West Virginia has seen some great quarterback play over the years, specifically since the turn of the century. Who was the best at the position since 2000? We rank the top five below.

Note: Garrett Greene is not eligible due to being an active player.

I had a difficult time putting Marshall at No. 5 rather than No. 4. Between he and the next guy, it was splitting hairs. Marshall walked so Pat White could run. From 2002-04, he compiled a 16-4 record against Big East opponents and was named Big East Offensive Player of the Year in 2004. In addition to throwing for 43 touchdowns in his career, he scored another 24 with his legs.

During his playing career, you probably would have never thought he’d land on a list like this. But when you look at the overall production and record as a starter, he’s absolutely worthy of this ranking. Howard was not the most refined passer by any means, but his grit and toughness go unmatched. In my opinion, Howard is still under-appreciated. He’s one of just four quarterbacks to lead WVU to a 10-win season in the last 31 years – Jake Kelchner, Pat White, and Geno Smith being the others.

Grier may not have won 10 games like the previously mentioned Howard, but the two schedules he played against were significantly tougher than what that 2016 group saw. Plus, Grier had the Mountaineers ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll in 2018 and were one win away from appearing in the Big 12 Conference championship game. Like the next guy on this list, he put up video game numbers. 7,354 yards and 71 touchdowns in two seasons is insane.

The best pure passer in school history? You could make a case for Grier or Marc Bulger, but it’s Geno for me. His program record 11,662 yards and 98 touchdowns may stand the test of time. A true generational talent and one that we may never see in Morgantown as far as throwing the ball is concerned, completing 67.4% of his passes for his career.

With all due respect to the others on this list, none of them are even in the same stratosphere as Pat White. He not only helped put West Virginia back on the map, but he had the Mountaineers on the doorstep of a national championship appearance in 2007. It blows my mind to this day how he never finished higher than sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. White led the golden era of Mountaineer football. Had he arrived a few years later he would have been considered a surefire first-round pick.

READ MORE ABOUT WVU ATHLETICS

1988 vs. 2007: Who Was the Best WVU Football Team Ever?

Ranking the Top WVU Uniform Combos

Five WVU Players Poised to Take the Next Step in 2024

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston is hinting at new initiatives to be introduced in the months to come that will focus on driving behaviors and training state residents years before they get behind a wheel.

“These are going to be dealing with–we call them–the behavioral issues, the way we operate our vehicles on the highway. That’s the critical part of this,” Wriston said during a recent edition of the WVDOT’s “On the DOT” podcast.

Wriston said there have been good initiatives over the years backed by the Governor’s Highway Safety Fund and various police agencies who have spent extra time trying to slow drivers down but it’s time for a culture change when it comes to driving.

“We have to start young. We have to build the education up on how to drive, that’s all there is to it. How you do this and not get killed,” he said.

MORE 2023 Governor’s Highway Safety Program Annual Report 

According the 2023 Governor’s Highway Safety Program Annual Report, there were 207 traffic fatalities in West Virginia after nine months of last year. The state ended the 2022 colander year at 266 fatalities. Motorcycle fatalities were also up according to the latest annual report.

The report also said, “Pedestrian fatalities are a growing concern in West Virginia. These fatalities decreased from 36 to 21 between 2021 and 2022, but the five-year rolling average exceeded the target.”

The report listed a significant increase in deadly crashes of those not wearing seatbelts from 77 deaths in 2021 to 147 deaths in 2022.

Wriston said it’s time for an all-out effort to address the issue of driving behavior.

“This is serious. A mistake out there on that highway takes a minute and bad things happen quickly but the results of them can last a lifetime,” Wriston said. “We’ve got to really attack this and we’ve got to stay committed to it.”

Wriston predicts results.

“We’ve really focused on safety, particularly in our work zones, now we are committed,” he said. “We’re going to get results. We are going to take fatalities on our roads to zero. We’re going to make sure when accidents happen, when crashes happen, people have a better chance to survive.”

A symbol of strength, nobility and dignity, elk are a North American icon. After vanishing from the Mountain State in the 1800s, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR) launched a long-brewing plan to reintroduce elk to the state in 2016. Nearly a decade later, West Virginia University researchers are working to ensure the population remains healthy and strong for future elk tourism and hunting opportunities.

The WVU Wild Genomics Lab is no stranger to underdog success stories. Dr. Amy Welsh, professor of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources at the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, has led genetic assessments of several other species reintroduced to West Virginia. This includes an ongoing study of river otters and a previous evaluation of fishers — the latter of which demonstrated exactly what researchers hope will also be true for elk in West Virginia: adequate genetic diversity, interbreeding between West Virginia individuals and surrounding states and, as a result, a viable and strong population.

The West Virginia elk herd began with just 24 elk brought from Kentucky to the most suitable place in the state identified for elk management: a former coalfield in southern West Virginia, now known as Tomblin Wildlife Management Area. Since then, several subsequent introductions and reproduction within the introduced elk has brought the herd’s numbers to around 200 strong, traversing the mountains of West Virginia and following the footsteps of those from nearly two centuries prior.

Although elk have been missing from West Virginia’s food chain for so long, they’ve returned to their niche easily. Elk play a vital role in the ecosystem, where they act as a food source for predators and scavengers, disperse seeds and maintain grasslands through their grazing and, overall, help balance the ecosystem.

The herd has not been without challenges, however. Elk of different subspecies from both Kentucky and Arizona have been introduced to West Virginia: Manitoban elk and Rocky Mountain elk. Some of the animals died due to a parasitic brain worm transmitted by white-tailed deer, the latter of which is a prime concern of the lab’s research efforts. 

Using DNA extracted from tissue, the lab has begun examining the genetic diversity of the herd — the biological variation within a population’s genetic characteristics. By analyzing the genes of individual elk, the lab is searching for signs of inbreeding, reproduction between the two subspecies and signs of genetic predispositions to parasite-induced fatalities.

Post-reintroduction genetic assessments are not a routine practice, which Welsh attributes to a focus on the greater picture — population size and whether the species can be harvested — as opposed to the finer details.

“There really hasn’t been much of a focus on genetic assessments,” said Welsh. “You might have a decent number of individuals, but are they all genetically the same? It’s a change in paradigm in management agencies realizing that a lot of times those finer scale questions are important in truly assessing whether or not you have reintroduction success.”

High levels of genetic diversity support a population’s overall health and resilience through environmental changes such as diseases, parasites, climate change and other stressors. This enables the species to thrive short and long-term, and, for the West Virginia elk herd, long-term success means greater opportunities for elk tourism and hunting opportunities — some of the WVDNR’s core goals for the population.

“[Elk tourism] provides a greater opportunity for getting people involved in conservation. You don’t have to already be interested in conservation to want to go see these large, charismatic animals,” said graduate student Adam Cook. “If you can draw people in with something cool that most people want to see, like elk, it helps them care more about everything the WVDNR is doing and become more engaged in certain natural resources aspects of the state.”

Elk are a great bridge for conservationists and hunters alike, said Welsh. Both communities have investments in the population’s long-term success, and the WVDNR’s efforts receive support from both groups.

The public interest in elk has not gone unnoticed by state officials — early this year, Gov. Jim Justice announced an almost $7 million investment in elk tourism, including a visitors’ center and observation tower in Tomblin Wildlife Management Area, allowing tourists and locals alike to view the majestic animals in their natural habitat.

Welsh and Cook’s genetic studies are expected to conclude by the end of Cook’s thesis in May 2025, at which point results of the study will be able to advise WVDNR on future management efforts of the West Virginia elk herd. 

For more information on the state elk herd and tourism opportunities, visit WVDNR.gov/plants-animals/elk.