THE SHOTGUN THROWDOWN: Jarret Doege or Garrett Green?

Welcome, By-Godders, to The Shotgun Throwdown, WVU’s best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor, and daily distractions.

TWO QUARTERBACKS, TWO STYLES

West Virginia football fans have been debating for months about the team’s quarterback situation. Some fans think that the Mountaineer offense should stick with the experienced starter in Jarret Doege, but others think the team should move forward with the younger Garrett Greene. WVU head coach Neal Brown has decided to use both quarterbacks, and it seems like a happy medium that most Mountaineer fans can support.

Brown addressed the quarterback situation this week by saying, “We’ll continue to play both and continue to have plans for both.” It appears that Doege will remain WVU’s starting quarterback. The redshirt senior is more of a pocket passer and can handle the short to medium range passes, but he struggles with the deep ball and is not a threat in the running game. As for Greene, it looks like he will see playing time situationally throughout the season. The redshirt freshman is definitely a running threat which gives him the ability to improvise when flushed out of the pocket, but he has yet to show a consistent ability to pass the ball in games.

Using Greene as a compliment to Doege, as opposed to a replacement, seems like the optimal solution at this time. Making opposing defenses plan for both quarterbacks will likely give the Mountaineers a strategic advantage, although it will lead to more preparation of WVU’s end, too. Coach Brown noted that, “It’s probably more difficult for the defenses, but there’s some challenges when you’re putting together a game plan.”

MOUNTAINEERS EARN NATIONAL HONORS

After a breakout game in West Virginia’s statement win over #15 Virginia Tech, redshirt sophomore Jared Bartlett has been named the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week. The bandit linebacker had a career-high five tackles and three sacks, while also forcing and recovering a fumble, to earn the national award this week.

Bartlett wasn’t the only Mountaineer to be honored nationally this week. WVU safety Alonzo Addae was named the Lott IMPACT Trophy Player of the Week. The sixth-season senior had 10 tackles, including four solo stops, and a sack in the 27-21 win over the Hokies.

WEST VIRGINIA ROUNDUP

• The #4 West Virginia men’s soccer team remains undefeated after beating Dayton at home on Tuesday. Senior forward Yoran Popovic scored the opening goal of the match midway through the first half. WVU didn’t score again until the 77th minute when redshirt sophomore defender Kyle Lehnert capitalized on an assist from fifth-year midfielder Pau Jimenez Albelda. The Flyers also gave up an own goal in the final minutes of the game to give the Mountaineers a 3-0 win.

• Linebacker David Long Jr. had the best performance of the six former Mountaineers in action in the NFL this week. Long had six tackles in the Tennessee Titans’ win over the Seattle Seahawks. Fellow linebacker Kyzir White made five tackles for the Los Angeles Chargers.

AROUND THE BIG 12

• A couple of rivalry games will start Week 4 for the Big 12 Conference. Big 12 foes Texas and Texas Tech will face off at noon on ABC. The Longhorns are favored by more than a touchdown in this game. Across the Lone Star state, TCU will face out-of-conference opponent SMU on FS1 at noon. These undefeated teams will be competing for the Iron Skillet in the 100th game in this rivalry.
• Headlining the Big 12’s night games are West Virginia’s matchup at #4 Oklahoma, as well as #25 Kansas State’s trip to Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers are 17-point underdogs in their game against the Sooners, which will be nationally televised on ABC at 7:30 PM ET. The Wildcats and Cowboys are both coming into their game undefeated, but OSU is favored by six points at home.

AROUND THE NCAA

• The biggest game of Week 4 is the SEC matchup between #7 Texas A&M and #16 Arkansas. The Aggies and Razorbacks are coming into the conference opener undefeated. A&M is a narrow favorite, but Arkansas has already showed they can win big games this season. This game will be played at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and will be nationally televised on CBS at 3:30 PM ET.
• FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff has another headline game this week with #12 Notre Dame meeting #18 Wisconsin. Despite being undefeated, the Fighting Irish are underdogs in this neutral site game that will be played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.

ODDS AND ENDS

• UFC star Conor McGregor was recently involved in a confrontation with Machine Gun Kelly on the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards. McGregor deservedly roasted for throwing a really bad punch at MGK outside the VMAs, but it turns out that he is worse at throwing baseballs than he is at throwing punches. When throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field, McGregor almost hit a fan in the stands with his wild pitch.

• With less than two weeks to go in the MLB regular season, many teams are pushing for Wild Card spots. Check out who’s in and the key upcoming series in this breakdown.

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