Has Rich Rodriguez 'secretly' made a decision on WVU football's starting QB?

The West Virginia Mountaineers are currently working their way through fall camp to get ready for the 2026 season. And a big part of how the upcoming campaign goes will likely depend on the performance of the starting quarterback.

As of now, no official decision on a starter has been announced, with a little under three weeks remaining until WVU football kicks things off against Coastal Carolina. And when the topic of announcing a starterrecently came up, Rodriguez deferred to the answer he gave last fall – fans and media will know the starter after kickoff in Week 1 when the offense takes the field.

But during that same rant, Rodriguez hinted at the idea that he has potentially made his decision already: "I may know right now. Probably do." And recent reports coming from the team's closed practices, including their first big intra-squad scrimmage this past weekend, indicates that he wasn't bluffing.

"I may know right now. Probably do."

Rich Rodriguez on WVU's starting QB.

Has Michael Hawkins Jr. won the starting quarterback job for the West Virginia Mountaineers?

According to WV Sports Now, during this past week's scrimmage, Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. reportedlyserved as the starting quarterbackfor the Mountaineers. Other national outlets have reported similar information coming out of the weekend, and leaks from those who were allowed to attend the practice back that story up.

If this holds up over the next few weeks, that means fans should expect to see Scotty Fox Jr., who served as the team's starter last season for six games, to return to the bench aftera historic freshman season. Though given Rodriguez's penchant for running his quarterback, it wouldn't be surprising to occasionally see Fox this season if Hawkins gets banged up or needs some quick relief.

This is also news that should probably excite West Virginia fans. Fox wasn't perfect, but was serviceable for the Mountaineers as a true freshman, and has had another offseason in the program to develop. That means in all likelihood, he'd perform better (or at least at a similar level) in the role this season.

Which means that Hawkins has likely come in andproven himself to be a major upgradeover WVU's quarterback play last year. And that might not necessarily be a high bar to eclipse, it will also please West Virginia fans to leave the level of quarterback play which required Rodriguez to worked through four starters in 12 games in the past.

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