This just in: Taylor Martinez is human. Nebraska's redshirt freshman quarterback proved as much in a 17-3 win over South Dakota State on Saturday night. Martinez committed three turnovers and struggled to complete passes against a scrappy Jackrabbit squad from the Football Championship Subdivision.

It was obvious from the beginning that Nebraska was going to have their hands full. South Dakota State forced a Martinez fumble on the Huskers’ first offensive play, and held Nebraska to a scoreless tie through the first quarter.

But running back Rex Burkhead opened the scoring on a three-yard touchdown run early in the second, and Huskers ran out to a 14-0 lead by halftime.

The Jackrabbits used senior running back Kyle Minnett to great effectiveness. Minett hurt Nebraska in a variety of ways, ending the game with 112 yards on 28 carries.

Martinez suffered through his worst performance of the season, throwing two interceptions and failing to sustain drives against a Jackrabbits defense that was keying on him all night. South Dakota State forced him to throw the ball, and the results weren’t pretty. He was replaced late in the game with sophomore Cody Green.

Martinez’ fourth quarter interception provided the Jackrabbits with their last chance to make things interesting. But Husker corner back Alfonzo Dennard picked off a pass on the Nebraska goal line three plays later, sealing the game for Nebraska. .

The game provided the 7th-ranked Huskers with a laundry list of issues to work on going into their Big 12 schedule. They open the conference play on October 7th, in a Thursday night matchup against Kansas State.