COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia has a quarterback problem.
That was made very apparent in Saturday’s 42-31 loss to Texas when Austin Kendall threw four interceptions — all of which were at critical times when the Mountaineers were within a score of either tying or taking the lead against the Longhorns.
But this isn’t the problem many think it is. Despite those four picks, Kendall may have played the best game of his season against the Longhorns.
The problem isn’t Kendall himself, it’s growing through his struggles as an inexperienced quarterback at a new school, even if it costs West Virginia in the end.
So put down the pitchforks and the clamoring for Trey Lowe and pulling Jarret Doege’s redshirt — Austin Kendall is here to stay, and that’s the best move, and only move, the Mountaineers can go with right now.
“You all are going to want to talk about his four interceptions … that was the best game he’s played without watching the tape,” coach Neal Brown said after the game. “The first interception he threw was his fault, the next two were in the receivers’ hands, and on the fourth one, the guy ran the wrong route.
“I thought he did some really good things.”
Kendall’s first pick came in the first quarter after WVU forced a Texas punt. It was easily his biggest mistake of the day, missing Texas’ Ayodele Adeoye sitting in the middle of the field as Kendall tried to hit his receiver streaking between the hashes.
Afterward, though, Kendall showed how good he can be when things are going right for him. He still threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes.
There’s obvious talent there — it’s untapping that potential to its fullest that can drive a coaching staff, and even Kendall himself, crazy.
“I just have to put my receivers in a better position,” Kendall said. “I have to take responsibility for that. I’m not going to go out there and say, ‘It’s not my fault.’ I have to put my receivers in a better situation.”
The first five games of the season are Kendall’s only significant playing time as a junior. After sitting at Oklahoma for three years, this is still new to him. Steady improvement is what the coaches want to see and according to the offensive staff, that’s what they’ve seen.
“I think he’s getting better every single week,” offensive coordinator Matt Moore said. “I would have liked to run the ball a little more to take the pressure off of him, but he’s getting better every week. He’s a kid that it’s been a while since he’s played football.”
Kendall is no Will Grier — we’ve learned that early on in his career, but he’s clearly the best option the Mountaineers have, or at least are willing to play.
There is no one on the team that is more popular than the backup quarterback, but even if Kendall’s four interceptions were entirely his fault, there isn’t much else the team can do.
Lowe is the obvious choice, but even after camp, he was beaten out by Jack Allison for the backup job. Not that Lowe can’t be the eventual go-to guy — he’s just a redshirt freshman — the coaching staff clearly doesn’t believe he’s ready.
As for Allison, he had his chance after starting the Camping World Bowl a year ago, but has underperformed in all of his previous opportunities.
The question mark is Doege, who is recovering from offseason injuries and redshirting after transferring in from Bowling Green. He’s thrown for 4,041 yards in his career, as well as 39 touchdowns.
With the new redshirt rules, you can expect Doege to play toward the end of the year, but Brown could be banking on 2021 as the first year he can realistically compete in the Big 12. Doege will be a big part of that. Burning his redshirt now could have long-term ramifications, so it’s unlikely Doege is the answer in 2019.
On the surface, Kendall was the reason the Mountaineers lost to Texas on Saturday, but digging a little deeper, offensive struggles across the board were factors in three of four of his interceptions.
This is Austin Kendall’s team, as it should be.
“I’ve got a pretty good eye out there on the field and I thought the kid played well,” Brown said. “Quarterbacks get too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things don’t go well. But we didn’t lose that game because of Austin, I’ll tell you that. We were in the game offensively because of him, so I’m not down on that kid one bit.”
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