Neal Brown Evaluates How Nicco Marchiol Performed Against Arizona

After talking about the getting the much-needed win, WVU head coach Neal Brown then turned his attention to evaluating how Nicco Marchiol performed.

And Marchiol, who was experiencing a homecoming having played high school football in Arizona, completed 18-of-22 for 198 yards and a couple touchdown passes in West Virginia’s 31-26 win over the Wildcats. He also added 39 yards on the ground.

“He’s so much better player than the last time he started a game. So last time he started a game was Texas Tech, and that was in September, I guess, a year ago. And he’s matured, he’s been patient, and he’s gotten better. And I’ve said that a lot, y’all heard me talk about that in the spring, and you heard me talk about it in fall camp, and then he showed that today.

“And he didn’t play very well in the second half of the Kansas State game, which was a tough setting for him, but I thought he really stepped up today when we needed him, and he played really well,” Brown said during his postgame press conference at Arizona Stadium.

“Offensively, I thought we really controlled the game. It got a little interesting late, but I thought we controlled the game. We were really efficient,” Brown added.

Marchiol also discussed being confident in his abilities, especially after a full week of practice. He did admit to having to catch himself from looking for his parents in the stands and being distracted by his friends and family being at the game.

“Timing is so crucial in our pass game and location. I think we just executed on all fronts at that,” said Marchiol about being so efficient and posting an 81.8 completion percentage.

For a related story, WVU fans praised Nicco Marchiol while watching him impress against Arizona.