West Virginia Football: Top 3 offseason storylines for Mountaineers
By Daniel Walsh
Dawn of a new quarterback?
Can we all take a moment to be happy that Jarret Doege will no longer be suiting up for the blue and gold? The past three years with him felt like some kind of lame, unexciting fever dream. Doege was incredibly unexceptional, and the team followed in his footsteps because of it. That’s what the QB does anyways, they set the pace, so when you have someone as bland and prosaic as Doege, the team will take on their identity. The games we lost weren’t even fun, they were just boring.
If you’re going to be as bad as we were, at least be fun!
But this off season is different with Doege taking his talents to Western Kentucky. With his transfer the Mountaineers will have a QB competition to find the guy to turn things around. Or at least finish over .500. Though WVU has six QB’s on their roster, the trend this offseason is that only three are in the mix. Those in the competition are: redshirt sophomore Garrett Greene, redshirt freshman Will Crowder and true freshman Nicco Marchiol.
Will Greene be the guy?
Last year we saw little glimpses of Greene, and in his limited role he brought a much needed spark to the team. His numbers didn’t pop, as he passed for 147 yards, no touchdowns with a 62% completion percentage while adding 306 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
But his numbers don’t tell the whole story because it was obvious to everyone who watched WVU last season that the team played with more energy when he was calling the shots. I think what sticks in my mind so clearly was our game against Oklahoma in which Greene had our only touchdown drive of the game in a 16-13 loss that felt like one we should have won.
As of right now, Greene must be the front runner in the competition because of his experience with the team. He’s a redshirt sophomore in his third year with the program so it makes sense for him to have a leg up on his competition if only by a hair.