Cody Green knows how it feels to be the teenage wunderkind leading Nebraska’s offense.

He knows how it feels to have 85,000 fans chanting his name. He knows how it feels to be anointed the quarterback of the future.

And now that Taylor Martinez has passed him on the depth chart, Green also knows how it feels to have all that taken away.

But despite playing as a backup last week against Western Kentucky, Green refused to play the role of the downtrodden second-stringer.

Instead, he complemented the play of the redshirt freshman Martinez — who is actually older than the sophomore Green — and said he was excited about his duties in offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s new run-first scheme.

“I know what I have to do, I know what I’m good at and I know what the things I have to work on are,” Green said “(Martinez) brings one aspect and I can bring another aspect.”

On Saturday at least, Green’s aspect of choice was the passing game, where he completed five of six passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. Green led the Cornhuskers to scores on both of the drives he quarterbacked and showed a maturity that Watson said was lacking last season.

“You can tell in the way he managed those two scoring drives … that he was very poised in the pocket,” Watson said. “He just did a great job of managing that for us, where a year ago he would have gotten nervous in the service.”

Senior wide receiver Mike McNeill also said he saw a calmer, more efficient Green on the field Saturday.

“He made some checks into the blitzes, got the ball in the right place,” McNeill said. “He did a really good job.”

Green has also experienced that transformation. He said he feels more in tune with the offense this year and has become a harsher critic of himself, recognizing his mistakes when his timing on a play is off even by a second.

Last year, he said, that ability wasn’t always there.

“There’s more expected of me now than there was my freshman year,” Green said. “And I know a lot more, little things that maybe my freshman year I would’ve missed just because I wasn’t looking for it.”

When Green started conference wins against Baylor and Oklahoma last year, many assumed that he’d be under center for four years. But he struggled at times and was benched in place of Zac Lee.

Now Martinez is the toast of the campus and state. His three rushing touchdowns against the lowly Hilltoppers had some writers already comparing him to Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch. Green said he had fun watching Martinez play but knows that the key to his own success lies in a more balanced threat between running and pocket passing.

“I personally can’t be Taylor,” he said. “I can’t go out and run like he can. I wish I could, trust me, I wish I could.”

But he said he also understands why Watson decided to start Martinez, who led the team with 127 yards rushing and 136 yards passing. Throughout fall camp, Watson kept everyone informed of where they stood and what they needed to improve upon. That made losing the starting bid easier to stomach, Green said.

“It would be a lot worse if everything was secretive and all a sudden ‘Bam, here’s the starter,’” he said.

And although Green didn’t take the opening snap Saturday, he said he still approaches each practice as if he were the starter.

That’s part of a progression that Watson said has come to define a more mature Green.

“That’s how he’s grown,” Watson said. “He’s become very poised and confident.”