MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University football coach Neal Brown has said one of the luxuries his Mountaineers have is two quarterbacks on the roster he feels can win in the Big 12. When asked this week, Brown made it clear who he feels should run out with the first team at the start of each game.
When WVU hosts No. 17 Kansas State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Fox), Brown’s plan is to have Garrett Greene starting and Nicco Marchiol at the ready if Greene has to exit the game.
“Has Garrett done enough to lose his job? I would say no,” Brown said this week. “Did he play as well as he needed to on Saturday for us to win? I would say no to that as well. But Garrett’s our starter.”
Greene’s season has suffered ups and downs. He has helped the Mountaineers with both his arm and feet in 2024. He has thrown eight touchdowns and rushed for three more. He’s also run for at least 86 yards in each of his last three games.
Yet he’s also thrown six interceptions and his 57.3% completion percentage ranks just 99th among Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks so far this season. In WVU’s loss to Iowa State last Saturday, Greene threw two interceptions and his 6.6 yards per attempt was second only to his Penn State total as lowest this season.
Brown said one of the picks was a clear pass interference that wasn’t called, but the second was a “really poor decision” on Greene’s part. Greene has already thrown more interceptions this season than he did during the entirety of the 2023 campaign (four).
Offensive coordinator Chad Scott said there are some things in practice that Greene could work on to help rekindle some of last season’s magic, namely using that time to test moves and ideas that will work against Kansas State, rather than what will beat the WVU teammate he’s lining up against in practice.
“He’s got to work on the things that he’s going to do to give him success versus the Kansas State defense, not against our defense,” he said. “We don’t want to beat our guys. We want to do things to help you beat the guy on Saturday.
“So now, when that situation comes up on Saturday, you’ve already executed and worked on some things to have success versus that defense on Saturday, because you did it during the week,” he added.
Marchiol has done well when needing to spell Greene this season. When Greene came off the field hurt against Oklahoma State, the WVU offense with Marchiol didn’t miss a beat. Marchiol completed his only pass attempt for a 10-yard touchdown and added 46 rushing yards on seven carries.
Yet, Brown said, Greene has done enough to establish himself as the entrenched starter.
“I think if you go across the country, enamored with the backup quarterback,” Brown said. “And we’re very fortunate here, because we have one that can play. And so are there scenarios where he could play?. Yes, there’s definitely scenarios where he could play.
“Nicco’s a really good player,” Brown said. “I really believe that he’s going to be the starter at some point, but Garrett … he’s played well enough.”
Greene in the rankings
While Greene’s completion percentage doesn’t rank high among FBS quarterbacks, he finds himself in the nation’s top 40 in several other categories.
He is 18th in yards per completion (14.06), 30th in total offensive yards (274.8 per game) and 36th in yards per carry (5.88). His 382 rushing yards so far this year leads all Big 12 quarterbacks.
Greene is also eighth in school history with 25 rushing touchdowns, but a quarterback scoring with his feet is nothing new at WVU. Other QBs in the top 10 are Pat White at No. 2 (47) and Rasheed Marshall at No. 9 (24).
Giddens leads way for K-State
The Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) bring the No. 8 rushing offense in the FBS into Morgantown this weekend, and much of that has been on the legs of running back D.J. Giddens. Giddens ranks fourth nationally at 131 rushing yards per game and just gouged Colorado last week for 182 yards on 25 carries.
KSU coach Chris Klieman said the junior’s approach to football doesn’t change between practice and the games.
“He practices the way you guys watch him play,” Klieman said. “He’s one of the guys where we try and give him a few breaks during the week, and he doesn’t want them. He wants to stay out there, he wants every rep he can get.”
That practice work hasn’t slowed him down. Giddens actually is averaging nearly two more yards per carry this year compared to last year. In 2023, he averaged 5.5 yards a carry. This year, he’s averaging 7.3 yards per carry.”
“He runs with great patience as well as physicality, and as everybody has seen, he has the ability to make people miss,” Klieman said. “He’s playing at such a high level and excited to see him finally start to get some of the respect he deserves.”
— Story by Derek Redd
