Austin Allen, Damion Daniels, Adrian Martinez and Cam Taylor-Britt were announced as team captains for the 2021 Nebraska football season on Saturday evening. Martinez, who was also selected as a team captain in 2019 and 2020, becomes the first three-time captain in the history of Nebraska football.
A tight end from Aurora, Neb., Allen has played in 32 games in his Husker career with 12 starts. He was named to the preseason watch list for the Mackey Award (nation’s best tight end) and was also selected for the Senior Bowl watch list. He has caught 27 passes in his career for 373 yards, while also providing perimeter blocking for a Husker rushing attack that is the only Power Five program in the country to average 200 rushing yards per game each of the last three seasons. A Nebraska graduate with a degree in mechanized systems management, Allen is a three-time academic All-Big Ten honoree and a four-time member of the Brook Berringer and Tom Osborne Citizenship teams.
Daniels is the second member of his family to be selected as a Nebraska captain, as his older brother Darrion was a team captain for the 2019 season. Damion and Darrion are the ninth brothers to each serve as Husker captains, and the first since Ty Steinkuhler (2008) and Baker Steinkuhler (2012) were each captains as seniors. Damion has played in 32 career games and totaled a career-high 20 tackles as Nebraska’s starting nose guard in 2020, recording a tackle behind the line of scrimmage in four of the final five games. He was named to the 2021 Senior Bowl watch list. A Dallas native, Daniels earned his degree in communications studies in May of 2020, and he a three-time member of the Berringer and Osborne Citizenship teams.
The first three-time captain in program history, Martinez enters his fourth season as Nebraska’s starting quarterback this fall. Martinez has started 27 games in his first three seasons, and he owns one Nebraska game record, five season marks and four career records. He has completed better than 64 percent of his passes in his career, throwing for 5,628 yards while adding 1,776 rushing yards and accounting for 53 total touchdowns. Martinez boasted the fourth-best completion percentage of any FBS quarterback last season, and he enters the 2021 season as one of only four players in the country with 5,000 career passing yards and 1,500 career rushing yards. Martinez is a member of the Maxwell Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and Senior Bowl watch lists. In the classroom, Martinez completed his undergraduate work in 3 ½ years to graduate with his degree in business administration last May. The Fresno, Calif., native is a two-time academic All-Big Ten selection and three-time member of the Berringer and Osborne Citizenship teams, in addition to being a 2021 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee.
A native of Montgomery, Ala., Taylor-Britt was a second-team All-Big Ten selection last season. The cornerback led the Huskers with four pass breakups in 2020, and he tied for the team lead with a pair of interceptions. His coverage ability helped Nebraska limit four of its eight opponents to fewer than 200 yards passing during the 2020 season. Taylor-Britt was also Nebraska’s top punt returner last season, averaging more than 13 yards per return. He has started 16 career games and was named to the 2021 Senior Bowl watch list. Off the field, Taylor-Britt is on track to earn his degree in criminology and criminal justice in December, completing his classwork in less than four years.
Nebraska opens it 2021 season on Saturday against Illinois. Kickoff is set for shortly after Noon (Central). The game will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM with pregame coverage beginning at 10 a.m. on the Huskers Sports Network.
