Rich Rodriguez talks quarterbacks
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez understood that there would be questions about the quarterback position during his post-game press conference.
The Mountaineers used two different options, with redshirt junior Nicco Marchiol earning the start and completing 15-26 passes for 178 scoreless yards and an interception.
The signal caller led the Mountaineers to 10 points but in his nine other drives, the offense had four three-and-outs with the longest drive accumulating just 37 yards against Ohio.
Redshirt senior Jaylen Henderson also had an opportunity to lead two drives but didn’t fair any better with two three-and-outs and traveling just a combined seven yards. Henderson did not complete either of his passes.
Now it’s important to note that it doesn’t fall only at the feet of the quarterbacks, as there were issues all across the board offensively but it was only natural that the question over the quarterbacks would come.
“Give me 24 hours first. I don’t blame you for asking,” Rodriguez said.
The veteran head coach said that he elected to utilize Henderson in order to attempt to jumpstart the offense with his ability to run the football. On his first two carries, Henderson rushed for 8 yards, but things stalled from that point for the offense.
“I tried to get a little spark. Particularly maybe with some of the quarterback run stuff,” Rodriguez said.
Still, even with the offense’s struggles mustering just 250 total yards and 10 points while going 2-13 on third down, Rodriguez didn’t shy away from taking the blame.
“It wasn’t Jaylen or Nicco’s fault. It’s more mine,” he said.
Rodriguez said that he plans to utilize multiple quarterbacks this season and played four in the opener, but now we wait to see what the next move will be for the Mountaineers.
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