Jarret Doege Making Strides as a Quarterback and a Leader
West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege made his debut in the old gold and blue towards the end of the 2019 season. His first appearance came in the second half of a lopsided home loss to Texas Tech before making his first start for the Mountaineers on the road knocking off nationally-ranked Kansas State.
Doege started and went 2-1 in the final three games of the 2019 season.
He finished the year completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 818 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions (all came in the season finale at TCU). However, the Mountaineers came away with a 20-17 win. The numbers don’t exactly jump off that stat sheet, but an abysmal running game was the most prominent contributor to the offensive woes.
Despite the offensive struggles, Doege remained poised through it all, and it’s something he has continued to improve upon day by day.
“I think the biggest thing is anytime you get a guy that has taken, the reps he got last year and into this year, as he moves forward, we think he does a really good job of staying poised,” said co-offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. “He doesn’t really get too high or too low, and you really need that out of the quarterback position.”
Then, there is the fundamental aspect of playing quarterback, and just like any other position on the team, improving footwork is a top priority in the offseason.
“Him and his dad really got at it through the pandemic to allow him to get things better with his feet,” said Parker. “Him and coach Reagan have done a great job in approaching his feet and staying balance through throws.”
Staying poised in the pocket and working on his footwork was evident in the season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky, albeit the competition level wasn't up to the standards the Mountaineers will see the next nine games. However, according to Parker, his most significant improvement, is his leadership.
Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
“Where he’s really taken a step, even in the last two weeks, is his ability to lead and push guys the right way, knowing when to push buttons and when not to and how to communicate and doing that the right way,” said Parker. He’s really gotten better with leadership and delivery, and I think that’s things that kind of make you take the next step, if you will, playing the position that he does.”
Doege looks and acts like a born leader, and it may be accurate, but it didn’t stop him from finding ways to be a better leader of men.
“He was a part of my accountability team and the leader of the team, so when we were going through the pandemic together and doing a lot of time, almost four months, virtually we had a lot of conversations about how we were going to lead our team better and accountability teams and those things. So, it allowed us to have a lot of leadership discussions. He’s a great leader – he’s well respected – he puts in the work,” Parker said.
Doege’s only loss as a starter at West Virginia came against Oklahoma State, and he gets his opportunity to avenge that loss this Saturday in Stillwater, OK at 3:30 pm EST on ABC.
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook - @WVUonSI
Twitter - @SI_WVU and Christopher Hall @WVHallBilly