Consistency needed in West Virginia football ongoing quarterback battle
If you happened to watch the open West Virginia practice that coincided with fan day you undoubtedly saw some ups and some downs when it comes to quarterback play.
That has been essentially a snapshot of how things have gone through the first couple practices of fall camp according to head coach Neal Brown.
“Some high and some lows,” he said.
The Mountaineers have five quarterbacks receiving reps during the course of fall camp with redshirt juniors Austin Kendall and Jack Allison currently ahead of the others on the learning curve due to their understanding of the offense.
Each participated throughout the 15 practices in the spring and were in direct competition for the post with neither making enough strides to be declared a front runner.
In fall camp to this point, Kendall has been working mostly with the first-team offensive line in practice portions open to the media while Allison with the second.
“It’s a little slower for them. I think that our completion percentage and decision making is up from the spring which is a positive,” he said.
Two others in Trey Lowe and Trent Jackson are both young players that continue to develop but Brown was encouraged by what he saw from the redshirt freshman Lowe on day three putting together his best performance of the fall to date.
The last horse in the race is an intriguing one in Bowling Green transfer Jarret Doege. The junior transferred from the Falcons after starting 17 consecutive games and tallying up 4,042 yards and 39 touchdown tosses in his two seasons with the program.
Of all the options he has the most experience, but there remains the question as to whether he could be granted a waiver in order to play immediately this fall as a transfer. Still, he improved his body since enrolling in Morgantown and appears poised on the field as he’s getting accustomed to the offense.
One thing that does help is that Doege played in a scheme with similar pass concepts during his time at Bowling Green which has helped him adjust.
“He does have more experience than any other quarterback in our room not from an age standpoint but just from a games played standpoint,” Brown said.
It’s true considering that only Allison has a college start from the rest of the group and that came in the Camping World Bowl this past December. But Doege also brings an element to the table considering where he came from which could be useful to the room.
“They lost some games and they had some struggles at Bowling Green so he knows how to overcome adversity. He can probably shake off bad plays and hard coaching a little bit quicker,” he said.
Still, regardless whether Doege factors into the mix or not, West Virginia needs to find a quarterback to replace Will Grier and the hunt is still very much underway. And those highs and lows must become more consistent in order for one of them to walk away with the job.
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