Jarret Doege's Career Trajectory and 2021 Expectations

Looking back at quarterback Jarret Doege's college football career and what to expect during the 2021 season.

Jarret Doege has seen an interesting career through 4 seasons in college football. He started in the MAC before moving to the Big 12 a couple of years ago, finding mixed results at times. Throughout this article, we’ll look at his career trajectory and what we should expect for the 2021 season.

As a recruit

Doege performed well in high school, earning District 5-2A-II offensive MVP honors as a sophomore in 2014. He followed that season by being named the District 5-2A offensive MVP as a junior in 2015.

Out of high school, 247 Sports labeled Doege a 3-star recruit. He was interested in seven schools, receiving an offer from only Bowling Green State University. Ultimately, the pro-style quarterback committed to the Falcons.

Bowling Green

Doege started his Bowling Green career as a backup to James Morgan. He saw his first game action in a blowout loss to Northwestern, then drew his first start against Middle Tennessee State the next week. Doege was injured on a trick play against Akron the next week, and he didn’t return until October 31st against Kent State. He started the final three games of his freshman season.

Overall, Doege posted 1,381 yards with 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on 188 pass attempts. He completed 63.8% of his attempts, posting 6.4% touchdown and 1.6% interceptions rates. More importantly, Doege flashed at the end of his season, throwing for 820 yards with 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions over his final 3 games.

He was the unquestioned starter as a sophomore in 2018. In a healthy season, Doege accounted for 96.8% of Bowling Greens pass attempts. He threw for 2,660 yards with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 389 attempts. On extended volume, Doege’s touchdown rate increased to 6.9%, although his interception rate also increased to 3.1%.

The budding sophomore flashed the ability to play in the Power Five, recording 396 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions against Oregon and Maryland.

West Virginia

Doege would test his skills in the Power Five, transferring to West Virginia for the 2019 season. Doege took over late in the season for Austin Kendall and in his first action for WVU, the former Bowling Green product threw for 119 yards and one touchdown on 17 attempts. He started the final 3 games of the season, totaling 818 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions on 120 attempts in his first season as a Mountaineer.

Most importantly, Doege proved he could play in the Big 12. He completed 65.8% of his pass attempts, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt. He recorded a respectable 5.8% touchdown rate to go along with a 2.5% interception rate.

Doege’s true test came as West Virginia’s unquestioned starter in 2020. He flashed in 10 games, although he didn’t pass with flying colors. Overall, he recorded 2,587 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions on 374 attempts.

Doege’s best trait in 2020 was his ability to protect the ball. His interception rate dipped to 1.2% on extended volume. He also posted a respectable 63.9% completion percentage and 6.9 yards per attempt in 2020. Doege struggled to find the end zone, though. His touchdown rate dropped to 3.7%, which is significantly lower than any other year of his career.

2021 expectations

After being benched in favor of Kendall in the Liberty Bowl, Doege will enter the 2021 season as West Virginia’s clear-cut starter with redshirt freshman Garrett Greene and true freshman Will Crowder behind him. What can we expect from the veteran quarterback, though?

Doege will be a safe option for West Virginia. His completion percentage will likely sit between 62-65%. His yards per completion should sit slightly below 7.0, although it could jump a bit if he starts taking more shots downfield.

I expect the difference to take place in his touchdowns and interceptions. Doege’s touchdown rate should increase to over 5%, and it’s reasonable to believe it will jump to over 6% in his final season. With that being said, I expect his interception rate to increase slightly, as well.

It’s worth noting that West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said Doege was the team’s most improved player during the offseason. He also wants more explosive plays on offense in 2021. Furthermore, Doege ranked 23rd in Sporting News’ Top 25 quarterbacks for this season.

The senior should lead West Virginia to another bowl game, throwing for 2,500+ yards and 20+ touchdowns for the first time since 2018. 

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