Head Coach Neal Brown has noted Garrett Greene as another game-time decision about whether he will be ready to hit the field and lead the offense again. By all accounts, it is not a question of if, but rather when, Greene will retake the QB1 position and resume his place under center. Is that this week? More to the point, if he is back and ready to get to work, is he the best choice to quarterback against TCU?
One thing to note about these two is that they seem almost interchangeable in many ways. Nicco has the support of the team and his on-field teammates, as you could see when they were quick to help him keep his chin up when a play went sideways in both games he has taken over the offense. Garrett Greene is one of his biggest supporters when Marchiol makes the plays that take the Mountaineers to the victories they have seen in the past two weeks.
Inexperience of Marchiol
You can see flashes of poor decision-making, and bad reads when he runs the offense. The glaring example is the first pick thrown against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in this past weekend’s game. Fortunately, unlike other young quarterbacks, Nicco did not let that turn a single mistake into a slew of them and bounced back when the defense gave the offense back the ball a short time later. You will get some growing pains with a quarterback who was not yet meant to take the helm of the team, but it seems like he has risen to the occasion enough to find success where it mattered.
Emotional Leading of Garrett Greene
On or off the field, no one in the West Virginia locker room is more a fan of the successes and more able to feel the heartbreak of the hits like Garrett Greene. He has the unwavering support and love of his teammates, who will play hard for him on the field. In fact, I would suspect that they might not have risen to the situation as much without Greene. He stepped up in such a positive way after what could have been a very polarizing event in relinquishing the start to Nicco.
Who Does the Crowd Want?
Based on a poll we featured on X, most would welcome Garrett back to the starting position if both quarterbacks were 100% ready for a start. I, too, fall into this camp. I think as a whole, Garrett has been involved with this offense and its pieces for many years and has earned his place to lead the team to whatever the rest of the season holds. I do not see Garrett being some costly reason that the Mountaineers come up short, and even if he were, it would certainly not be out of character for us to continue to put a QB out there on the field week after week with the fans screaming for the backup.
Image Credit: WVU Athletics
