MORGANTOWN — So, who is West Virginia University’s next quarterback?
At first glance, it’s easy to say Garrett Greene.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound junior has the pizzazz, the panache, the presence. He just literally captures your imagination.
That was obvious here Saturday at the annual Gold-Blue spring game at Milan Puskar Stadium.
On just the second play of the afternoon, Greene rifled a strong 18-yard pass to Jeremiah Aaron. Two plays later, Greene was pressured by a pass rush, yet managed to scramble out of the pocket for a meager 1-yard gain.
Then, it happened.
Greene reached into his assorted bag of tricks by handing off to wide receiver Preston Fox and then going out for a pass. Yes, a pass. And guess what? He was completely wide open for a 40-yard touchdown pass from Fox.
There’s that pizzazz again.
Two possessions later, Greene resumed his showtime antics. This time he rambled out of the pocket, made a superb cut toward midfield and actually looked like he might score a touchdown until the referee blew the play dead.
Yes, dead.
Greene turned around and was noticeably aghast by the call. After all, he had a chance to go all the way, but instead was credited with only a 10-yard gain.
So, what happened next? Better sit down. Believe it or not, Greene actually went over and hugged the referee.
That’s the sort of personal magnetism that Greene possesses.
He wasn’t finished, either. On his next possession, Greene threw a laser of a pass right down the middle to Cortez Braham for a 40-yard touchdown.
Sounds impressive, doesn’t he? That’s because Greene is.
So, should we award the starting QB job to him now and be done with it? Uh, no.
Redshirt freshman Nicco Marchiol had his moments, too. Not as many as Greene, perhaps, but enough to make it interesting.
For example, Marchiol fired a pair of passes to new 6-foot-7 tight end Kole Taylor for 10- and 20-yard receptions. But, perhaps, the left-handed redshirt freshman’s most impressive play of the day was an incompletion.
That’s right, an incompletion.
The strong-armed Marchiol threw a pass that traveled 50 yards in the air intended for Braham. The pass wasn’t caught, but the sheer distance and strength of the throw was extremely impressive.
That’s why quarterback is still a contested position.
And rightfully so.
“Today was about performing,” coach Neal Brown said, “because there is a difference when people are in the stands.”
Just as there is a difference between Greene and Marchiol.
“If you look at statistically, Garrett’s stats were better,” Brown said, “but both of them threw the ball well and both of them are runners. I thought Nicco threw two really nice deep balls and our receivers didn’t play the ball very well. I thought they protected Garrett a little better, which is unfortunate for Nicco.
“Like I said, this is going to be the long game. Regardless of what happened today or what happens in the first 15 (practices), we’re going to go through the winter and the spring and the summer and the fall camp before we figure it out.”
It’s definitely a work in progress.
But who has the edge at the end of spring practice?
It is without question Garrett Greene.
