Quick Hits: Neal Brown praises Marchiol, balanced offense

The West Virginia football team made its first Big 12 trip to the desert this weekend, and it now heads back to the Eastern Time Zone after a win over the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson.

Here are the biggest takeaways from head coach Neal Brown’s postgame comments.

Back in the W column

WVU avoided its fourth losing streak of three games or more in the Neal Brown era with a win Saturday night.

“This four-game period has been really tough, and we wanted to be better than 2-2, but we went 2-2, and now that sets us up for a November stretch,” Brown said.

The Mountaineers now enter their second off week of the season before they head to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats in two weeks.

“After a really tough stretch and [with] our guys’ backs against the wall, a lot of negativity, a lot of adversity, and we come out here without three of four captains…but we come and just fight, and I think it’s a credit to our guys,” Brown said.

Marchiol’s performance

With WVU quarterback Garrett Greene missing Saturday’s game following the injury he suffered in the first half of the Kansas State game, redshirt sophomore quarterback Nicco Marchiol made his first start of the season.

Marchiol completed 18 of 22 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start of the season. He also added 39 yards on the ground.

“He’s a so much better player than the last time he started,” Brown said.

Struggles against the pass

After WVU achieved a 31-13 lead, Arizona stormed back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to make it a one-score game. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 133 yards and scored both of the touchdowns.

“We’ve got to be better against the pass,” he said. “We simply just have not been good enough.”

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