In Saturday’s loss to Kansas State, West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene was injured in the first half and did not return to game action in the second half.
Nicco Marchiol replaced Greene and Ryder Burton became the backup. While Greene’s status is up in the air for week nine, Burton may see increased reps.
WVU head coach Neal Brown spoke on his usual “emergency quarterback” and highlighted aspects of his play.
“He’s a redshirt freshman. Had a really great prep career kind of in Colorado. Was a major recruit for BYU and he’s got a live arm. Can run but not necessarily a guy that you’re going to call a bunch of run plays for, but it is is good enough to be able to protect himself,” Brown said of Burton.
Burton transferred to WVU this offseason after spending a year redshirting and learning at the collegiate level at BYU. Brown acknowledged how he’s an intelligent player but still young.
“He’s really intelligent but he’s a young player, hadn’t played a whole lot of football at the collegiate level,” Brown said.
Brown then explained how if Greene is unable to be cleared from injury this week, Burton will get increased reps. He said that Burton has seen reps in other areas of practice.
“He’ll get reps if Garrett can’t go. He’ll get reps in practice as the two,” Brown said. “He’s been getting a bunch of Monday night football reps too, so he’s not going to be too rusty.”
For a young quarterback like Burton, practice reps may be beneficial as he continues to develop.
The Mountaineers face Arizona on the road on Saturday as both teams look to rewrite their struggles. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. EST and will be televised on FS1.
