Garrett Greene: Overturned call "eliminates" open-field slide from repertoire

It's not been an uncommon refrain from West Virginia fans since Garrett Greene inherited the starting quarterback role for the Mountaineers: "He's a great runner, but I wish he'd slide more often."

Greene is one of the most dangerous running quarterbacks in the nation as he proved on Saturday as he contributed 86 yards and one touchdown on the ground as a dominant WVU ground attack powered it's way to a blowout victory.

However, his tendency to take the hit while running instead of opting to slide makes plenty of WVU fans nervous, as it could easily result in the team being without their starter in case of an injury -- we've seen it happen both in 2023 as well as for a brief spell early against Oklahoma State today.

However, Greene opted for the safe option later in the game following his injury scare against the Cowboys and it cost him dearly. On a fourth down conversion attempt, Greene bobbled the snap but found nothing but open field to the right side of the pocket and scrambled. He believed he had easily gained the yardage needed for the first down, which was also the initial impression foe the officiating crew and the fans watching at home.

However, the play came under review and ended up being overturned and ruled a turnover on downs, as it was determined Greene had initiated the slide a yard short of the first down marker, and when a quarterback chooses to slide, he is ruled down as soon as the motion begins.

"I thought it was beyond the sticks, but that's my mess up," Greene told the press after the game.

The veteran signal caller also acknowledged that in a game with a closer score, it could have been a disastrous mistake for the Mountaineers which could potentially cost them a matchup.

"In a tighter ball game, that could be the difference," he added.

Greene followed up by delivering what he expects to be bad news for his head coach Neal Brown, as well as more conservative fans, indicating that the call discourages him from wanting to utilize a quarterback slide in the future.

"Coach Brown won't like to hear this, but that probably eliminates the open-field slide," Greene said.

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While it was technically the correct call to make, it does pose the question if the rule on when a quarterback is ruled down when sliding should be revisited. The quarterback slide rule exists to protect quarterbacks, and there was plenty of talk regarding the how dangerous it was a few years back when Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett faked a slide to his advantage.

One could argue that this type of call is also dangerous, as it could encourage quarterbacks to not want to utilize the slide when running the ball near the first down marker or the endzone, particularly in a close game. Greene confirmed as much for himself. Sadly, this could lead to more quarterbacks avoiding a maneuver designed to be available for their own safety and suffering more injuries in the long run. Let us know your thoughts on the call.