West Virginia had their offensive struggles in the second half against Iowa State, but head coach Neal Brown’s confidence in his quarterback never wavered.
Garrett Greene threw interceptions on back-to-back drives while the Mountaineers were desperately trying to get back into the game against the Cyclones. After the game, Brown was asked if he considered working backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol “into the mix just for a spark.”
“Why would we do that? Do you think we needed one,” Brown said.
Brown credited Marchiol and his future at WVU but expressed his faith in Greene as he tries to overcome struggles.
“Nicco is going to be a really good player but Garrett Greene’s our starter. And I believe that you play through some issues and we’ll do the same with Nicco because he’s a great player and he played well last week,” Brown said.
Last week, when Marchiol had to step in for an injured Greene on a couple of drives, he delivered instantly. He threw a touchdown pass on his only attempt and added over 40 yards rushing to help the Mountaineers cruise past Oklahoma State, but Brown reiterated his decision to stick with Greene.
“The turnovers were an issue like I said; one of them was a bad decision, one of them was a terrible non-call,” Brown said of Greene’s interceptions. ” But no I don’t have a quick hook with quarterbacks. I don’t believe in that. I don’t think that’s ever the right thing to do. And we won’t do it when Nico’s a starter and we were not going to do it tonight.”
Greene and West Virginia will look to get back on track when they host Kansas State next week in their second consecutive night game at home. Â
