Sports Information Directors national rankings.
The Lopers host NAIA College of St. Mary Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Flames (7-1) are at Hastings the night before.
STORM COMPLETE DOMINANT WEEKEND:
The Tri-City Storm pushed its winning streak to eight consecutive games Saturday night at the Viaero Center in a 2-0 shutout of the Des Moines Buccaneers.
Arsenii Sergeev made 22 saves to record his third shutout of the season in net for the Storm. Gavin Brindley scored the game-winning goal on the powerplay in the 2nd period. Cole O’Hara scored a goal with less than two minutes to play in the game to seal the victory for the Storm.
Tri-City now embarks on a seven-game road trip with hopes of keeping the winning streak alive.
NEBRASKA FOOTBALL POSTGAME COMMENTS:
FROST – WISCONSIN LOSS NOT DECIDED ON FINAL PLAY
Head Coach Scott Frost was animated on the sideline after no pass interference was called on the Wisconsin defense on the Huskers’ last-ditch effort to keep their game alive at Wisconsin.
During the post game press conference, Frost reiterated that the game was not lost on that one play…
Frost also commented later that he told officials to penalize him for his outburst on the sideline.
FROST – YOUNG PLAYERS NEED TO TACKLE BETTER
The Nebraska defense was short-handed on Saturday with key injuries to seniors JoJo Domann and Damion Daniels. Younger rotational players replaced the voids, but Head Coach Scott Frost added that the Blackshirts needed to go back to fundamentals…
Nebraska allowed another Wisconsin running back to dominate the contest – this time freshman Braelon Allen having 228 yards on 22 carries with three scores.
FROST – HUSKER OFFENSE STOPPED THEMSELVES
Head Coach Scott Frost was pleased with his offense’s efforts against Wisconsin – the top rated defense nationally coming into last Saturday’s contest. The Huskers gained nearly double the yardage the Badgers allow per contest, but Frost pointed out that it was the Huskers shooting themselves in the foot that lost the game…
Adrian Martinez had over 350 yards passing and two scores – one on the ground and the other a touchdown toss – but also had two interceptions.
FROST – HUSKERS BELIEVED THEY WERE GOING TO WIN
Head Coach Scott Frost nearly pulled off a Top 20 upset over Wisconsin on Saturday, but it fell short on four straight incompletions in the final minute as the Huskers lost 35-28.
Frost said that his team was confident heading into the game with the Badgers…
Frost also mentioned that he did not want to use any of his timeouts in the final drive to not leave any time left for Wisconsin to score.
MARTINEZ – OFFENSE BELIEVED WE WOULD SCORE
Huskers Quarterback Adrian Martinez had an up-and-down game against Wisconsin – a rushing touchdown and over 350 yards passing, but also two interceptions.
Martinez led the Huskers down the field on the final drive to either tie or win the game, and the quarterback said his team was confident they could get the job done…
Martinez also ended the day as Nebraska’s all-time leader in total offense.
MARTINEZ – COACHES AND OFFENSE WANTED TO BE AGGRESSIVE
Adrian Martinez flashed some big plays in the passing game against Wisconsin’s defense, but it wasn’t enough in a 35-28 loss to the Badgers.
Martinez added in his post game comments that he and the offense planned to be aggressive the entire contest…
The Huskers look to carry confidence over into a short week of practice and take on another Top 25 defense in Iowa.
NEBRASKA WRESTLING EARNS THREE TITLES AT DAKTRONICS OPEN
Three Huskers won titles, while two more added second place finishes for the Nebraska wrestling team on Sunday at the Daktronics Open in Brookings, S.D.
Mikey Labriola (174), Silas Allred (197) and Christian Lance (285) each posted first place finishes, while Jevon Parrish (149) and Peyton Robb (157) finished second at the tournament.
Nebraska continues the 2021 season at the Cliff Keen Invitation in Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 3-4. The team will then return home to face South Dakota State on Dec. 18 at the Devaney Center.
NEBRASKA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL END HOMESTAND WITH WIN
Jaz Shelley produced her first collegiate triple-double to fuel an offensive onslaught by Nebraska, as the Huskers rolled to a 113-58 win over North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Shelley, a sophomore from Moe, Australia who is in her first season with the Huskers, finished with 14 points and game highs of 10 rebounds and 10 assists in just 20 minutes of action to lead the Huskers to their third 100-point scoring performance in the first five contests – the first time in NU history that a team has hit the century mark three times in the same season.
Nebraska will make its first road trip of the season by traveling to San Diego next weekend. The Huskers open by battling 2021 NCAA Tournament qualifier Drexel on Friday at 6 p.m.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
SATURDAY:
- UNK:
- MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: NCAA Championships
- Lopers finish 25th
- WRESTLING: UNK Open
- 16 UNK Wrestlers place
- MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Colorado Mines @ Health and Sports Center
- CANCELLED
- WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Colorado Mines @ Health and Sports Center
- UNK 76-57
- FOOTBALL: NCAA D2 Playoffs
- UNK @ Western Colorado (Gunnison, CO)
- UNK 31-24
- UNK @ Western Colorado (Gunnison, CO)
- MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: NCAA Championships
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
-
- WRESTLING: UNK Open
- Two second-place finishes
- WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Mount Marty @ Lynn Farrell Arena
- HC 81-53
- MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Mount Marty @ Lynn Farrell Arena
- HC 87-67
- WRESTLING: UNK Open
MONDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- MEN’S WRESTLING: @ Midland
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: Jamboree Game v. GINW – 5:30 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: Jamboree Game v. GINW – 7 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: Jamboree Game v. Cozad – 5:30 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: Jamboree Game v. Cozad – 7 PM
- UNK:
- MEN’S BASKETBALL: @ South Dakota School of Mines – 8 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- WOMEN’S WRESTLING: v. William Penn University @ Kiewit Gym
- MEN’S WRESTLING: v. #3 Doane
- WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. College of St. Mary @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 6 PM
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. College of St. Mary – 2 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
-
- MEN’S BASKETBALL: @ University of Wyoming – 7 PM
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- FOOTBALL: NCAA D2 Playoffs (2nd Round)
- UNK @ Angelo State @ San Angelo, Texas – 1 PM
- WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Chadron State @ Health and Sports Center – 2 PM
- FOOTBALL: NCAA D2 Playoffs (2nd Round)
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
-
- N/a