After starting Big 12 play with a 2-0 record, West Virginia fell to the Iowa State Cyclones at home last Saturday night in a highly anticipated matchup. Now, with a loss in conference play providing another barrier to goal of claiming their first-ever Big 12 Championship, another tough test is coming for the Mountaineers as No. 17 Kansas State visits Morgantown on Saturday night for homecoming weekend.
While last week’s game with the Cyclones may have received more media attention and pre-game hype, this matchup with Kansas State may be more important for the WVU football program. In addition to Head Coach Neal Brown taking some heat for his team’s record and comments made following the loss to Iowa State, quarterback Garrett Greene has been under some scrutiny as well.
But more important, the reality is that with a loss, West Virginia will fall to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play, and will have suffered consecutive home losses in primetime. -- that could put a huge damper on what was a highly anticipated season.
With a win, however, West Virginia can collect a big win against a ranked opponent and improve to 3-1 in a Big 12 Conference that is increasingly difficult to figure out. A 3-1 start to conference play would do wonders regarding Brown’s job security and the public image surrounding the program. A 3-1 record allows you to remain in the conversation regarding teams with a shot to make it to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship.
And in order to secure that big win, there is one Mountaineer player in particular who needs to pull through for his team -- that would be starting quarterback Garrett Greene.
In the 2024 season, Greene is completing just 57% of his passes. That is just a marginal difference from where he finished the 2023 season at just over 53%. Perhaps most important is through 3 conference games this season, Greene has thrown 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, including 2 last week against Iowa State.
Two notable bright spots for Greene in conference play have been his ability to run and his ability to conduct the two-minute offense, particularly against Kansas. Greene’s running has been consistent, rushing for 87 yards twice, and 86 yards once in 3 games. Trailing Kansas by two scores late in the 4th quarter, Greene engineered two impressive touchdown drives that allowed WVU to come out on top of the Jayhawks. Aside from these two things, Greene has not delivered particularly well and yet WVU is 2-1 in Big 12 play.
With their backs against the wall in some senses, WVU may need a special performance from Greene if they want to knock off Kansas State. The primary area of Greene’s game that needs to be immediately addressed is his decision-making. While he racked up over 80 yards on the ground, he left some more yardage on the field by opting to force throws into tight windows. Greene needs to rely on the aspects of his game that have allowed him to be the starter at WVU. If an opportunity to scramble for a first down presents itself, Greene needs to take it rather than forcing a tough throw.