season opener against Southern Mississippi ended up being a showcase for Martinez's improvement over the spring and summer. Martinez went 26/34 passing with 5 touchdowns and no interceptions and lead Huskers to a 49–20 win. His throwing motion improved and no longer appeared to be an issue. In the game against Wisconsin defensive end David Gilbert wasn't convinced of Martinez' improvement. When asked he said, "It still looks like he’s skipping rocks out there to me... He still can’t throw. I’m just going to say it. He still can’t throw. He’s not going to beat us with his arm." Martinez led scoring drives on 5 of Nebraska's last 6 possessions to take a 30–27 lead late in the 4th quarter—which ended up being the final score. Martinez accounted for all 4 of Nebraska's touchdowns, throwing for 2 and running for 2 more. The victory was Nebraska's 2nd largest comeback in school history, 2nd only to the 21 point comeback win against Ohio State the season before (also featuring Martinez at QB). One of Martinez's best games of 2012 came at Michigan State on November 3. Michigan State was 5–4 heading into the game, but featured the best defense statistically in college football at that point in the season, including the best run defense in the Big Ten. Martinez ended the day with the second best rushing performance of his career with 205 yards on 17 carries. Despite throwing 3 interceptions, Martinez was able to make important throws late in the game. Down by 3 with no timeouts and only 1:20 left, Martinez led an 80-yard drive that included a 38-yard completion to Kyler Reed on 4th and 10 at the Nebraska 40-yard line, and the game-winning touchdown pass to sophomore WR Jamal Turner with :06 seconds left. Martinez received Player of the Week honors in the Big Ten for his performance. During the game, Martinez passed former Heisman winner Eric Crouch as the all-time leader in total yardage at Nebraska. Martinez helped lead another comeback the following week against Penn State, where he rushed for 105 yards and threw for 171 more with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Martinez had another fine passing performance in the next game against Minnesota when he completed 72% of his passes for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. Nebraska finished the regular season at 10–2, and headed to the Big Ten championship