Neal Brown's Bold Statement About Garrett Greene Raised Some Eyebrows
Garrett Greene completed 16-of-27 passes in the Week 1 loss to Penn State but didn't get much of an opportunity to really take some shots downfield. Greene's lone deep ball was a completion to Devin Carter, which was severely underthrown. If he puts it out in front of Carter, it's a touchdown.
Since the game, Mountaineer fans have been wondering why Neal Brown didn't get vertical with the passing game. Many of the routes were screens, bubbles, slants, and just about everything you can imagine under five yards. This led folks to believe that Brown had little faith in Greene putting the ball in the air, but apparently, that's not the case. In fact, Brown made a rather bold statement during his radio show on Thursday night, expressing his trust in the junior quarterback.
"Garrett can throw the football. I've said this in the postgame presser it's like there's this feeling that he can't - that he's limited. He's not. He's got as strong an arm as maybe anybody besides Joe Milton that's playing college football. He throws a really tight spiral. What he's got to work on is his feet and his accuracy on some of the underneath throws - the screens. And he's got to take something off the ball. Sometimes when he gets excited, he throws everything as a fastball. You got to throw a changeup every once in a while."
My question is if Brown has so much confidence in his arm, why not take some shots? You have to hit on some explosive plays in order to even have a chance to pull off the upset against a team as talented as Penn State. Will we see more downfield passing this week? Yes, absolutely. But next week is the true test. If Brown still doesn't push the ball downfield against Pitt, then it's hard to believe he thinks Greene gives this team the best chance to win.
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