Rocco Becht Admits Little History with WVU, Happy to Leave WVU with a 'Dub'

The Iowa State quarterback proved a point in Saturday night's game versus West Virginia.
Ben Queen-Imagn Images

West Virginia had a chance to land a legacy recruit at a premier position, but essentially said, "No thanks," and opted for another option.

Big 12 foe Iowa State saw the talent in quarterback Rocco Becht, the son of legendary Mountaineer tight end Anthony Becht, and eventually landed him in the class of 2022.

That same class, WVU signed Nicco Marchiol and to their defense, he was a much higher-rated recruit coming out of high school. That said, the Mountaineers could have spent a little more time digging into Becht.

Marchiol is still awaiting his turn in Morgantown, so it is a little unfair to judge the WVU staff on whether or not they took the right quarterback in that class. But after last night's win over West Virginia, Becht was grinning from ear to ear despite not making a big deal out of playing his dad's alma mater.

“I don’t really have a history with them, to be honest, but my dad does," Becht said in his postgame press conference on Saturday. "I love him and I’m grateful that he was able to get honored tonight and that we were able to get this dub here in Morgantown. That’s all I wanted tonight was to come in here and get a win no matter what my stats were. I just wanted to come out with a dub.”

Becht finished the game completing 18-of-26 pass attempts for 265 yards and a score. For the icing on the cake, he completed a deep ball at the end of the game that allowed Iowa State to take a knee to run out the rest of the clock.

Losing the game is one thing, but to have the kid you turned a cold shoulder to have an efficient night on the day you honored his dad made it feel like one big party for the Becht's. Now, the Cyclones are 6-0 and inside the top 10 checking in at No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers are once again sputtering and will have to dig deep and find three wins somewhere on the schedule just to become bowl-eligible.

It's unfair to pit Marchiol and Becht head to head for various reasons, but if his tenure as the WVU starting quarterback doesn't lead to anything significant and Iowa State continues to make noise nationally over the next couple of seasons, this will be just another thing the Mountaineer fanbase will point to when it comes to the downturn of the program under the current regime.

And of course, not every WVU legacy will follow in their father's footsteps, but not heavily pursuing Becht, and seeing him have such great success within your conference and against you is a painful feeling for Mountaineer fans.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Betting Odds for West Virginia vs. Kansas State

Why So Many High Snaps? Neal Brown Explains Reasoning for Sticking with Brandon Yates

Big 12 Power Rankings - Week 8

Between The Eers: The Morning After Iowa State


Published |Modified
Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

Publisher of Mountaineers Now on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. Lead recruiting expert and co-host of Between the Eers, Walk Thru GameDay Show, Mountaineers Now Postgame Show, and In the Gun Podcast.