Neal Brown Elaborates on WVU’s QB Situation, Leaves Door Open for Change Later in Season

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Even though Neal Brown dismissed any thought of a quarterback change immediately following West Virginia’s loss to Iowa State, he was asked again on Monday. And either because the question was asked in a different way or he had time to think about it, Brown offered a more detailed response despite coming to the same conclusion

Brown reiterated Garrett Greene is his starter, but did acknowledge there could be a scenario that would lead to backup Nicco Marchiol playing. While he didn’t go over those scenarios, the belief is that as long as WVU is in the thick of the Big 12 race, a change would not even be considered. Brown also added that Greene has not played poor enough to lose his job.

“Everyone’s enamored with the backup quarterback. We’re fortunate here to have one that can play. Has Garrett (Greene) done anything to lose his job? No,” said Brown.

“Everyone's enamored with the backup quarterback. We're fortunate here to have one that can play. Has Garrett (Greene) done anything to lose his job? No.” – WVU HC Neal Brown on QB situation https://t.co/rS7fqvwFjq

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 14, 2024

West Virginia was hanging with Iowa State until Garrett Greene threw two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter. From that point on, Iowa State took control of the game and ended up winning comfortably by the score of 28-16. Greene’s struggles throughout the night led to Brown being asked if he considered making a change at quarterback in an effort to spark the offense.

While some fans wanted to see backup Nicco Marchiol get a shot to lead the Mountaineer offense, the thought never crossed Brown’s mind.

“Why would we do that? What? Do you think we needed one? Nicco is going to be a really good player here, but Garrett Greene’s our starter and I believe that you play through some issues, and we’ll do the same with Nicco when he’s the starter,” explained Brown during his postgame press conference on Saturday night.

Brown then offered a brief evaluation of Greene’s performance, defending him for one of the two picks.

“He’s a great player and he played well last week. The turnovers were an issue. Like I said, one of them was a bad decision, one of them was a terrible non-call. 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 Nicco’s the starter and weren’t going to do it tonight.”

Neal Brown Dismisses Thought He Should’ve Benched Garrett Greene During ISU Loss

After leading the Mountaineers on a game opening scoring drive, Greene and the offense failed to get back into the end zone until it was far too late in the final minutes of the fourth quarter trailing by multiple scores.

Overall in the game, Greene completed 18-of-32 passes for just 206 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and then the two picks that led to 14 Iowa State points. Greene did run for 87 yards on 10 carries, but shied away from running with open lanes on several occasions.

Following an offseason that included a focus on improving Greene’s accuracy, the Tallahassee, Fla. native has only completed 57% of his passes despite throwing for 1,267 yards through six games.

As much as Greene’s regression makes asking about a quarterback change a legitimate question, Brown’s respond, especially immediately after the game, is not surprising either. At 3-3 (2-1, Big 12), West Virginia is still in the thick of a wide open Big 12 race and Brown knows turning to Marchiol would likely lead to enduring some growing pains based on his lack of experience.

Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

Sure, Brown could’ve turned to Marchiol just in the Iowa State game and then swapped Greene back as the starter for their next matchup against Kansas State, but as Brown said, he just doesn’t have a quick hook with quarterbacks.

But if and when Marchiol plays may depend on how the rest of the season goes and if the Mountaineers can get back on track. Up next for Greene and the Mountaineers is an equally tough challenge in another night game against a ranked opponent with a quality defense.

West Virginia 3-3 (2-1, Big 12) and Kansas State 5-1 (2-1, Big 12) are scheduled to kickoff from Milan Puskar Stadium at 7:30 pm ET. The game will air nationally on Fox.

On Sunday, both DraftKings and FanDuel released their odds for the next slate of college football games and have the Mountaineers as a 2.5-point underdog at home to Kansas State.

For a related story, Neal Brown rants about the officiating after WVU’s loss to Iowa State.