WVU’s Quarterback Situation Becomes More Complex in Final Third of Schedule

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —Last week Neal Brown was firm in saying that Austin Kendall was West Virginia’s quarterback. This week, Brown left the door open for a possible change.

“I think we’re looking at the quarterback position like we’re looking at all out positions on offense, we’ve got to get better,” Brown said.

The team’s quarterback room will be a little less crowded this week as Brown announced that Jack Allison, WVU’s primary backup each of the last two seasons, is entering his name into the transfer portal. Even with one less body in the room, the situation at quarterback has gotten a lot more complex.

Brown said that junior Jarret Doege and freshman Trey Lowe III could both see time in this week’s game against Texas Tech as they battle it out for the backup role.

“Jarret Doege and Trey Lowe will both have opportunity to potentially see time in this game,” Brown said. “We will have some plans to use those other two guys if needed.”

Not wanting to tip his hand to the Red Raiders, Brown did not elaborate on how or when either quarterback would be used.

When healthy, Kendall has taken almost every single snap at quarterback for the Mountaineers this season. After transferring from Oklahoma in the offseason, Kendall has had an up and down season through eight games.

Kendall currently has the lowest passer efficiency rating in the Big 12 at 123.3 and of the four conference quarterbacks that have attempted more than 230 passes, Kendall has the lowest completion percentage, least yards and touchdowns and the most interceptions.

So far this season Kendall has completed 161 of 261 passes (61.7%) for 1,634 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Allison had been the only other quarterback this season to see any sort of significant snaps, playing all of the Iowa State game after Kendall left with an injury. Doege has yet to appear in a game for WVU and Lowe had been relegated to clean-up status during blow-out losses to Missouri and Oklahoma.

Despite not playing yet this season, Doege is still the most experienced quarterback on West Virginia’s roster. Doege transferred to WVU from Bowling Green and, following offseason surgery, redshirted at the beginning of the year. With four games left on the schedule, Doege could potentially play in all four and maintain his redshirt status.

At Bowling Green, Doege started five games as a true freshman in 2017, passing for 1,381 yards and 12 touchdowns. He started all 12 games in 2018 and while the team went 3-9, Doege passed for 2,660 yards and 27 scores.

Texas Tech at West Virginia kick-offs at noon in Milan-Puskar Stadium.