Daily briefing: On Adrian Martinez, Arkansas-Cincinnati and getting a degree

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

Adrian Martinez and turnovers

One of the most fascinating experiments of the season commences Saturday at Kansas State, where Adrian Martinez, the talented, turnover-prone quarterback at Nebraska the past four seasons, takes over a Wildcats offense whose first commandment – and maybe its second – is to protect the ball. Martinez accumulated nearly 11,000 yards of total offense and 80 touchdowns with the Huskers. But Nebraska went minus-18 in turnover margin the past four seasons. When Wildcats offensive coordinator Collin Klein quarterbacked his alma mater in 2011-12, Kansas State went plus-31. In fact, the Wildcats have finished in the red in turnovers only twice in the past 15 seasons. If Klein can fit Martinez into the system alongside a running back as talented as Deuce Vaughn, watch out.

A tougher start for Arkansas

Three years ago, Arkansas still needed an opening opponent for 2022. In a sport where teams schedule more than a decade in advance – Oklahoma State at Arkansas on September 10, 2033 – this vacancy looked larger with every passing day. That’s why the No. 19 Razorbacks are playing No. 25, just-made-the-playoff Cincinnati on Saturday. They both needed a game. The last time Arkansas played a nonconference opponent of any stature occurred in 2006, when No. 6 USC came to Fayetteville, forced five turnovers and won 50-14. After that, Arkansas opened with eight FCS opponents and five regional Group of Five schools. In the two seasons when the SEC forced Arkansas to start at the deep end of the pool, the Hogs lost 45-21 to No. 6 Auburn in 2014 and 37-10 to No. 4 Georgia in 2020. Oh, and don’t get your hopes up. Arkansas’ next three openers: Western Carolina, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Missouri State.

Academic accomplishments

Remember those halcyon days before NIL, when the object of playing college football was to get a degree? In this era of how-much-can-I-make, a diploma isn’t the selling point for coaches that it used to be, and the increased use of the transfer portal makes it harder to graduate. Academic credits don’t travel as easily as fullbacks. Here’s some good news: The National Football Foundation surveyed 125 FBS schools and found 1,841 players who already have undergraduate degrees. That’s nearly 15 per school. The extra year of eligibility granted because of the pandemic must contribute to that, as well as players going to class 12 months a year (summer school during summer workouts). That stat is a nice reminder of what college football is supposed to be.