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Rodriguez feels good about current state of West Virginia QB room

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Rodriguez feels good about current state of West Virginia QB room


West Virginia has experienced a lot of change with head coach Rich Rodriguez taking over the football program with both the coaching staff and the roster.

But one area that the veteran head coach is confident heading into the first spring of his second tenure atop the program is at the quarterback spot.

There is no returning starter, but the Mountaineers do have players that have experience both at West Virginia and other places as well as some talented young options on the roster.

Redshirt junior Nicco Marchiol has completed 71-122 passes with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions during his time on the field. He’s also rushed for 285 yards and 3 scores.

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Last season in his two starts against Arizona and Cincinnati, Marchiol completed 27-37 passes for 354 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception. Most importantly the Mountaineers won both of those games with him filling in as the quarterback for an injured Garrett Greene.

“I thought Nicco in his opportunities played really, really well. I think it was the Arizona game and maybe Cincinnati but I thought he played really well,” Rodriguez said. “Had a great command about him. Been really pleased that he’s coming back and I think we’ve got some good competition in that room.”

On top of Marchiol, West Virginia also added a pair of transfer quarterbacks in Texas A&M signal caller Jaylen Henderson and Charlotte transfer Max Brown.

Henderson had previous stops at Fresno State and Texas A&M. Henderson did not appear in a game at quarterback in 2024 but played in five games in 2023 where he completed 53-78 passes for 715 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also rushed for 104 yards and 2 scores.

But over those four years, Henderson has played just 248 snaps.

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Also an effective runner, Henderson had 91 yards on scrambles and 66 on designed runs. He also forced a total of four missed tackles showcasing his athleticism.

Brown, 6-foot-3, 230-pounds, played six games during his lone season with the 49ers where he completed 43-93 passes for 561 yards with 3 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. The Oklahoma native started his career at Florida where he redshirted during his first year and then completed 19-28 passes for 192 yards in 2023.

Brown has played a total of 313 snaps at the college level and like Henderson is a dual-threat option that is looking for the opportunity to prove himself in a new destination.

“Of all the rooms, Nicco has some experience and some of the other quarterbacks do at other schools but that’s probably one position we’re more comfortable with the talent that we have and those guys are willing to learn and run our system and all of that. I think we’re in good shape at the quarterback position with the guys that we’ve got,” Rodriguez said.

West Virginia also had some young talent on the roster in redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins and true freshman Scotty Fox to add even more to the competition.

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The scheme is one that Rodriguez refers to as “quarterback-centric,” as the Mountaineers are going to play with 11 at all times and while they don’t have to be blazing options running the ball they simply need to be willing. That is something he has seen to date.

“I think all our quarterbacks have competitive athleticism and that same kind of mental toughness so they’ll run what we need them to run. So we’ll play with 11. And whatever they do that’s best, whatever they are best at that’s probably what we’ll feature in our offense and in the spring it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch those guys compete,” Rodriguez said.

Now, the spring will be critical to sift through the options on the roster and see how they perform in live action situations in order to get a handle for how they can perform. That way Rodriguez and company will have a real handle on how things are developing.

But so far so good under center.

“Now Rhett (Rodriguez) and I are going to figure out a lot and get the guys a lot of opportunities but there’s some really good skill in that room and we’ve got some experience with Nicco and some of the other guys so I feel pretty good about the quarterback room right now,” he said.

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West Virginia man accused of threatening Trump, ICE agents indicted

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West Virginia man accused of threatening Trump, ICE agents indicted


A West Virginia man accused of threatening to attack President Donald Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers was federally indicted this week.

Cody Lee Smith, 20, of Clarksburg was indicted on two counts of threats to murder the president, one count of influencing and retaliating against federal officials by threat of murder and one count of influencing a federal official by threat of murder, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.

Smith is accused of making a series of public posts on Instagram encouraging and threatening the murder of Trump, those who support him, Israelis and “all government officials,” the news release said.

The indictment also alleges that Smith sent a direct message via Instagram to Donald J. Trump, Jr., stating he would kill his father by cutting his “jugular.”

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In a phone call with the ICE tip line, Smith also threatened to kill ICE agents in Clarksburg and employees staffing the tip line.

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Smith faces up to 5 years for each of the presidential threat charges and faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the remaining counts.



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West Virginia falls flat in 65-63 loss to Kansas State – WV MetroNews

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West Virginia falls flat in 65-63 loss to Kansas State – WV MetroNews


West Virginia has said the right things about the need to capitalize on opportunities.

The Mountaineers aren’t following through when they come about.

The latest example came Tuesday night at Kansas State, which scored 21 unanswered points in the second half before holding off a furious West Virginia charge for a 65-53 victory at Bramlage Coliseum.

“The level of urgency and desire to win a game with so much on it wasn’t where it needed to be,” West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge said on postgame radio.

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The Wildcats (12-18, 3-14) played without leading scorer PJ Haggerty, a surprise scratch with an undisclosed injury.

Although WVU (17-13, 8-9) defeated Kansas State 59-54 with Haggerty in the lineup during a January matchup in Morgantown, the Mountaineers were unable to capitalize on his absence in the rematch and fell to 1-4 in their last five games.

Both teams were dismal offensively in the opening half, which ended with West Virginia leading, 26-23.

The Mountaineers got 10 points apiece from reserve forwards Chance Moore and DJ Thomas, helping the visitors to at least somewhat overcome a starting lineup that scored six points on 3-for-15 shooting over the first 20 minutes.

“When you’re playing a team that is a little down and out, you can’t give them life and can’t give them hope,” Hodge said. “We had so many opportunities in the first half and at the beginning of the game to make some plays and entice a team that’s been struggling to maybe keep struggling.”

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After a scoreless first half, WVU guard Honor Huff made his 100th three-pointer this season with 18:33 to play, allowing the Mountaineers to lead 31-27.

West Virginia went the next 8-plus minutes without a point, and Wildcats took control during that stretch.

Khamari McGriff scored the Wildcats’ first four points of the extended 21-0 spurt and accounted for four buckets and eight of the first 15 points during that time.

A jumper from CJ Jones with 10:53 remaining left the home team with a 48-31 advantage, before Thomas scored from close range to end his team’s extended drought at the 10:27 mark.

“I’m aware of our shortcomings and I understand when you’re deficient in some areas, your margin for error to win is razor thin,” Hodge said. “I’m disappointed with what was at stake, we got beat to loose balls. Would it have been nice to make more layups and threes? Of course. But when those things aren’t happening, you better do those other things.”

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KSU had separate 19-point leads, the latter of which came at 57-38 when McGriff made two free throws with 7:29 to play.

WVU then increased its aggressiveness offensively and reeled off the next 11 points, while the Wildcats began to play tentative while in possession.

A three-pointer from K-State’s Nate Johnson left the Wildcats with a 60-49 lead with 3:48 left, but the Mountaineers continued to battle and trailed by six when Chance Moore scored in the paint at the 1:24 mark.

Moore’s next basket made it a five-point game, and after a Johnson turnover, Huff made two free throws to bring WVU to within 61-58 with 48 seconds left.

Another KSU turnover gave the visitors the ball back, but after Moore missed a shot that the Mountaineers rebounded, Huff committed a costly turnover. 

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Johnson made two free throws with 17 seconds left, and McGriff added two more with 7 seconds remaining before Huff made a trey at the buzzer.

Moore led WVU with 18 points and made 6-of-7 shots, but again struggled on free throws, finishing 5 for 9. WVU hurts its cause at the charity stripe and made only 9-of-16 attempts.

Brenen Lorient was the Mountaineers’ second-leading scorer with 14 second-half points, while Thomas followed with 12 and Huff added 11 on 3-for-11 shooting.

Treysen Eaglestaff led all players with 11 rebounds in defeat, but made only 3-of-12 shots in a six-point showing.

McGriff led KSU with 18 points and added seven rebounds.

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Johnson finished with 16 points and nine boards.

WVU had nine of its 13 turnovers in the second half. 

“Nine turnovers in the second half creates more busted floors, more cross match opportunities and through that, it makes you vulnerable for paint touch opportunities,” Hodge said. 

K-State played under the guidance of interim head coach Matthew Driscoll. Driscoll replaced Jerome Tang, who was fired in between the team’s first and second matchups with West Virginia this season.

“Sometimes in life you get what you deserve,” Hodge said, “and we deserved to lose tonight.”

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Nitro completes utility deal with West Virginia American Water – WV MetroNews

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Nitro completes utility deal with West Virginia American Water – WV MetroNews


NITRO, W.Va. — It’s a done deal.

Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt signed an agreement Tuesday with West Virginia American Water Company President Scott Wyman completing the sale of the Nitro Regional Wastewater Utility including the sewer plant for $20 million.

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The water utility will now own and operate the city’s water and wastewater systems. The state Public Service Commission recently approved the deal.

Casebolt said it’s good to get the long-talked-about agreement signed. He said the city can’t afford to make the improvements required at the sewer plant.

“We’re looking at needing between 40 and 50 million dollars of upgrades to our system and expecting our four-thousand customer base to try to offset those costs is not even practical,” Casebolt said.

Casebolt said sewer bills are going to go up but he said they were going to go up regardless. He said the city was facing increasing rates by as much as 50 percent.

West Virgina American is planning $42 million in upgrades to the sewer system over the next five years, Casebolt said.

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“It’s a much-need investment and actually allow the system to handle rainwater much better where it’s not backing up into people’s homes,” Casebolt said.



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