Garrett Greene a difference maker for WVU in win over Kansas according to Neal Brown
"We’ve got Garrett Greene and they don’t."
- WVU coach Neal Brown on key to KU win.
“We’ve got Garrett Greene and they don’t,” WVU coach Neal Brown told reporters after a 32-28 win against Kansas on Saturday.
The off-handed quip was in response to an ESPN reporter asking about the key to the team's come-from-behind win over the Jayhawks. Though it wasn’t Greene’s best performance according to the box score, it may have been his grittiest.
Garrett Greene vs Kansas
Passing: 15-of-30, 295 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 INT
Rushing: 17 carries, 87 yards, 1 TD
The Mountaineers trailed by 11 points with under 6 minutes to play after a Kansas touchdown gave the Jayhawks their largest lead of the contest. Garrett Greene went on to engineer two touchdown drives, the second one capped off by Greene connecting with Rodney Gallagher III for a 15-yard touchdown. Gallagher’s first career touchdown could not have come at a better time, putting the Mountaineers up by 4 points with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
Neal Brown also made this statement in the postgame: “Nobody is better in the two-minute offense than we have been the last two seasons.”
There might be some truth to that statement, and a lot of that is thanks to Greene. During his time as starting quarterback, he has been very good in the 2-minute offense. Today was certainly no exception to that.
Trailing by 11 points, Greene led a 9-play, 75-yard drive spanning 2:12. Greene completed 4 passes, including a touchdown pass to Kole Taylor. Greene also picked up a few yards with his legs, running twice on the drive.
Trailing by 3 points a few minutes later, Greene led a 7-play, 67-yard drive spanning 1:56. Greene completed 2 passes on this drive, including the 15-yard touchdown to Gallagher. Greene ran the ball 3 times on this drive, including a massive 13-yard scramble to keep the drive alive on a 3rd & 6 at the Kansas 42-yard line.
There’s no doubt that WVU still has work to do and a lot to clean up if they want to compete in upcoming conference matchups. However, if they get this gritty version of Garrett Greene in the weeks to come, they’ll have a chance to win some ball games. Greene has the “it” factor that you cannot teach. Interestingly enough, Greene now has 4 interceptions on the season after throwing two against Kansas. 4 interceptions match his total from a season ago, an aspect of his game that he will need to clean up moving forward.