Arizona defensive lineman Chase Kennedy, 11, sacks West Virginia quarterback Nikko Marchiol during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Tucson, Arizona. (AP Photo/Rick Scutelli)
MORGANTOWN — There is no quarterback controversy at West Virginia University. still.
But in this age of social media, don’t wander too far. With backup QB Nikko Marchiol exceeding everyone’s expectations but his own on Saturday night in Tucson, it’s only a matter of time before this social media reaches Neil Brown’s doorstep. He put in an exceptional performance in place of the injured Garrett Green, and will have many fans and some media across the Mountain State begging for a change.
Brown did everything he could to immediately stop the surge during his Monday press conference to begin his bye week. For Green, that meant more time recovering from an injury that kept him out of Saturday night’s 31-26 win. Arizona and bring the pot to a boil.
Asked for an update on the team’s captains, Green and Wyatt Milam, both sidelined with injuries on Saturday, Brown had this to say about the status of Green and Marchiol:
“Garrett’s been struggling a little bit (with injury), so I’m sure you guys are asking about quarterback, but I’m not going to waste any time because it’s not worth talking about until he’s healthy.”
Of course, that’s faster than having a player’s replacement do what Marchiol did, completing 18 of 22 passes for 198 yards and two big touchdowns. There is no treatment in the world that can restore health. With a throw and a number of key fourth-down plays, the Mountaineers got a first down on third down and nine on the final play as time expired.
“I thought Nico played really controlled. He didn’t do anything that hurt us, and I mean that in the most positive way. We played him in lead games. We struggled with snaps (center Brandon Yates took too many snaps and ended up going high or outside too often. Nikko had to make difficult catches throughout the game). (And he made the right decisions a high percentage of the time in the run game.)
“There were some things he was wrong about, but we asked him to make a lot of decisions and he did a great job of that. He was really efficient on third down. I earned it.”
In other words, much of what has slowed the WVU offense too often this season has been avoided.
“I was happy with him. He’s much better. I saw where he was in his last (and first-ever) Star game against Texas Tech last year, and I think about where he was in this game more than a year later. I’m really impressed with the progress he’s made from there…and it’s a credit to his work.”
Brown began thinking about how Marchiol influenced the outcome of the game.
“The third down he converted to Hud (Hudson Clement) was one of the biggest plays we got. A few plays later he threw a long touchdown to Traylon Ray, another nice throw. It was a great one for Treylon after the throw to Hudson. ”
But the piece of resistance was what appeared to be a relatively simple third-down throw to running back Jalen Anderson, who hadn’t touched the ball the entire game.
It was a first down down the line of scrimmage with Anderson going wide open and going nine yards, giving the Mountaineers a timeout.
“Anderson’s last complete read was his third read, and for a young man to get to that third read in a pressured environment, and that it was the right read, is a credit to him. is.”
Brown knew that Garrett Green was the starter, had shown talent, especially in the running game, offered the leadership qualities that earned him the job, and was productive, so he knew Garrett Green was the starter and was productive at quarterback. I felt pressured by the situation.
“That’s fair.” Brown said of the question: “I think the best way to answer this is I can’t answer it until Garrett is healthy…and Garrett isn’t healthy right now. I think it’s tough to lose your job if you get hurt. That’s good. I don’t think it’s a habit.
“I think Nico played really well, but there are no long-term answers at the moment.”
That being said, Brown never said Green would automatically be the starting quarterback if healthy.
“It’s a work in progress.” Mr. Brown said. “Let me tell you, I don’t think an injury is going to cost you a job. Now, did Nikko play well enough to earn minutes? That’s true, but being the starting pitcher… As for that, I’m not going to talk about it until he’s healthy and that’s not where we are right now.”
Both Mr. Green and Mr. Marchiol are debatable.
Green has run for 1,856 yards and 25 touchdowns and thrown for 4,422 yards and 30 touchdowns in his career, which ends this season, and is eligible to keep the job.
However, the Mountaineers are 4-4 at the moment, which is not the situation they expected, and Green wasn’t as dynamic as expected in his final season.
However, Marchiol was designated as the starting quarterback for next season, and WVU’s season in particular didn’t allow them to reach the heights they were looking for, and they even lost games due to a killer schedule that saw him start only four games. He could benefit greatly from one bowl game. Penn State, Pitt State, Iowa State and Kansas State have combined to lose only one game this season.
What made Marchiol’s performance Saturday even more impressive was that he was coming off perhaps his worst game as a Mountaineer, replacing the injured Greene last week against Kansas State.
He credits this bounce-back performance to the fact that he had a full week to prepare as a starting pitcher.
“From a mental standpoint, going through a full week and getting 100 reps against not only the scout team, but our team, it shows you what a difference it makes.” he said. “I missed a whole day of practice last week, and not doing that this week showed efficiency in the passing game and the run game. This is because the receivers are in the positions they need to be, and the timing is very important in the passing game. It’s a credit to being important.”
As Brown explained on the radio before the Arizona game, he expected a performance like Marchiol’s.
“It’s made it a lot easier to start the game. He’s getting all the reps and the game plan is centered around what he’s good at, so I think he’ll play better this week.” Mr. Brown said. “Last week, he went into the second half with a plan that centered around Garrett’s strengths. He wasn’t ready and didn’t play very well.
“This kid is a winner and we planned this week around what he’s good at. I believe he’s going to come in here today and do what he’s good at.”
