We find ourselves less than two months before the West Virginia Mountaineers travel to Happy Valley to open their season against the Penn State Nittany Lions. That also means Fall camp starts in just a few weeks. As we normally do, we move toward our mid-Summer position preview series. First, we offer our WVU 2023 quarterback preview.
Veteran, but Inexperienced, Leadership
We start here: we certainly hear the coaching staff when they say that the Mountaineers’ starting quarterback position remains open. We hear an open battle, but the players hear it more loudly. That said, after the Spring Game, we find it hard to imagine that Garrett Greene does not emerge as the starter for the season opener. Of the two most likely suspects, he has the most experience, and he looked in control of the offense during his reps this Spring. Through three seasons, Greene has appeared in parts of 21 games. He has not started very many, but he has the best feel for the game at this level so far.
We also expect that Head Coach Neal Brown is looking towards his veteran offensive line and his stacked running back room to shoulder a large part of the offensive production in 2023. Establishing a ground-and-pound offense, in fact, has been Brown’s goal from day one. Greene’s dual-threat ability jumps off the page when looking at his cumulative stats. Indeed, he threw 108 passes over three seasons and carried the ball 99 times. From that effort, Greene accumulated 664 passing yards and five touchdowns through the air while amassing 613 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns.
Fans have been clamoring for a dual-threat quarterback to lead the offense after several years of true pocket passers. Greene certainly fits that bill. In a signature moment, Greene also helped the Mountaineers finally beat Oklahoma in conference play last year. Against the Sooners, he threw a touchdown pass and ran for two more, accumulating 257 all-purpose yards in the contest.
The questions about Greene remain whether he can stay durable and whether he can throw the ball consistently enough to keep defenses from stacking the box.
Highly-Recruited Backup?
While we anticipate Greene to begin the season as the starter, we certainly do not count Nicco Marchiol out from meaningful contributions this season. Marchiol joined the Mountaineers before last season as a four-star recruit who had some legendary moments of his own while still playing high school ball for Hamilton. Marchiol played sparingly last season, seeing action against Towson and Oklahoma State. He helped West Virginia clinch the win against the Cowboys, but his role in the victory was minimal as the Mountaineers really ran their way into that victory.
Still, Marchiol shows plenty of promise and offers a much different look in Morgantown when he commands the offense as a southpaw. At least according to quarterbacks coach Sean Reagan, the battle is far from over, thus the question mark after backup. Will Marchiol take the next steps in his development and command the details Reagan says both quarterbacks need to improve? In May, after all, Reagan told 247Sports, “[b]oth guys are executing at a high level. It’s going to come down to who is more detailed most of the time.”
Marchiol’s leadership comes from his demeanor. That is what set him apart at Hamilton. His highlight reel plays helping to mount a comeback against perennial power Bishop Gorman proves that. Can he progress through his reads with poise at this level? We believe he can, but how quickly he gets there will determine how much playing time he earns this season.
The Freshman Quarterback
While we doubt he has much to say in terms of who starts, freshman signal caller Sean Boyle offers the Mountaineers a different look as a pocket passer first. Boyle certainly has the athleticism to allow him to evade and scramble. That said, unlike Greene whose tendency remains to take off at the first signs of trouble, Boyle tends to stay in the pocket, running on either designed runs or as a last resort. Boyle may simply represent a future piece of the offense for now, but he certainly could push Marchiol and Greene to raise their level of play as he progresses.
Ultimately, our WVU 2023 Quarterback preview begins as it started. Greene remains the presumptive starter, but Marchiol will do his best to close the distance. As a result, we expect Marchiol to see plenty of action this season. Unfortunately for Boyle, we expect West Virginia will not have many games where they run away with things early to give him some needed reps.
Photo courtesy: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
