By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – I was about halfway finished with writing a column about why Friday’s game at Nebraska was so dangerous for the Iowa football team when news broke that Adrian Martinez had suffered a shoulder injury and would miss the game.

Needless to say, that changes everything for Nebraska, and for this column because without Martinez playing quarterback, Nebraska loses its most important player on offense, and probably its best player on offense.

The injury happened in the first half of Nebraska’s 35-28 loss at Wisconsin this past Saturday, according to Nebraska head coach Scott Frost, but Martinez withstood the pain to play in the second half.

“As you guys know I don’t really talk about injuries unless it’s season ending,” Frost said Monday. “We have one game left and Adrian won’t be available. He has a shoulder injury that he’s going to have to get addressed after the season.

“It happened in the first half Saturday. He’s such a tough kid, I didn’t expect him to play in the second half and he came up to me right before the second half kickoff and said he wanted to go. He played well. He played tough. I feel terrible for him, but appreciate him and we’re going to have to be without him Friday.”

As former Iowa offensive coordinator Don Patterson likes to say, Martinez is the straw that stirs the Nebraska offense.

Martinez has struggled with ball security, and the Cornhuskers, with records of 1-7 in conference play and 3-8 overall, have struggled to win games with him behind center.

But when Martinez performs well and protects the football, he is one of the most dangerous and productive players in the conference.

He can beat defenses with his arm and with his legs.

And he can improvise when a play breaks down and make something out of nothing.

Martinez is Nebraska’s all-time leader in total offense with 10,792 yards, and with 670 completions. He also has 19 games with at least 300 total yards, which is another school record, and five games with at least 400 yards.

As for his replacement on Friday, that will be freshman Logan Smothers, who has appeared briefly in five games this season. Smothers has 119 passing yards and 69 rushing yards.

There is always the chance that Smothers will seize the moment on Friday and play well.

But the odds of that happening are obviously way less than if Martinez were playing on Friday.

To say that Iowa has caught a break would be an understatement.

The column I had been writing about Nebraska being a dangerous opponent for Iowa was based largely on Martinez’s impact at quarterback.

The Cornhuskers will enter Friday’s regular-season finale against Iowa having scored 314 points in 11 games, while Iowa has only scored 280 points in 11 games.

Nebraska scored 28 points in the loss at Wisconsin this past Saturday, which is 21 more points than Iowa scored in a loss at Wisconsin in October.

Nebraska scored 56 points in a victory over Northwestern, which is 39 more points than Iowa scored in a 17-12 victory over Northwestern this season.

Nebraska has outscored Iowa by 34 points in 11 games, and yet, Iowa still has six more victories overall and five more in conference play.

That speaks volumes about both teams in that good teams find ways to win, while teams with a history of struggling find ways to lose.

Nebraska’s record would suggest that it’s a bad team, and in some ways, it is a bad team.

Because a team doesn’t lose seven of eight conference games by accident, or as part of some ongoing fluke.

It loses because it fails to get the job done.

The concern with Friday’s game was that the law of averages finally would work in Nebraska’s favor and that Martinez and his cohorts would finally win a close game against a quality opponent.

But so much of that concern was based on Martinez playing quarterback rather than a seldom-used freshman.

Iowa’s defense rarely gives up big plays, unless the opponent is Purdue, and without Martinez behind center, it’s hard to see Nebraska generating many big plays on Friday.

Frost not only has one less day to prepare for Iowa, he now has to do it without his best player.

Frost, at least, now has an excuse should Nebraska lose to Iowa for an eighth consecutive time because losing Martinez is a legitimate excuse.

One could argue that Martinez means more to his team than any other player on both teams.

Iowa has two quarterbacks that Kirk Ferentz feels comfortable with using in sophomore Alex Padilla and junior Spencer Petras. Padilla has led Iowa to three straight wins and is 2-0 as a starter, while Petras had started 17 consecutive games before missing the Minnesota game due to a shoulder injury.

Petras is now healthy again, and if Padilla struggles on Friday, Kirk Ferentz could always switch back to the quarterback that led Iowa to 12 straight wins.

Nebraska, on the other hand, is now scrambling to get a redshirt freshman ready to face one of the Big Ten’s best defenses in a key border clash

You never say never, but the risk of Iowa losing on Friday has been reduced significantly with Martinez not playing.

An Iowa victory on Friday, coupled with a Minnesota victory over Wisconsin on Saturday in Minneapolis, would give Iowa the West Division title.

That is certainly within the realm of possibility, especially in the wake of Monday’s breaking news.