Before you get upset that I’m even listing transfer quarterback options, it’s part of the process, folks. Just about every coach that gets a new job will portal in a quarterback, regardless of the overall shape of the room. It doesn’t mean the guy Rich Rodriguez brings in will start, but he will look for someone he believes fits his offense to a T.
As I mentioned in an article yesterday, Nicco Marchiol can operate Rich Rod’s offense and potentially do well in it. Is he a perfect fit, though? Probably not. If you’re Rodriguez, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket in your first year on the job with a quarterback who hasn’t been a full-time starter. You have to add competition.
There are several quarterbacks in the portal, but if WVU wants to swing for the fences, there are some intriguing options.
Mateer is the top quarterback in the portal, and while he may come with a big price tag, it’d be silly not to at least consider him and see what he’s looking for. Oklahoma is probably the favorite to land him, given his offensive coordinator at Wazzu, Ben Arbuckle, recently took the OC job there. This season, Mateer completed 64.6% of his pass attempts for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He also rushed for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns. Whoever lands this kid is getting a program changer.
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Noland did not see any action in his true freshman season in Columbus but is going to be a popular target for QB-needy teams. The former four-star recruit held offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Colorado, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M, WVU, and several others. For his high school career, Noland threw for 10,164 yards and 126 touchdowns to 25 interceptions while adding 334 yards and six touchdowns with his legs.
Salter seems to be leaning toward Colorado, with Syracuse still in the mix as well. It might be a bit late in the process for West Virginia to get involved, but it’s worth a shot. He’s thrown for nearly 6,000 yards in his career, along with 56 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Salter didn’t run the ball nearly as much this season but still posted 579 yards and seven scores. The year prior, he rushed for 1,089 yards and 12 scores. A true dual-threat option.
Pribula was in line to be the starter in State College next season until Drew Allar announced his intentions of returning for his senior year a few days ago. Pribula does have some experience under his belt, seeing action in mop-up duty and in situations where James Franklin wanted a more mobile option on the field. For his career, Pribula has connected on 66% of his passes for six touchdowns, throwing just one interception. He’s rushed for 571 yards and ten touchdowns, going for 6.1 yards per carry.
The former five-star recruit left USC after sitting behind Caleb Williams for a year and then lost out on the starting job to Maddux Madsen at Boise State this season. The talent is there; he just needs to find an offense that fits him. West Virginia, or anyone for that matter, won’t have to put together some massive NIL deal to land him either.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state collected less revenue than it thought it would in January while maintaining a surplus in collections seven months into the fiscal year.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey
Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced January’s numbers in a Sunday evening news release.
Revenues came in $19.3 million below estimates for the month. The year-to-date collection number dropped to $108.8 million above estimate. January’s collections did better than January 2025.
The new numbers come as Morrisey is urging lawmakers to cut personal income taxes by another 10 percent. Morrisey pointed to the year-to-date surplus number in the Sunday announcement.
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“These results reflect a resilient economy and responsible fiscal management,” Morrisey said.“Even with monthly fluctuations, West Virginia continues to outperform expectations, and we are well-positioned to finish the fiscal year with a meaningful surplus. That puts us in a strong position to protect taxpayers, invest in priorities, and keep our state moving in the right direction.”
Severance tax collections missed estimates by $17.6 million. The administration said that may be related to timing
The governor’s office said personal income tax collections barely missed the mark for January while consumer sales tax and corporate net income tax finished the month with modest collection surpluses for the month.
FRENCH CREEK, W.Va. (WCHS) — On Monday, the state of West Virginia finds out whether or not it’s getting six more weeks of winter.
Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day across the United States, and the West Virginia Division of National Resources is gearing up for the 49th annual Groundhog Day Celebration for the Mountain State at the West Virginia Wildlife Center in French Creek.
The event is free to members of the public and will begin at 9:30 a.m., according to a press release from WVDNR. West Virginia’s groundhog meteorologist French Creek Freddie will make his annual appearance at 10 a.m. with help from Governor Patrick Morrisey.
As per Groundhog Day tradition, if French Creek Freddie sees his shadow, the Mountain State is in for six more weeks of winter. if he doesn’t see his shadow, that means an early spring is predicted.
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Once the ceremony concludes, WVDNR said there will be a photo opportunity with French Creek Freddie. Meanwhile at the gift shop, hot chocolate, cookies and biscuits and gravy will be available. Additionally, there will be a “wood chucking” contest that the public can participate in. The Wildlife Center will also be open to explore.
“Groundhog Day is a cherished tradition here at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center, and we’re excited to welcome back Freddie’s adoring fans,” West Virginia State Wildlife Center Wildlife Biologist Mark Biller said in the release. “In addition to providing a fun event for families to enjoy, we will be announcing that the loop trail through the animal viewing area is being named an official Mountaineer Mile Trail.”
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Through a lengthy stretch of play in the second half, the game was there for the taking for both Baylor and West Virginia despite long scoring droughts from both sides. Ultimately, the Bears connected on their final four shots from the floor and six of their last seven to supply the winning margin in a 63-53 win over the Mountaineers.
Baylor (12-9, 2-7 Big 12) earned just their second road victory of the season while handing the Mountaineers their first loss of the year inside Hope Coliseum.
Jan 31, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jasper Floyd (1) dribbles against Baylor Bears guard Cameron Carr (43) during the second half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images
“We finally defended at a level where we could win a tough game like this,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
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“It is so tough when you get on a losing streak because you don’t have an easy game where you can win by 30 to bounce back. You’ve got to be on your A-game to get a win. It is hard being on a losing streak. Once you get them snapped, at least for one day you feel better.”
West Virginia connected on just 18 of 50 shots from the floor in their second-worst shooting performance of the season and their worst at home.
“We just couldn’t get over that hump, whether it was missing open shots or just empty possessions,” said WVU senior forward Treysen Eaglestaff.
“Individually, we all have to play better, especially myself. There were too many turnovers at the end of the game. Stuff like that — open shots missed, you’ve just got to be a player at the end of the day. We’re playing at the highest level of college basketball. For all of us, we just need to get better individually and get back to work.”
“It was a combination of having some pretty good looks that we just couldn’t get to go down. And then we had some possessions that were poorly-coached possessions,” said WVU head coach Ross Hodge.
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Jan 31, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Baylor Bears guard Isaac Williams (10) dribbles between many West Virginia Mountaineers players during the first half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images
For the fourth consecutive game, West Virginia found themselves operating from a sizable deficit in the early minutes. WVU trailed 13-4 just 4:29 into the contest.
“I thought our urgency defensively to start the game wasn’t at the level it needed to be. Then you start letting them get into a rhythm, start making some threes and dig ourselves a hole, which now has started to become a little bit of a trend the last four games,” Hodge said.
“It starts with me, obviously. Everything that happens poorly in this program is on me. If it is a slow start, if it is not finishing great, if it is poor stretches of play, ultimately it is on the head coach. We’ll evaluate it all. You go back, look at your possessions and try to take emotions out of it and be as objective as you can.”
Despite the early deficit, WVU used a 9-0 run and a pair of triples from Eaglestaff to take a three-point lead [20-17] midway through the first half. However, the Bears answered with a 15-4 burst and they took a 38-30 lead into the locker room.
Consecutive baskets to open the second half extended Baylor’s lead to 42-30, forcing Hodge to call a quick timeout just 90 seconds into the half. Brenen Lorient scored nine consecutive points to keep the Mountaineers close. They would pull within three points with 11:29 to play. Lorient led all scorers with 19 points.
Jan 31, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers forward DJ Thomas (5) and Baylor Bears guard Cameron Carr (43) fight for a rebound during the first half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images
“Honor [Huff] creates a lot of energy around him,” Lorient said. “Those guys want to help out. Honor was just setting me up really nicely.”
In the second half, Baylor misfired on 13 consecutive shots from the floor. However, the Mountaineers were unable to capitalize. Over nearly the same stretch of play, WVU missed 11 of 12 shots from the floor.
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“You talk about it in timeouts. ‘You don’t have to press offensively but you do have to play with a higher level of desperation and urgency on the defensive end of the floor’,” Hodge said.
A basket from Chance Moore with 2:38 to play allowed the Mountaineers to pull within five points [54-49], but they could pull no closer.
Huff was held to a season-low five points. He made just 1 of 13 shots from the floor.
“He has certainly raised the bar from an expectation level,” Hodge said. “When he shoots it, you think it is going in regardless of how deep it is or difficult it is.”
Obi Agbim and Cameron Carr each scored 16 points to lead the Bears. Carr also pulled down a dozen rebounds.
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“He’s a great player,” Hodge said of Carr. “You knew he was going to bounce back. He had a rough night at Cincinnati the other night and he did what great players do. He came in with a high-level sense of urgency.”
West Virginia (14-8) has reached the midway point of Big 12 play with a 5-4 league record. They are now 13-1 at home.
“We take a lot of pride in protecting this place,” Hodge said. “Obviously, we have an incredible fanbase. They tried everything they could to get us in that game today. They tried to will us into it.”
“Our fans have helped us in so many games to get so many wins,” Lorient said. “We weren’t able to get that done for them tonight. We just, in the past couple games, we’ve got to start better.
“[Hodge’s] overall message was that we are not great. We are not terrible. We’ve just got some things we’ve got to clean up, take care of the ball more and rebound better.”
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Morgantown H.S. graduate & USMC Master Gunnery Sgt. Peter Wilson performs “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to the WVU-Baylor game at Hope Coliseum: pic.twitter.com/OrKt02FmEd
