Neal Brown addresses if he considered swapping Garrett Greene for Nicco Marchiol vs. Iowa State

It was a sloppy second half for West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene in the Mountaineers’ 28-16 loss to Iowa State on Saturday. On back-to-back drives, Greene threw interceptions. After the game, a reporter asked WVU head coach Neal Brown if he ever considered subbing in Nicco Marchiol for Greene. Brown didn’t mince words on the issue.

“Why would we do that?” Brown said. “Nicco is going to be a really good player here, but Garrett Greene’s our starter, and I believe that you play through some issues, and we’ll do the same with Nicco when he’s the starter.”

“He’s a great player and he played well last week. The turnovers were an issue. Like I said, one of them was a bad decision. One of them was a terrible non-call. I don’t have a quick hook with quarterbacks. I don’t believe in that. I don’t think that’s ever the right thing to do and we won’t do it when Nicco’s the starter and weren’t going to do it tonight.”

In the loss, Greene completed 18-of-his-32 pass attempts for 206 yards and a touchdown while throwing two interceptions. Despite Greene’s inconsistent showing through the air, he found success in the ground game, tallying 87 yards on 10 carries.

Turnovers have been an issue for Greene this season. Through six games, the fifth-year senior has thrown eight touchdowns and six interceptions. For reference, Greene only threw four interceptions all of last season.

While turning toward a backup may be enticing in a game like the loss on Saturday, Nicco Marchiol hasn’t proven to be any better than Greene. In his limited action on the field last season, Marchiol threw two touchdowns compared to three interceptions.

This year, Marchiol has thrown a touchdown and a pick. Further, he isn’t as much of a rushing threat as Greene. In short, Brown doesn’t plan on giving up on Garrett Greene anytime soon.

The Mountaineers will have a major opportunity this weekend to bounce back when they square off against No. 17 Kansas State at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on FOX.