West Virginia quarterback Nicco Marhiol is likely to be under center for his second straight game, and the Mountaineers are hoping he takes steps forward after his first start of the season.
Before WVU's bye week, the Mountaineers hit the road and beat Arizona 31-26 under the direction of Marchiol. Following the bye week, Marchiol is once again expected to be the quarterback, but head coach Neal Brown and offensive coordinator Chad Scott are looking for him to take a step forward across the board.
"First of all, he was really efficient in the game, and he didn't turn it over. So I think, first of all, you start with what does he need to sustain. He needs to sustain taking care of the football, he needs to sustain being efficient and moving the chains on third downs. That's what he needs to sustain," Brown said.
Marchiol only threw four completions on 22 pass attempts, passing for 198 yards and a pair of scores. A lot of Marchiol's success came on underneath passes, but he did hit on a deep ball, which was a 54-yard touchdown pass. Brown said throwing down the field is where he wants Marchiol to focus on, as well as overall decision-making.
"We've got to take some shots down the field, which he did, he hit the big one to Traylon, missed a couple. But we have to continue to grow in that area. There was some decision-making in the run game that we need to clean up, and a couple third downs he can make a little better decision on," Brown said.
Brown added he wants to keep things simple for his young quarterback, and they are going to call plays to make life easier for him.
"I think for us, it's about putting him in the best situation possible from a game-planning perspective and how we're calling it. And if we continue to do that, then I believe he'll play well," Brown said
As far as what that simplistic approach looks like, Scott said it's about developing more concepts off the same formations and not overcomplicating things.
"Have a variety of concepts but lesser formations so we can work different looks. The concepts were minimal, it was the ways in which we ran them so we could work with different looks," Scott said.
Scott said it's about practicing against different looks on defense and figuring out the answers to the questions a defense poses.
"Just find different ways to get our guys in space, and so we can practice more looks. Lesser formations, a little more concepts, but lesser formations, you get to practice different looks, and you get to practice answers to those looks," Scott said.
Overall, Scott was impressed with Marchiol's poise, converting on multiple fourth downs as well as being able to finish the game by keeping the offense on the field.
"Even just his poise towards the end of the game. To keep that same poise towards the end of the game and close out the game with the ball in our hands, he looked good. Those things we want to continue to sustain," Scott said.
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