MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State senior quarterback Adrian Martinez has been named to the Maxwell Award watch list as a midseason addition, the Maxwell Football Club announced Wednesday. He is the second K-State player up for the award, as running back Deuce Vaughn was on the initial watch list in July.
Martinez was one of 13 midseason additions to the watch list on Wednesday for the award that is presented to the most outstanding player in college football. His inclusion on the list marks the third-straight season a K-State signal caller has been in the running for the award, as Skylar Thompson was a preseason watch list member each of the previous two seasons.
In six games this season, Martinez has thrown for 900 yards and four touchdowns on 86-of-138 aim with no interceptions, and he has been stellar rushing the football by accounting for nine touchdowns and 546 yards on the ground.
Martinez enters action this week as the top quarterback in the nation in rushing yards, while his nine rushing touchdowns rank fourth nationally and are tied for the most among quarterbacks. Additionally, Martinez is one of only two quarterbacks in the country to rank in the top 100 in all-purpose yardage, which takes into account rushing, receiving and return yards. A quarterback has not finished in the top 100 nationally in all-purpose yards since 2019.
Over the first two Big 12 games at then-No. 6 Oklahoma and against Texas Tech, Martinez totaled 319 rushing yards and seven touchdowns as he earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and Big 12 Newcomer of the Weeks honors, respectively. He became just the third Power 5 quarterback in the last 15 years to total 300 yards and seven touchdowns over a two-game stretch, joining Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (2016) and Auburn’s Cam Newton (2010). In addition to the Big 12 honor after the Oklahoma game, Martinez was also named the Davey O’Brien Award National Quarterback of the Week.
A product of Fresno, California, Martinez willed K-State to a 3-0 start in Big 12 play via a 10-9 win at Iowa State last Saturday night. Against a tough Cyclone defense, Martinez threw for a season-high 246 yards and a touchdown while also leading the team with 77 rushing yards.
K-State, ranked No. 17 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 and No. 16 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, is off this weekend prior to a showdown at No. 13 TCU next Saturday. The game inside Amon G. Carter Stadium kicks off at 7 p.m. and will be shown on either FOX of FS1. The channel for the game will be determined after Major League Baseball announces its schedule for the League Championship Series.
The Wildcats are home the following two games, Oct. 29 against No. 8 Oklahoma State and Nov. 5 against No. 22 Texas. Tickets for those games can be purchased online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets or by phone at 1-800-221-CATS.
