West Virginia got a much-needed victory out west on Saturday as they beat Arizona, 31-26.

After the game head coach Neal Brown spoke on the importance of the win, and evaluated the play of his backup quarterback Nicco Marhciol as well as how his defense performed in the win.

West Virginia had dropped their last two games, each at home to ranked opponents. Now, they hit a cross-country trip, playing their fourth game in as many weeks with what was an undermanned team.

"Over 2,000 miles traveled after a really tough stretch and our guys' backs against the wall. A lot of negativity, a lot of adversity, we come out here without three of our four captains... three of our four captains don't make the trip, but we come and just fight. And I think it's a credit to our guys. Y'all have heard me talk about the character of our team. Our character of our team is really good," Brown said.

This game concludes what was the most important four-game stretch of the season for West Virginia, and they finish going 2-2. Brown recognized they wanted to be better than 2-2 at this point, but they are now able to take the momentum from this win into the final month of the season.

"We wanted to be better than 2-2, but we went 2-2, and now it sets us up for a November stretch. We need some time to heal up, we got to get away and rest and recover for a few days, but then we get back, and that November stretch is going to be critical. How we finish is going to really matter. We've got to continue to win, stay in the conference race, I think that's the big picture of it," Brown said.

West Virginia was without starting quarterback Garrett Greene who did not make the trip, meaning backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol would get the start.

Brown was impressed with Marchiol's efficiency as he completed 18 of his 22 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

"He's so much better player than the last time he started a game. So last time he started a game was Texas Tech, and that was in September, I guess, a year ago. And he's matured, he's been patient, and he's gotten better. And I've said that a lot, y'all heard me talk about that in the spring, and you heard me talk about it in fall camp, and then he showed that today.

"And he didn't play very well the second half of his Kansas State game, which was a tough setting for him but I thought he really stepped up today when we needed him, and he played really well," Brown said.

Brown was impressed with how Marchiol and the WVU offense were able to control the pace of the game for the most part, owning time of possession in the process as they held the ball for more than 35 minutes.

"Offensively, I thought we really controlled the game. It got a little interesting late, but I thought we controlled the game. We were really efficient," Brown said.

West Virginia's secondary continued to struggle on Saturday as they allowed Arizona to pass for over 300 yards.

Wildcat wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan had 200 yards receiving and even with his talent level, Brown said that group has to improve.

"And then defensively, our run defense was good, and we struggled versus the pass, and that's kind of been our M.O. this year. The receiver's special. The quarterback, man, he kept some plays alive," Brown said.

Arizona QB Noah Fafita passed for 294 yards and two touchdowns, completing over 65 percent of his passes.

"If you look at a lot of those explosive plays, he just scrambled around and kept it alive, and I don't think we did a very good job matching them. And if you remember, I think I talked on the radio on Thursday night and in the press conference on Monday about how good they were in scramble situations, and that's what happened.

"Most of them were on extended plays, but he's special. I mean, 10 (catches) for 202 (yards) and we didn't do a great job against him, but I don't want to discredit him because I think he's special and the best we've played in a long time, the best I've played in a long time. But we've got to be better against the pass. We simply just have not been good enough this year, and so we've got to get it fixed," Brown said.

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