Coming in to the season, there are four quarterbacks on the WVU roster. Well, there’s more than that if you count the guys who switched positions. But out of those four, there are three players who could be the Mountaineers’ signal caller come August: Paul Millard, Ford Childress and Clint Trickett.
Starting off, we have Millard. He’s a junior quarterback who’s always been a backup since arriving on campus. After sitting behind Geno Smith, you’d think he’d have picked up something. It doesn’t seem that way. He has three career touchdowns and three career interceptions, with only 211 career yards. He’s also only completed just fewer than fifty percent of his passes. To put it blunty, he hasn’t been outstanding.
Next, there’s Childress. This Texas native had a lot of hype coming out of high school. He didn’t waste any time making headlines around campus last spring when he showed up. And I don’t mean that in a good way. He got a DUI before he even made it to the Gold-Blue game last spring and wasn’t able to play. Childress has been seen as Smith’s predecessor in many people’s minds, but he didn’t look much better than Millard this spring. Coaches have said that the quarterback race is the tightest they’ve seen. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
Last but not least, Trickett. Trickett is a Florida State transfer who saw himself losing a quarterback battle down in the Sunshine State and decided to take his talents elsewhere. Trickett threw for 947 yards, seven touchdowns, and four interceptions over his career at FSU. He can come in and play right away for the Mountaineers, and will likely have two years of eligibility. Trickett has made it known that he was looking to transfer to a place where he could come in and start, and he chose WVU. Does this move show us who the QB will be in 2013?
Personally, I think Trickett will come in and be named the starter. I don’t think Dana Holgorsen would take the chance on a guy if he didn’t seeing them making an instant impact. With that, I also believe the passing game will be much different this season with the talent that’s in the backfield. Holgorsen is known as an offensive juggernaut and I don’t think that will change. It wouldn’t even surprise me to see these quarterbacks split time.
Only time will tell.
