MORGANTOWN — Quarterback Nicco Marchiol came back in and led West Virginia past Pitt to win the Backyard Brawl. In the 10-point comeback, Marchiol looked like he was WVU’s quarterback going forward.
After his last-minute performance, Marchiol was the starter for Kansas, despite Rich Rodriguez continuing to say he was going to use multiple quarterbacks. Marchiol marched out looking to ride the momentum from the Backyard Brawl win, but he did nothing of the sort.
With Marchiol at the helm, the offense looked stagnant again. Whether you blame it on the offensive line or running back Tye Edwards being out, the Marchiol-led offense looked similar to the one that rolled out for Ohio. Nothing positive.
Marchiol couldn’t get the quarterback run going, missed a couple of throws and threw an interception. He led WVU to just three points. Marchiol went 15-for-27 and 126 yards. He rushed six times for -4 yards.
Despite the struggles, Marchiol came out to start the second half, which wasn’t the case against Pitt, when the game was a lot closer.
Marchiol dropped back and threw the ball right to former teammate Trey Lathan in the third quarter. That was enough for Rodriguez, and Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson started the next drive.
“If you are going to have to throw it, you got to be really on the mark throwing,” Rodriguez said. “Precise with your passing game, your protection, your routes, and your decisions, and we weren’t precise in any of those categories there.”
Henderson, surprisingly, got the offense rolling. Henderson marched WVU down the field for 95 yards on 11 plays, scoring on a quarterback keeper for WVU’s first touchdown. He carried the ball six times and rushed for 77 yards on the drive. Henderson threw one pass for eight yards. The Mountaineers were finally in the end zone in a very-Rodriguez-like drive from a quarterback.
This was the second-straight week a backup quarterback came in for Marchiol and scored on their opening drive. Freshman Scotty Fox did it last week against Pitt.
Henderson came out for just one more drive and finished 2-for-4 for 16 yards, but he led all WVU rushers with 79 yards.
“It gives you a little bit more dimension,” Rodriguez said. “I thought Jaylen ran hard.”
Youngster Khalil Wilkins came out after the game got out of hand to close out the game. WVU lost 41-10.
This was the first week one of the quarterbacks outperformed Marchiol. You have to take it with a grain of salt, though, because the sample size was a lot smaller, and it was when the game was out of hand, but the offense ran a lot smoother with Henderson.
Henderson’s a much quicker quarterback than Marchiol and fits more into what Rodriguez’s quarterbacks have done in the past.
Could this be the changing of the guard? Could Henderson make a start against Utah?
The only issue is that Henderson hasn’t thrown the ball well. He didn’t have too many passes against Kansas, but in the previous two appearances, he’s struggled.
Marchiol can’t run, and Henderson can’t throw. Fox? He still makes rookie mistakes. Rodriguez needs a quarterback who can do both.
He hasn’t found that guy, yet. Luckily, Rodriguez kept his options open with all the “ORs” on the depth chart and repping five starting quarterbacks in practice. So now, into Week 5, who will be the starter? That’s a Tuesday question when Rodriguez has time to think it over.
“We’ll figure out what we’re going to do going forward,” Rodriguez said.
