My Fiver on WVU's victory over Arizona in the desert on Saturday night...
1. Nicco Marchiol vs. Garrett Greene. Nicco goes 18/22 for 198 yards, 2 TDs in getting the W. That's an 81% completion percentage. He had the highest PFF rating on the team. It was a fantastic game for Nicco in relief of the injured GG. Looking across GG's 7 starts this season, he only peaked over 60% in one game - 73.9% vs. Albany. Otherwise, you're looking at a 56% completion percentage on the season, with several backbreaking turnovers. On the plus side, Garrett is averaging almost 7 ypc, and has essentially been our offensive catalyst most of the time by breaking off big runs - much of the time on scrambles, not by design. Nicco's size alone gives him the ability to see the field much better than GG. And it was refreshing to see Nicco hit intermediate routes to convert 4th downs and 3rd downs, most notably a big time throw on 3rd & 9 to Hudson Clement on our final scoring drive. I truly appreciate GG's grit and desire to win. The kid came in and gave WVU a big time spark when our program was floundering with a geriatric JT Daniels behind center flailing about. He led WVU to a 9-4 season, and a bowl victory. But, I think it is time for a change. I'd like to see what Nicco gives us the rest of the way. The kid seems like he's a winner, and has some intangibles that can't be taught.
2. Justin Robinson looks like WVU is borrowing a WR from the Kansas City Chiefs or LA Rams on loaner until he can return to the League. On that first 3rd & 6 when Nicco hit him for 15 yards, it just looked so easy. He would only be targeted 2 more times the rest of the game, but one was a huge 8 yard catch and run on 4th & 3 on WVU's 1st possession of the 2nd half (leading to a touchdown). He seems like he could be a difference maker at WR.
3. Elephant in the Room. What in the hell were we doing with our coverage scheme? It's already been covered ad nauseum on this board, so I'm not going to get to deep into why we were going Tampa 2 and asking Trey Lathan to cover perhaps the best wideout in the conference(country?). McMillian ends up with 202 yards on 10 grabs, including an all too easy touchdown. But, we got the "W", so... But, goodness gracious, can we not just try to take him out of the game and see if they have any other viable options? Or was Neal Brown/Jordan Lesley trying to play 4D Chess - "They think we'll do that, so we're going to do something else to throw them off, you see?". I'm happy our run "D" is playing well, but our secondary and pass coverage are just so scary bad. And, even when the opposing QB throws the ball right into our DBs hands, we cough it up like it's scalding.
4. Thought the play calling in this one was a bit interesting. It's been mentioned on here - The Preston Fox end around to the left for no gain after Jaheim White picked up 55 on an end around to the right was...baffling. Our 8 play, 44 yard scoring drive to start the 2nd half was painful until CJ Donaldson broke through for a 20-yard TD on 4th & 2. The one that drove me nuts was our last drive before the end of the half. We're up 17-7, force a three and out, and get the ball back with under 2 minutes to go in our territory. We have seen WVU's offense run a 2 minute drill to perfection many times when we've been down and needed to score. Play with some purpose. Instead, we just kind of took our time, went with designed runs, and AZ saw this and started burning time outs. We ran two screens for a total of a yard and had to punt. That was a time to really put a foot on their throat, and we once again saw an offense playing without a killer instinct. No deep shots. No intermediate routes. Just chalk, burn clock, watch AZ burn time outs, punt.
5. 4-4, 3-2 on the season. First, I was very happy with the victory and it definitely made the weekend a bit brighter. Now, where do we go from here? Jordan Lesley is gone. OK. I don't know if that solves our defensive backfield woes, but we will see. Cincinnati, Baylor, UCF & Texas Tech are all up next, and they are all teams Neal Brown has defeated over the past couple of seasons. Obviously the fan base is ready to move on from Neal Brown, but is the University? Is Wren Baker ready to take the financial hit to move forward and invest in the future? As Brandt famously said to the Dude, "We just don't know Dude." Your guess is as good as mine, but I can tell you this -- if WVU wins all four of these games, finishes the regular season at 8-4, 7-2 in the Big 12, Neal Brown is our HC in 2025. Of that, I am certain.
Is that likely to occur? Using history as a barometer, probably not.
1. Nicco Marchiol vs. Garrett Greene. Nicco goes 18/22 for 198 yards, 2 TDs in getting the W. That's an 81% completion percentage. He had the highest PFF rating on the team. It was a fantastic game for Nicco in relief of the injured GG. Looking across GG's 7 starts this season, he only peaked over 60% in one game - 73.9% vs. Albany. Otherwise, you're looking at a 56% completion percentage on the season, with several backbreaking turnovers. On the plus side, Garrett is averaging almost 7 ypc, and has essentially been our offensive catalyst most of the time by breaking off big runs - much of the time on scrambles, not by design. Nicco's size alone gives him the ability to see the field much better than GG. And it was refreshing to see Nicco hit intermediate routes to convert 4th downs and 3rd downs, most notably a big time throw on 3rd & 9 to Hudson Clement on our final scoring drive. I truly appreciate GG's grit and desire to win. The kid came in and gave WVU a big time spark when our program was floundering with a geriatric JT Daniels behind center flailing about. He led WVU to a 9-4 season, and a bowl victory. But, I think it is time for a change. I'd like to see what Nicco gives us the rest of the way. The kid seems like he's a winner, and has some intangibles that can't be taught.
2. Justin Robinson looks like WVU is borrowing a WR from the Kansas City Chiefs or LA Rams on loaner until he can return to the League. On that first 3rd & 6 when Nicco hit him for 15 yards, it just looked so easy. He would only be targeted 2 more times the rest of the game, but one was a huge 8 yard catch and run on 4th & 3 on WVU's 1st possession of the 2nd half (leading to a touchdown). He seems like he could be a difference maker at WR.
3. Elephant in the Room. What in the hell were we doing with our coverage scheme? It's already been covered ad nauseum on this board, so I'm not going to get to deep into why we were going Tampa 2 and asking Trey Lathan to cover perhaps the best wideout in the conference(country?). McMillian ends up with 202 yards on 10 grabs, including an all too easy touchdown. But, we got the "W", so... But, goodness gracious, can we not just try to take him out of the game and see if they have any other viable options? Or was Neal Brown/Jordan Lesley trying to play 4D Chess - "They think we'll do that, so we're going to do something else to throw them off, you see?". I'm happy our run "D" is playing well, but our secondary and pass coverage are just so scary bad. And, even when the opposing QB throws the ball right into our DBs hands, we cough it up like it's scalding.
4. Thought the play calling in this one was a bit interesting. It's been mentioned on here - The Preston Fox end around to the left for no gain after Jaheim White picked up 55 on an end around to the right was...baffling. Our 8 play, 44 yard scoring drive to start the 2nd half was painful until CJ Donaldson broke through for a 20-yard TD on 4th & 2. The one that drove me nuts was our last drive before the end of the half. We're up 17-7, force a three and out, and get the ball back with under 2 minutes to go in our territory. We have seen WVU's offense run a 2 minute drill to perfection many times when we've been down and needed to score. Play with some purpose. Instead, we just kind of took our time, went with designed runs, and AZ saw this and started burning time outs. We ran two screens for a total of a yard and had to punt. That was a time to really put a foot on their throat, and we once again saw an offense playing without a killer instinct. No deep shots. No intermediate routes. Just chalk, burn clock, watch AZ burn time outs, punt.
5. 4-4, 3-2 on the season. First, I was very happy with the victory and it definitely made the weekend a bit brighter. Now, where do we go from here? Jordan Lesley is gone. OK. I don't know if that solves our defensive backfield woes, but we will see. Cincinnati, Baylor, UCF & Texas Tech are all up next, and they are all teams Neal Brown has defeated over the past couple of seasons. Obviously the fan base is ready to move on from Neal Brown, but is the University? Is Wren Baker ready to take the financial hit to move forward and invest in the future? As Brandt famously said to the Dude, "We just don't know Dude." Your guess is as good as mine, but I can tell you this -- if WVU wins all four of these games, finishes the regular season at 8-4, 7-2 in the Big 12, Neal Brown is our HC in 2025. Of that, I am certain.
Is that likely to occur? Using history as a barometer, probably not.
