In a dispiriting loss to Penn State in week one, West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene did not play up to par from what many fans expected.
The signal-caller rushed for just half a yard in an attempt to finish with five rushing yards on 10 attempts after averaging over 64 rushing yards per game last season. On top of that, he lost the football multiple times, whether on a mishandled snap or just ball security issues.
“Not good enough. And I love the kid, and he’ll bounce back. He’ll play way better tomorrow or Saturday, I should say, this coming week. But he didn’t play good enough and he knows it and nobody’s more disappointed than him,” West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said of Greene’s performance against Penn State. “I believe in the kid, I believe in what he’s about, I believe in his preparation. But he just didn’t perform well enough today, and he’ll be back, and he’ll play better, and next time we’re on this type of stage, he’ll play a lot better football.”
Greene took accountability for mishandling the snaps and was straightforward, talking about how he felt the team performed overall. However, he knows there is a lot more football in front of them and as a leader, he is going to look to help steer his team in the right direction.
“Everything we want is still in front of us. We’re still a good football team and they’re (Penn State) a good football team and they whipped our asses today,” Greene said. “It’s kind of on the leaders of the team to right the ship and understand that our goals of playing in Dallas (for the Big 12 Championship) and doing that are still in front of us. It’s on us (leaders) to get the guys going.”
It all starts with a bounce-back performance against a good FCS team in UAlbany for Greene and the Mountaineers. Although their season didn’t start on a high note, they’re not going to let one performance define them in 2024.
“We’re not going to hit he panic button. We know we didn’t execute at a high enough level. I know I didn’t play good enough to to beat a team like that,” Greene said.
After Albany, West Virginia travels to take on Pitt in the Backyard Brawl and then begins conference play subsequent to that. Kickoff from Milan Puskar Stadium is set for 6 p.m. EST, with the game being streamed to ESPN+.
