Who Starts at QB for West Virginia vs. Pitt? Rodriguez Isn’t Saying Yet

No one played well on the offensive side of the football for West Virginia in the loss to Ohio last week, including quarterback Nicco Marchiol. Yes, the offensive line didn’t help, but there were completions left out there that he’d like to have back, and with the lack of movement the offense had, it’s created some uncertainty about who will man that position moving forward.

During his press conference on Tuesday, head coach Rich Rodriguez flat-out said he’s not sure of who will trot out to begin the game.

“No, I’m not naming anything because we’ve got a long week of doing practice and evaluating our guys. I thought Jaylen (Henderson), we were looking for a little spark, and the best play he had, we got called back because of a penalty. He got a couple of series there, but he’s still in the mix, as is some of those other guys. We’ll see.”

When asked about what he saw from Nicco Marchiol after going back and watching the tape, he responded, “He’s still learning. Nicco’s a great competitor. It’s important to him. Like everybody else, he’s a freshman in the system, so it’s still going to be a little bit of a process, and I’ve got to remember that. I appreciate the way he’s bought in; he’s competing.

“He’s doing everything he can. Nicco wants to be great, and I know we got to help him in certain spots as well. The quarterback position is very unique here. I’ve never had this many guys that were kind of in the mix and have different skill sets. I don’t want to say we’re still figuring it out because we had some time to figure it out, but you get a lot of answers in games. I’m not a typical, you’re just going to play one quarterback. We like to give everybody opportunities and see what happens.”

Last night on his coach’s show, Rodriguez admitted that they nearly put in a third quarterback, which I assume would have been Charlotte transfer Max Brown. I do believe Marchiol will get the start, but we’ll probably see Henderson or Brown inserted earlier this week.

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