MORGANTOWN — Forget for a moment Rich Rodriguez had spent the last two weeks turning his quarterback depth into a rowing team with all of the “Ors” he was throwing out there.
That, to some degree, led us to believe that Rodriguez actually had some options.
The truth came out Saturday, during West Virginia’s 17-10 loss on the road against Ohio University. It’s actually none of the above.
Not that Rodriguez will exactly admit that with his words. The closest thing to it following the Bobcats first win over the Mountaineers since 1949 was this:
“I knew there would be some growing pains,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve got to do a better job. We’ll get better from this.
“The guys were playing hard. The guys went in there and battled. I want it to hurt. It’s going to hurt.”
Rodriguez’s actions spoke volumes on this day, though. Nicco Marchiol was the starter. Was he terrible? Not at all, and to be honest, the Mountaineers’ offense as a whole got exposed once running back Jahiem White left the game with an injury in the second quarter.
At that point, WVU (1-1) needed more than just a steady hand at quarterback. The Mountaineers needed someone who could do more than just get his team in the right place to run plays at a fast tempo.
They needed someone who could make a play once the offense had become obviously one-dimensional. Marchiol, who finished 15 of 26 for 178 yards, was not that guy.
True, the mighty front line – we’re kidding – of the Bobcats kept getting a push and Marchiol never got a real chance to get comfortable. That, too, meaning WVU’s offensive line, is a major issue.
And so we get late in the third quarter. Ohio had that 17-10 lead and WVU’s offense had already spent about two-and-a-half hours turning third-down plays into a true thing of beauty.
Again, we’re kidding. WVU converted just two of 13 on third down.
In comes Jaylen Henderson at a real crucial part of the game. Three-and-out goes WVU.
Next possession, following an interception by WVU linebacker Chase Wilson, is another three-and-out. WVU had six three-and-out possessions for the game.
“Just tried to get a little spark, particularly with some of the quarterback run stuff,” Rodriguez said of the change. “It didn’t really (work). It wasn’t Jaylen or Nicco’s fault. It’s more mine.”
That was it for Henderson, who was 0 for 2 passing and had four yards rushing on three carries. Rodriguez, though, didn’t reach further into his bag of “Ors.” Instead, he goes back to Marchiol, which tells us quite a bit.
One, it tells us that Rodriguez listing four different guys at one point as a starting quarterback was a complete waste of space on paper. Either that or it was just a really bad joke, even by college coaching standards.
The more obvious tell is that – barring some sort of major improvement over the next 10 games – is WVU’s future at the position is either playing high school football somewhere right now or the future is currently putting up some numbers at a school somewhere in Conference USA, the Mountain West Conference or maybe even the Sun Belt, if he’s not riding the pine somewhere in a major conference.
Marchiol did have some moments when he got back into the game. He hit former Morgantown High standout Preston Fox on a seam route that got the Mountaineers to the Ohio 39. There was a deep ball to Cam Vaughn that was ruled incomplete and remained that way after a review.
Then it was the usual. An incomplete pass and then a hurried throw on fourth down out to the flat, because Marchiol had little time to find anyone else. Man, that offensive line did not have a great day.
It was all just so robotic when the Mountaineers instead needed innovation. It was careful when WVU instead needed someone who enjoys living life on the edge.
We won’t even discuss WVU’s final true possession, when Marchiol’s arm got hit on yet another third down and the ball fluttered out to the middle of the field for an interception.
What we will discuss is next week’s depth chart, when the Mountaineers host rival Pitt.
We have but one suggestion: Rich, rather than trying to keep it cute with all of the “Ors”, do yourself a favor and even save yourself a little bit of time by just keeping the space blank.
