Cal Sports Report

QB Adrian Martinez Transfers to Kansas State, Not Cal

Golden Bears were one of the contenders for the former Nebraska quarterback, but Cal must  look elsewhere

Jake Curtis

QB Adrian Martinez Transfers to Kansas State, Not Cal
QB Adrian Martinez Transfers to Kansas State, Not Cal /

Cal will have to look elsewhere for a quarterback through the transfer portal, because Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez, who seemed to be the leading candidate to succeed Chase Garbers as the Golden Bears starting quarterback in 2022, announced on social media on Thursday that he has chosen Kansas State as his transfer destination.

Martinez, a dual-threat quarterback, was Nebraska's starting quarterback for the past four seasons. He completed 61.8% of his passes in 2021 with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he was the Cornhuskers' leading rusher with 525 yards. But Nebraska finished with a 3-9 record, including 1-8 in the Big Ten.

When Martinez entered the transfer portal, speculation turned to Cal as a possible destination because he is from Fresno and was recruited by Cal coming out of .Clovis West High School.

However, Kansas State had an ace in the hole. Martinez's girlfriend, Marisa Weichel, plays soccer at Kansas State, and she retweeted Martinez's commitment to K-State on her Twitter site.

“Excited for the next chapter,” Martinez wrote on social media.

Like Cal, K-State is looking for an experienced quarterback to replace a starter. The Wildcats have been led by Skylar Thompson the past four seasons.

With Martinez off the transfer market, Cal will be looking elsewhere in the transfer pool. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, Purdue quarterback Jack Plummer and Clemson quarterback Taisun Phommachanh are players in the transfer portal who have been considered possible targets for Cal.

If Cal does not land a transfer quarterback capable of being a starter, the Bears would have to depend on second-year freshman Zach Johnson or true freshman Kai Millner or grad transfer Ryan Glover. Johnson and Millner have not played a down of college football, and Glover was ineffective in his one start of the 2021 season, against Arizona.  It is still not known whether Glover will choose to remain at Cal for the 2022 season.

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Cover photo of Adrian Martinez is by Jeff Hanisch, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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