WVU HC Rich Rodriguez Leaves Little Room for Intrigue About Current QB1

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Unlike in prior weeks, there doesn’t appear to be much intrigue left about who WVU will start at quarterback this weekend.

Rich Rodriguez didn’t shy away from being honest about the status of his quarterback during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. Without coming out and naming Scotty Fox the starter when West Virginia hosts TCU, Rodriguez’s comments leave him as the guy based on a process of elimination.

Rodriguez revealed that Khalil Wilkins, who started at BYU and then came in as a replacement against UCF, is “questionable” and will only be available in an emergency role on Saturday.

And with veteran Nicco Marchiol out for the season and expected to be done as a Mountaineer and Jaylen Henderson still injured, that only leaves Max Brown beyond Fox.

While Brown has been unavailable most of the season, Rodriguez does expect him to be “good to go” this week. However, Rodriguez also said he’s “a freshman in the system” and is still recovering.

As far as who Brown is as a player, Rodriguez said he “has a big arm” and is very competitive.

WVU HC Rich Rodriguez says he believes Max Brown should be ready to play now. He likes Brown's competitiveness and feels he has a big arm, but he also added that he's still a freshman in the system.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 21, 2025

That leaves Fox as the guy who will be under center when the Mountaineers try to upset TCU and find a spark to build on, not only for the rest of this season, but into the future as well.

At 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12, there’s not much for even the most optimistic WVU fan to point to as a sign of better days to come. The hope has to be in Rodriguez and the belief he will fulfill his promise to make West Virginia great again, granted that may take more time than initially advertised.

Conversely, TCU still has plenty left to play for. The Horned Frogs enter Week 9 at 5-2, granted they’re only 2-2 within the Big 12. TCU is looking to build a win steak after pulling out a win in a shootout against Baylor.

Both DraftKings and FanDuel are predicting the Horned Frogs to dominate the Mountaineers. And if WVU doesn’t find some way to show signs of life, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

Find more coverage of the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.

For a related story, WV Sports Now asks how much time Rich Rodriguez should get to fix the Mountaineers?