Greene Impresses, Marchiol was 'Feast & Famine' in Saturday's Scrimmage

For the first time since 2019, West Virginia has a true competition for the starting quarterback job after two-year starter Jarret Doege transferred to Western Kentucky earlier this offseason.

Doege did well at times but was hindered by his mobility or lack thereof which resulted in several sacks, QB hits, and bad decisions. Regardless of who wins the starting job in 2022, one thing is for sure, the Mountaineers will have a dual-threat quarterback.

Redshirt sophomore Garrett Greene has the most athleticism of the three, while true freshman Nicco Marchiol appears to have the complete package. Redshirt freshman Will "Goose" Crowder is the forgotten one of the group due to redshirting last season and the allure of Marchiol's future. Crowder can't be ruled out of the race and depending on who you ask, he may have the strongest arm in the room.

Through six practices, it's been what you would expect - a lot of ups and downs from all three. Head coach Neal Brown stated before spring ball began that the hope and expectation is that one of the three takes control of the job or they will search for help in the transfer portal.

In Saturday's scrimmage period, Greene had a sharp outing while Marchiol and Crowder both had their moments.

"Garrett [Greene] had a nice day. He threw the deep ball well today, that's the thing that really stuck out," Brown said. "Nicco [Marchiol] was feast and famine. You always got to think about it like, he's a high school senior. He went out there and got reps with the ones in Power Five and no offense to Hamilton High School, where he played last year, they're really good but there's a little bit of a difference between that and going and playing against our first group of defenders. So, the game is happening fast. I was really proud of him because he threw an interception and he bounced back really well from that. Goose [Crowder] had a long touchdown run today on a draw play and I thought he did a good job of moving up in the pocket and hitting some plays down the field."

Brown says all three quarterbacks will continue to split reps with the first-team offense over the next couple of weeks leading into the annual Gold-Blue spring game which is set for April 23rd.

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