WVU football quarterback Nicco Marchiol won’t be back in action anytime soon.
The Mountaineers’ lost Marchiol, who started the first four games this season and led a Backyard Brawl comeback win but was benched in several games, after the loss to Kansas. He came to the coaching staff about some nagging foot pain that had been bothering him this season, and missed last week’s game against Utah. Now, head coach Rich Rodriguez has another update, indicating that Marchiol has been seeing doctors in Arizona (his home state) and that he’ll be out of commission for awhile
“He’s going to be out for several weeks,” Rodriguez said on his radio show on Monday night.
#WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said that quarterback Nicco Marchiol remains out in the short term due to foot issue.
— Keenan Cummings (@rivalskeenan) September 29, 2025
What Does Marchiol’s Absence Mean For The Mountaineers?
First and foremost, it means for the moment the quarterback competition has narrowed to four players. It also means it's hard to tell what comes next at the position, as Marchiol seemed to be the only quarterback who had a true advantage over the others from the coaching staff’s perspective – and the action against Utah didn’t provide a clear answer.
Jaylen Henderson certainly didn’t seem like the answer and was benched by halftime, and Khalil Wilkins provided the offense “a spark” according to Rodriguez, but he’s also young and was far from perfect against the Utes.
“I think he’ll get more comfortable each week,” Rodriguez said of Wilkins on Monday night.
Scotty Fox, meanwhile, has seen just a few snaps in garbage time since his back-to-back interceptions against Pitt, and Max Brown looked good on two carries in the fourth quarter before seemingly leaving the game banged up. So where does WVU go in a short week leading to a Friday night showdown with a Top 25 BYU team that kicks off at 10:30 PM EST? Rich Rodriguez, as he has many times this year, said he wants to see how things shake out in practice. But he also might know more now than he’s letting on.
“We have an idea as a staff the way the rotation is going to work,” Rodriguez said.