Morgantown, West Virginia – Following West Virginia’s loss two weeks ago at Baylor, Neal Brown promised that “everything would be on the table” in terms of changes to his football team.
Since then, Brown has released a depth chart with few changes and said that there wouldn’t be “night and day schematic adjustments.”
With that said, there are several reasons to believe that Brown will finally pull the trigger on the obvious change that will make the West Virginia offense immediately better – starting Garrett Greene at quarterback this weekend.
TCU’s Run Defense is Terrible
TCU has the worst run defense in the Big 12 Conference and the 120th out of 131 teams in the nation in rushing defense, allowing over 210 yards per game on the ground.
A run-centered attack with Greene at quarterback would virtually be unstoppable against the Horned Frogs’ porous run defense. Leddie Brown is far more effective with Greene in the game and Jarret Doege offers nothing in terms of running the ball for the Mountaineers.
Surprise Last Minute Quarterback Change
TCU likely believes that they’ll be able to key on Jarret Doege this weekend and have almost certainly prepared primarily for Doege behind center. Starting Greene would provide a surprise element that would absolutely catch TCU off guard and give the Mountaineers a better chance of pulling off the upset on the road.
It’s Time to Look to the Future
Let’s face it, at 2-4 this season is over. West Virginia has few winnable games remaining and playing a 5th year senior at quarterback just doesn’t make sense. Instead, Brown should look to the future and give his redshirt freshman an opportunity to show whether he can lead the team or not.
Giving Greene a real opportunity requires more than simply putting him in for obvious run plays. Greene is a capable passer and must be given a chance to show that he can get it down at this level.
Winning with Greene gives the Mountaineers momentum going into next season. Winning with Doege does nothing for the future.
Let’s say that Jarret Doege has an outstanding second half of the season and wins a few more games. What exactly does that do for the future of the West Virginia football program? Nothing. West Virginia would simply have to rebuild around a quarterback next season with little or no experience.
Whether it’s Greene, Will “Goose” Crowder or Nicco Marchiol leading the team next season, they’ll have almost no collegiate experience., which will lead to yet another difficult year for the Mountaineers.
Greene or Crowder must get real playing time this season or next season is going to be another disaster.
