Opinion
Takeaways: WVU Almost Wasted Nicco Marchiol’s Success
West Virginia had to beat Arizona to salvage any respectability from the 2024 season, and they did just that by defeating the Wildcats, 31-26. So WVU accomplished its goal of the long road trip, and while the Mountaineers looked impressive at times and controlled the game throughout the night, the game was far from perfect.
Nicco Marchiol was impressive
The biggest bright spot in the win was Nicco Marchiol played as well as anyone could’ve predicted. After a miserable showing in the second half against Kansas State, Marchiol, who was experiencing a homecoming having played high school football in Arizona, stepped up and appeared composed throughout the game.
He 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.
Marchiol put the ball where only his receivers could catch it and showed a clear chemistry with Hudson Clement and Traylon Ray. And most importantly, Marchiol played smart and did not make any critical mistakes that could’ve hurt the team.
Neal Brown even noted that Marchiol demonstrated just how much better he is now than he was during his last start over a year ago.
“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.
Mountaineer Nation came out in full support of Marchiol on social media.
Pass defense still a disaster
But while Marchiol and the offense consistently gained yards and put up points, the defense still showed signs of weakness, especially agains the pass.
To be fair to the defense as a whole, the pass rush and defensive line showed up with big plays when necessary, most notably TJ Jackson’s second half sack to derail an Arizona drive way back in their own territory.
However, the secondary still allowed wide open lanes and endured another rough outing against a quality quarterback. Noah Fifita threw just shy of 300 yards at 294, with 202 of those yards going to wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, while completing 65.6% of his passes. Fifita connected on two wide open touchdown passes in the second half. It was the WVU pass defense that allowed the score to be closer than it should’ve been and made fans sweat in the fourth quarter.
More bad snaps
West Virginia clearly has a problem at center. Brown and Garrett Greene have both tried to defend Brandon Yates throughout the season, but it’s impossible to keep executing an issue that continues to occur.
The bad snaps weren’t a factor in the Arizona game, but they have hurt the Mountaineers all year and it’s something that hasn’t been cleaned up yet.
Brown and West Virginia advance to 4-4 (3-2, Big 12) as they head into their final bye week of the season. Following the bye is a winnable slate of four games to close there regular season.
For a related story, WVU head coach Neal Brown was fired up in support of his team after the game in Arizona.
