A position battle at quarterback between Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol may have been one of the biggest stories of the offseason last year for West Virginia.
Greene would ultimately win the job and Marchiol remained ready for the Mountaineers whenever he was needed. Greene had an impressive season under center in 2023 and will undoubtedly be WVU’s starter in 2024, but that hasn’t discouraged Marchiol as he has been working harder than ever to improve as a player, while he patiently waits for his time according to West Virginia head coach Neal Brown.
“It starts with his preparation, which sounds really simple, but he’s matured as a football player,” Brown said of what Marchiol has done to improve. “He’s doing a really good job of asking for the script, so he can be more prepared going into each practice.”
When Greene went down in the Backyard Brawl in 2023, Marchiol was thrown into a game that meant so much to so many West Virginia fans and did what he needed to throw a touchdown, to help WVU come out with a 17-6 win. With Greene still recovering, he would start the next game against Texas Tech and helped manage the game to give the Mountaineers another win.
Marchiol ended 2023 with a stat line he may not have hoped for completing 30 passes on 53 attempts, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for one with three interceptions, but has committed to improving his play, so much so that Brown noted as one of his most improved players during spring ball thus far.
“From a fundamental standpoint, he’s much more compact right now. And his confidence has risen because he’s got a lot of repetitions. I always think that’s the base for your confidence is because he’s got the repetitions now, but the game slowed down, slowed down a lot, you know pre-snap he has a better understanding of what defenses are trying to do to him, but I’ve been really pleased. You know I talked about Landon Livingston and then Nico would be right in that conversation as the most improved player we’ve got on offense and he’s getting a bunch of snaps with the with the with the first group right now,” Brown said.
Heading into his redshirt-sophomore season, the 6-foot-1 lefty QB does not know when or if he will be called upon, but has been working for the opportunity to prove himself when the challenge arises.
