Nicco Marchiol made his second career start on Saturday, more than a calendar year after his first one.
This time around, Marchiol's development and maturity shined through as he helped lead West Virginia to a 31-26 road victory over Arizona on Saturday.
"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 out in September, I guess, a year ago, and he's mature, he's been patient, and he's gotten better," West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said.
This time last week, WVU was coming off a disappointing loss where Marchiol played the second half and struggled for the majority of it.
"I think this game was entirely different for me from a mental perspective. Just getting a full week of reps, live reps, against our defense, against our scout team. I think I logged over 100 reps this week of stuff we were going to run, and it shows how much of a difference that makes," Marchiol said.
"Last week, we were talking about how I missed a full day of practice, and it shows in our efficiency in the pass game, in the run game. 18 for 22 in the pass game, that’s credit to our receivers, being where they need to be and timing is so crucial in our pass game and location, and I think we just executed on all fronts of that."
Marchiol finished the night with 198 yards passing to go along with a pair of touchdowns, and he also added 39 yards rushing as well. Marchiol said he needed to put last week's performance behind him and move on because he didn't want that thought to linger in his head.
"The sport is so unpredictable at times, and that’s why it’s so, so, essential just to have that memory of a goldfish, play the next play, and treat every week the same. I had a short memory of that week, and I knew that was something I didn’t want to put back on tape. It just made me work harder throughout the week, and it showed in our performance," Marchiol said.
Marchiol hit on crucial plays all night long, including a 54-yard touchdown to Traylon Ray and two shorter passes to Hudson Clement, one for a touchdown and one for a key third-down conversion.
Marchiol said all of it has to do with him trusting the people around him and the system he is in. From the wide receivers to the coaches, he has full trust in everyone in the building.
"That goes back to trust in the playcaller, trust in the playmaker, and I had full belief if I got the look that was going to give me the chance to throw it that I was going to do what I was coached to do. That was a big thing for me this week was not trying to play outside myself. Playing within myself, being accurate with the football, and getting the ball to the playmakers, letting them be special," Marchiol said.
Saturday was also a special occasion for Marchiol, who returned to his home state of Arizona and was greeted by dozens of loved ones. Marchiol said them being there made the moment that much more special.
"I had 25 people, friends and family, that was a headache enough trying to get tickets for everyone," Marchiol joked.
"There’s two sides to it. There’s a side that makes me want to play even harder for them and show them what I can do on the field. Then there were some times throughout the game I had to catch myself from looking in the stands and finding my mom and dad and keeping the main thing the main thing," Marchiol said.
Overall, Marchiol highlighted the fact there were a lot of not only his supporters but WVU supporters at Arizona Stadium.
"In the end, the support from my family, from Mountaineer Nation, it’s unmatched. All the way from 2,000 miles something like that, the showing we had from Mountaineer Nation, you don’t find that at a lot of places," Marchiol said.
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