West Virginia Football: 10 best individual seasons under Dana Holgorsen
By Phil Poling
No. 9: Will Grier, Quarterback | 2017
Will Grier’s story is well-known at this point – a former Florida Gator quarterback who transferred to WVU and was forced to sit a year before stealing the hearts of Mountaineer Nation in 2017. Let me ask: was Will worth the wait?
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Grier played in 11 games for WVU before suffering a broken finger that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. In those contests he was healthy, though, Grier played excellent. He accounted for 3,490 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and helped propel the ‘Eers offense to one of the nation’s 25-best scoring units; WVU ranked 22nd in the country, scoring 34.5 points per game.
In every game he was able to complete last season — except for the Oklahoma State game — Grier threw for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns. His best day as a Mountaineer came against Baylor, when he threw for 375 yards and five touchdowns.
Defenses picked the Florida transfer off 12 times in 2017, but four of those came against the Cowboys from Oklahoma State. In only one other contest did he throw multiple interceptions, routinely giving his team a chance. He displayed a solid completion percentage, too. Of his 388 attempts in 2017, Grier completed 64.4 percent of them.
When Grier went down against Texas, the Mountaineers as a whole were deflated. The offense couldn’t get going. The defense could only do so much to keep them in games. It just wasn’t working without Grier. Knowing what he can do when healthy, Grier is a Heisman-hopeful heading into 2018.