West Virginia football: 3 bold predictions vs. Oklahoma State in Week 13
By Phil Poling
3. Jarret Doege doesn’t disappoint
After replacing starting quarterback Austin Kendall in the loss to Texas Tech, Jarret Doege finally got a start under center for the WVU football team. And he did not disappoint. He threw for 234 yards and three scores while completing 66.7 percent of his passes and leading four Mountaineer scoring drives. He did so with an atypical cast at the wide receiver position, too.
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Sam James, the team’s leader in receptions and yards, only caught one pass for four yards against Kansas State. Instead, it was George Campbell who led the charge with five receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Isaiah Esdale had his most productive game to date versus the Wildcats with five receptions for 34 yards. Bryce Wheaton got loose on a deep ball, too, hauling in his lone catch of the game for a 50-yard touchdown.
Doege also got the running backs involved in the passing attack, too, hooking up with Kennedy McKoy four times through the air and Leddie Brown once for a combined 23 yards. Spreading the ball around is paramount, especially when the defense tries to key on a single player; it keeps them on their toes and guessing.
One thing that worries me about Doege, however, are the interceptions. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is a pretty one with 43 career scores versus just 13 interceptions, but last season at Bowling Green State, Doege threw an interception in 10 of the team’s 12 games, including one in each of the final six. He’s yet to throw one as a Mountaineer, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on. If he’s able to play relatively turnover-free football, the Climb that Mountaineers are supposed to Trust could reach unimaginable heights.