Nicco Marchiol Officially Ruled Out for WVU's Game vs. Utah

The Mountaineers will have a new signal caller guiding the offense this week.

WVU Athletics Communications

As expected, West Virginia has officially ruled out starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol (foot) for this Saturday's game against the Utah Utes.

Marchiol told the training staff after the 31-point loss to Kansas that he had been dealing with some mid-foot pain for a couple of weeks and went to see a specialist in Denver, Colorado, meaning he would miss some practice time. The results from that appointment have not been disclosed at this time, but with it being national redshirt season (the four-game mark), questions have arisen about his status for not only this week, but the remainder of the season.

Earlier this week, head coach Rich Rodriguez was asked in his press conference about Jaylen Henderson's ability to throw the ball consistently, and responded with, "All of our quarterbacks, all of them, can make the throws. It's a matter of throwing it to the right guy at the right time and reading the defense. There's a lot to quarterback play. It's more challenging than ever before because defenses have become more complicated."

Henderson is the ideal candidate to replace Marchiol in the starting lineup, given his experience, but it wouldn't be shocking to see one of the young guns, Khalil Wilkins or Scotty Fox, become the guy. At this point, nothing should surprise Mountaineer fans, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. Rodriguez is going to keep rolling different guys in there until one of them proves they are the guy for the job permanently.

While Marchiol has completed 67% of his pass attempts, he's struggled to evade pressure and use his legs to keep defenses honest. Henderson, Wilkins, Fox, and Max Brown all have that ability.

The full injury report

West Virginia

OUT: QB Nicco Marchiol, RB Jahiem White, WR Jaden Bray, S Julien Horton, OL Cooper Young

DOUBTFUL: RB Cyncir Bowers

QUESTIONABLE: RB Tye Edwards, C Landen Livingston

PROBABLE: WR Preston Fox, TE Jacob Barrick, LB Ben Bogle

Utah

OUT: S Rabbit Evans, WR Daidren Zipperer, S Josh Sovereign, OL Isaiah Garcia, DE Paul Fitzgerald, DT Aliki Vimahi

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