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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (�����Ƶ News) �����Ƶ� Over the past three football seasons, Leddie Brown has probably been the most abused running back in the nation.

Much was made of the beating that quarterback Jarret Doege took as the offensive line went through growing pains ... pains that most often were inflicted upon the West Virginia quarterback whose escape ability was sorely limited.

But with it. Brown was the Mountaineer ball carrier who may not have led the nation in yards per carry but certainly was the lead in bruises per carry. Despite gaining 2,442 yards in those three years on 429 carries, he had to make sure his collision insurance was up to date every time he was handed the football.

He never won the Heisman Trophy but he should have been awarded a Purple Heart, considering there were times when it felt as though it were one on 11 as fought for yardage inside.

With him gone, head coach Neal Brown and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell will rethink the running game and believe that despite two straight 1,000-yard seasons from Brown, they may wind up better off as four players compete for playing time.

"I like the (running back) room. I really do," Brown said as spring practice opened this week and was asked his plans for the position. "I think that's a question we've been asked a lot. We're going to miss Leddie Brown. He was a very consistent player for us, but this is the best room we've had from the top down talent-wise."

The natural progression has his backup from last season, Tony Mathis, moving up into his spot. Mathis got a chance late in the year, had a 118-yard game against Kansas, and gained 53 with five receptions as Brown sat out the bowl game against Minnesota.

"He finished the season really well and then had as good an off-season as anyone in the program," Brown said.

"I really like the leadership Tony Mathis is showing. The game has really slowed down for him. He's calm, confident. Not only running the football but his route running is really improved. That was something he wasn't asked to do at Cedartown. His pass protection is better."

But Justin Johnson, who dipped his toe into the waters last year, is also back and has a strong resume while a newcomer, Jaylen Anderson, who had to battle to qualify academically, has come in and really caught Brown's eye as a player he might be able to do a lot with.

"Jaylen Anderson is extremely talented. He got a late start. He's trying to play himself into condition because he's a little heavy. When you all get to see him, you will like him. He's a natural runner. He looks effortless out there and he's got high football intelligence. He's going to have a great future."

And there is a wild card in the bunch, that being Lyn-J Dixon, a transfer from Clemson who is a different style entirely.

"Lyn-J Dixon, he can run. He's fast. He's a home run hitter," Brown said. "He has to learn what our expectation are for our running backs are here because they are a little bit different than what he was asked to do for them at Clemson. It was a little bit fast for him today, not because of the speed of the game. He's just eager.

"You like to see that. He really likes to show he can do. He can hit the home run. All four of those guys give us a chance."

The breakaway threat that Dixon brings is something that's been lacking in the Mountaineer offense for a while.

Now it's up to Harrell to figure out how to use them all. He's only had them for two practices, but he seems to be genuinely impressed with what he's seen to date.

"They've done a really great job and had a great two days. One thing I like about all those guys is they are really disciplined and do what they are coached to do. Coach Chad Scott does a great job on things, for instance ball security," Harrell said.

"It can be an issue. If you turn the ball over, you will lose games. It's something we've tried to emphasis and if you watch those guys, it's like, 'Man, that's exactly what we taught.'"

They also have stressed discipline with the reads they are making.

"Tuesday, we worked on outside zone and today on inside zone," Harrell said. "Tuesday, they did a real good job. Like a quarterback has reads, so does a running back and they did a good job of seeing things, being disciplined and hitting where they are supposed to hit.

"Obviously, we don't have pads on and the game changes when we do, for two days in shorts and helmets they've made a lot of big plays for us."

Harrell also enjoyed the way Chad Scott was trying to sell the Mountaineer quarterbacks on the receiving skills his receivers have.

"Coach Scott was telling the quarterbacks in practice that they have to throw his guys the ball more. Yesterday every time they touched the ball it was an efficient play. Some of that's trying to campaign for more balls for the running backs, which every position coach does," Harrell said.

"But when he said it, I was thinking that's a good campaign message. It was true. Every time they did throw the ball something good was happening. They caught good out of the backfield today. When they caught the ball something good happened."

The running backs approach to the game and to practice also has caught Harrell's eye.

"They are coachable, they just put their head down and work. Because of that, I think they are going to be good. If you show up with that mentality, you have a chance to be good at any position."

With no proven quarterback, it could be that the running game will have to be relied on heavily and both Brown and Harrell think they have the mix that can make that an asset, not a liability.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. �����Ƶ� After starting the past 26 straight games for West Virginia, quarterback Jarret Doege is going to use his final season of college eligibility at Western Kentucky.

Thus �����ƵU is searching for a new starting QB, and it heads into the spring semester with three scholarship players on the roster at that position �����Ƶ� Goose Crowder, Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol.

Quarterbacks returning �����Ƶ� Matt Cavallaro (Jr.), Jackson Crist (RFr.), Goose Crowder (RFr.), Garrett Greene (Soph.), Jake Robbins (RFr.).

Departing �����Ƶ� Jarret Doege (Sr.)

Newcomer �����Ƶ� Nicco Marchiol (Fr.)

Doege received all the starts and 95% of the game reps at the quarterback position for West Virginia since late in the 2019 season.

In that time, he completed 590 of 911 passes (64.8%), accounting for 6,453 yards with 40 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He is third in �����ƵU history in career completions, fourth in attempts and fifth in yards.

�����Ƶ�He�����Ƶ�s a great kid and comes from a great family,�����Ƶ� said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown of Doege during a recent interview on the �����Ƶ�MetroNews Statewide Sportsline.�����Ƶ� �����Ƶ�Jarret weathered more negativity (on social media) than I thought was fair. He handled that negativity, and he handled himself with class. He�����Ƶ�s a great kid, and he wants to play his super senior year at another place. I think that�����Ƶ�s the best opportunity for him, and I hope he finishes strong.

�����Ƶ�He gave us everything he had,�����Ƶ� continued Brown. �����Ƶ�Are there some games we wished he�����Ƶ�d played better, that he wished he�����Ƶ�d played better? Absolutely. But you won�����Ƶ�t find a better person or one who tried harder than Jarret.�����Ƶ�

Doege�����Ƶ�s departure leaves Crowder, Greene and Marchiol as the top competitors to replace Doege, though walk-ons Matt Cavallaro, Jackson Crist and Jake Robbins also will get reps this spring.

Certainly Marchiol enters West Virginia with a great deal of acclaim, being rated a four-star prospect by most scouting services. But as a true freshman, he�����Ƶ�s obviously less experienced than the other Mountaineers he�����Ƶ�ll battle for QB playing time.

Greene, a third-year sophomore, and Crowder, a redshirt freshman, are far from grizzled veterans themselves, but they have spent more time in the program and have at least seen some game action, unlike Marchiol, who just enrolled at �����ƵU on Jan. 10 in time for the start of the spring semester.

Greene has the most game experience of any of the Mountaineer quarterback candidates. The 5-foot-11, 193-pound sophomore-to-be from Tallahassee, Florida, played in two games as a true freshman in 2020, though he maintained his redshirt status that year. He saw action in 11 of West Virginia�����Ƶ�s 13 games this past season, working throughout that time as Doege�����Ƶ�s backup.

A very elusive runner, Greene was used as a change-of-pace QB in 2021 to replace the less-mobile Doege on occasion. After rushing for 40 yards on six carries in 2020, he got many more chances this past season. He had 48 rushing attempts for a total of 297 yards, which was the third-most on the team behind only running backs Leddie Brown (1,065 yards) and Tony Mathis (312 yards).

Greene�����Ƶ�s average of 6.2 yards per rushing attempt was the best on the squad, and he scored four touchdowns. He eclipsed 50 rushing yards in three different games �����Ƶ� 98 on 14 attempts against LIU, 55 on 10 attempts against Baylor and 69 on two attempts against TCU, which included a 67-yard run, the second-longest offensive play by a Mountaineer in 2021. Greene�����Ƶ�s opportunities went down significantly in the final six games, though, as he had just eight rushing attempts for a net of -2 yards in that time.

Greene has been more effective with his feet than his arm so far in his time at �����ƵU. While he has 393 career rushing yards, he�����Ƶ�s thrown for just 171. He completed three of four passes for 24 yards in 2020, and then in 2021, he connected on 16 of 26 throws for 147 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He had just six pass attempts and four completions for 24 yards in West Virginia�����Ƶ�s final seven games of the �����Ƶ�21 season.

Certainly, if Greene wants to win the Mountaineers�����Ƶ� starting quarterback job, he has to put the dual in dual-threat. Obviously, his ability to run is a huge asset, but in Neal Brown�����Ƶ�s offense, Greene must become a more effective passer. An excellent baseball player in high school, Greene has the pure arm strength necessary to get the job done, but he must become more consistent with his decision-making and accuracy if he�����Ƶ�s going to be a successful major college quarterback.

�����Ƶ�Garrett played a little bit this year and made some strides,�����Ƶ� noted Brown, whose 2021 club finished 6-7 after an 18-6 Guaranteed Rate Bowl loss to Minnesota. �����Ƶ�He needs to make some strides; he had some ups and downs. He�����Ƶ�s got to be more consistent.

�����Ƶ�He needs to continue to get bigger, so he can withstand what we go through with the type of schedule we play against 11 Power 5 teams.

�����Ƶ�He�����Ƶ�s got to do a better job in the pass game of being consistent with his accuracy.�����Ƶ�

A 6-foot-2, 208-pound product of Gardendale, Alabama, Crowder got a jumpstart on his college career by enrolling at �����ƵU in January of 2021. An honorable mention all-state player in Alabama, he threw for 2,132 yards, while completing 158 of 255 passes his senior season in high school. He also rushed for another 586 yards on 104 attempts that year in leading Gardendale to a 9-3 record.

Enrolling in January of �����Ƶ�21 at �����ƵU allowed Crowder to participate in spring practice last year, as well as racking up more practice reps this past fall. He did see action in two different games in 2021. His only passing opportunities came against LIU when he completed both of his two throws for a total of 28 yards.

Crowder certainly isn�����Ƶ�t as elusive a runner as Greene, but Goose�����Ƶ�s passing ability, though only on display a couple of times in games, was often praised by Brown throughout the year. He definitely figures to compete for the starting quarterback job.

�����Ƶ�Goose is a guy we�����Ƶ�re excited about,�����Ƶ� stated Brown. �����Ƶ�He�����Ƶ�s a dual-threat kid as well. He�����Ƶ�s calm, cool, nothing bothers him. He has great leadership skills. I want to see how he handles this winter and spring.�����Ƶ�

Greene and Crowder have spent two and one years at �����ƵU, respectively, learning Brown�����Ƶ�s offense, but they figure to get significant competition this spring from Marchiol, a true freshman who will be trying to make history at West Virginia.

While true freshmen quarterbacks have played in games for the Mountaineers, the last to start a varsity contest was Dan Kendra nearly a half-century ago. Kendra, who developed into a very good quarterback in his final three seasons at �����ƵU, got his first start in the 1974 season finale during his true freshman year. He completed four of eight passes for 75 yards at Virginia Tech in a 22-21 Mountaineer loss that was part of an injury-filled 4-7 campaign for West Virginia, which started four different quarterbacks that year �����Ƶ� Kendra, Chuck Fiorante, Ben Williams and Kirk Lewis. Since Kendra in �����Ƶ�74, there have been plenty of true freshmen Mountaineer quarterbacks who have played in games, including Oliver Luck, Geno Smith, Paul Millard, Greene and Crowder, but none started a game.

There have also been redshirt freshmen quarterbacks who started, like Major Harris, Rasheed Marshall and Pat White, but each had already spent a complete year at �����ƵU before finally receiving playing and starting opportunities. Before Kendra, you have to go back to Fred Wyant in 1952 to find the previous true freshman to start at QB for West Virginia, though college freshmen were ineligible to participate in varsity games from 1953-72.

Thus in attempting to win the starting quarterback job at �����ƵU, the true freshman Marchiol is trying to do something that has been very rare at West Virginia.

Of course, the 6-foot-3, 218-pound four-star prospect from Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, comes to the Mountaineers with extremely high credentials. The Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year this past season, he threw for 8,310 yards and 91 touchdowns in his four high school seasons, which also included two years at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado.

�����Ƶ a senior at Hamilton, he led the Huskies to an 11-1 record and a spot in the Arizona Open Division state semifinals. Along the way, he passed for a school-record 2,690 yards and 37 touchdowns, while completing 203 of his 273 attempts (74.4%). He also rushed for an additional 369 yards and six TDs in 2021. Rated the No. 10 pocket passer in the nation this past year by ESPN, Marchiol is also athletic enough/tough enough to be a three-time state champion wrestler.

Now he brings all those ingredients to West Virginia, having picked the Mountaineers over a who�����Ƶ�s who offer list that also included Arizona State, Florida State, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan and a wide range of others.

Certainly, Marchiol came to �����ƵU to win the starting job, and he�����Ƶ�ll get an opportunity to do so his very first year with the Mountaineers. The question is will his inexperience hold him back, because he definitely would seem to have the talent needed to be an excellent major college quarterback.

�����Ƶ�Nicco is one of the highest-profile recruits we�����Ƶ�ve had here in a long time, especially at the quarterback position,�����Ƶ� said Brown. �����Ƶ�He�����Ƶ�s got an �����Ƶ�It�����Ƶ� factor. He�����Ƶ�s a dual-threat kid and has all the intangibles. It�����Ƶ�s just a matter of how quickly he can come along.

�����Ƶ�I always say this �����Ƶ� you have to be careful with young quarterbacks,�����Ƶ� added �����ƵU�����Ƶ�s head coach. �����Ƶ�You don�����Ƶ�t want to play them before they�����Ƶ�re ready. If you play them before they�����Ƶ�re ready, it can really harm their career.�����Ƶ�

West Virginia also has three walk-on quarterbacks on its roster who will get reps this spring in their attempts to move up the depth chart. Cavallaro (5-11, 200 lbs., Jr.) enrolled at �����ƵU in January of 2020 after leading Lackawanna (Pa.) College to a runner-up finish in the National Junior College Athletic �����Ƶsociation the previous fall.

He completed 116 of 227 passes for 1,754 yards and 23 TDs in that 10-1 season for the Falcons. Before his one season at Lackawanna, the Matamoras, Pennsylvania, native played a year and a half of junior hockey in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Cavallaro hasn�����Ƶ�t played in a game in his two seasons at �����ƵU, but he�����Ƶ�s made impressions in practice that should earn him opportunities for significant reps this spring.

Crist (6-4, 207 lbs., RFr.) and Jake Robbins (6-1, 200 lbs., RFr.) are the other walk-on quarterbacks currently on the Mountaineer roster who also will be involved in spring drills. Crist is a native of Canfield, Ohio, while Robbins is from Ramsey, New Jersey. Both arrived at �����ƵU last summer, but neither saw any game action in 2021 and ultimately redshirted.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (�����Ƶ News) �����Ƶ� In a way, Graham Harrell is walking into a perfect situation as he takes over as offensive coordinator at West Virginia, at least in the quarterback room, where he is the lead coach.

Now it's true that he has lost last year's starting quarterback, Jarret Doege, who has transferred for his final year of eligibility to Western Kentucky, where they throw the ball all over the lot.

But that allows him to have a clean slate as he begins with three younger quarterbacks and maybe more, should the transfer portal heap even more riches on him.

He inherits last year's backup, Garrett Greene, a run-first project, along with a redshirt freshman from last year named Goose Crowder, who made a strong impression on head coach Neal Brown in his work in practice and his attitude.

And then there's an incoming freshman named Nicco Marchiol, a left-hander from Arizona who can run and pass and who well may hold the keys to Harrell's car, should he progress during spring and summer camp enough so that everyone is comfortable with a true freshman starting along with a new coordinator in a tough league like the Big 12.

Harrell has hardly had time to meet the entire staff, let along know very much about his returning quarterbacks while he's also actively recruiting, perhaps even trying to land a redshirt backup of his own from USC, where Harrell served as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach the last three years.

That quarterback is Jaxson Dart, who entered the transfer portal, just as Lincoln Riley was taking over at USC with rumors spreading that his Oklahoma star freshman, Caleb Williams, was headed to Los Angeles to take over that job.

So how does Harrell approach what certainly may be the biggest decision he makes in his time at �����ƵU, even if it is one being made as he settles in?

"The key to developing young quarterbacks is to give them a plan. You have to understand who they are and put them in a position to be successful," Harrell said. "I don't think it matters what level you are at. You have to understand what they do well and let them do it. Don't put too much on their plate but be able to dress it up so it's a challenge to the defense."

Harrell knows of what he speaks. At Texas Tech under Mike Leach he was a record-shattering quarterback, having two consecutive 4,000-yard seasons passing.

"It has to be something he's capable of running and has a good feel for. If you put too much on them too early, they think too much," Harrell said, inferring that if they are thinking they can't react as quickly as is necessary.

"No matter what the position is, particularly quarterback, you have to do what they are comfortable with and what they can execute at a high level," he said.

So, while they are learning the system and what he wants, he is learning what their skill set and mind set allow him to do.

Just now he's starting to get acquainted with his quarterbacks.

"There's a lot of potential in that room," he said. "They all have a different skill set, but have potential to do special things. I've met with them, sat down with them and I look forward to working with them.

Marchiol is someone he is familiar with, having recruited him a bit while at USC.

"I knew him coming in," he said. "We are excited about him. He's a confident kid and has a lot of intangibles you need at quarterback. He has great energy and leadership qualities and that's important."

But don't just go giving him the job yet.

"Garrett Greene is an athletic kid who can make a lot of plays," he said. "I've seen a little bit of tape on him. The athleticism adds an extra dimension the defense has to prepare for. That's awesome to have."

And Crowder has his own niche, too.

"I got to watch a little practice tape of Goose and I liked what I saw. He's a good-looking kid who already has been in my office a couple of times," Harrell said. "Some of the stuff he did this past fall I got to watch and I liked what I saw. He's built the way you want a quarterback to be built. In the little bit of time I spent with him, I saw he has the presence we're looking for in a quarterback."

"At the quarterback position there's a baseline for talent. They have to be good enough," he stressed. "But at that point the intangibles are more important than anything else. Those are harder to evaluate, hard to figure out. But when Goose walks into the room, you know he's there.

"He has a presence you can feel but he still has a humble and unassuming presence. It's a presence you are drawn to but it's not like an arrogance. I haven't seen a ton of tape, but from being around him, he has the feeling you want from a quarterback."

Draw no conclusions yet ... not you, the fans, or you, the quarterbacks. There's a whole lot more evaluating and teaching and learning to be done, but it's a clean start for all involved and that is certainly on the plus side of the ledger.

Jarret Doege, who threw for 6,453 yards in his three seasons at West Virginia (2019-21) and 4,041 yards in his two seasons at Bowling Green (2017-18), has announced that he will spend his final year of college eligibility at Western Kentucky.

Doege had started the past 26 games for the Mountaineers since late in the 2019 campaign, but the quarterback from Lubbock, Texas, decided to enter the transfer portal shortly after �����ƵU�����Ƶ�s 18-6 Guaranteed Rate Bowl loss to Minnesota.

�����Ƶ�I will forever be grateful for the friendships and memories I�����Ƶ�ve made at �����ƵU over the past three years,�����Ƶ� Doege tweeted on Dec. 31. �����Ƶ�Thank you to the coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to live out a lifelong dream of mine. West Virginia will always have a special place in my heart. I am excited about the future and will be looking for a new home for the 2022 season.�����Ƶ�

That new home will be Western Kentucky, where Doege will try to replace one of the breakout stars in all of college football last year, Bailey Zappe.

A transfer himself from Houston Baptist, an FCS program, Zappe led all Division I quarterbacks in passing yards (5,987) and touchdown passes (62) last season while completing 475 of 686 passes with 11 interceptions. In three seasons at Houston Baptist, the Victoria, Texas, native threw for 10,004 yards, but followed his Husky offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Zach Kittley to Western Kentucky prior to the 2021 campaign.

West Virginia will face Kittley in the future, as he will be the new offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Texas Tech.

After losing four of its first five games to start the 2021 season �����Ƶ� a win over Tennessee-Martin (59-21) followed by losses to Army (38-35), Indiana (33-31), Michigan State (48-31) and UTSA (52-46) �����Ƶ� Zappe led the Hilltoppers to wins in eight of their final nine games.

The only loss for WKU in that stretch was a Conference USA championship game defeat to UTSA (49-41), but it bounced back with a 59-38 victory over Appalachian State in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Western Kentucky finished the 2021 season second in scoring among all FBS teams, averaging 44.2 points per game.

Doege heads to a WKU program looking for an experienced quarterback to replace Zappe. Not only is Kittley leaving for Texas Tech, but Zappe is departing for a shot at the NFL. Already invited to the NFL Combine, Zappe is projected to be a fourth or fifth round pick in this year�����Ƶ�s NFL Draft.

The Hilltoppers�����Ƶ� backup QB in 2021 was Drew Zaubi, a former juco transfer who attempted only four passes, completing three, for WKU this past season.

The other quarterbacks on Western Kentucky�����Ƶ�s roster in �����Ƶ�21 all were true freshmen who redshirted, though one of those, Grady Robison, is currently in the transfer portal. The �����Ƶ�Toppers also signed two high school quarterbacks as part of their class of 2022.

Thus there would certainly appear to be an immediate need at Western for an experienced quarterback like Doege, who has one season of college eligibility remaining.

Doege will be working with a rebuilding Hilltopper receiving corps this coming season, as WKU�����Ƶ�s top receiver in �����Ƶ�21, Jerreth Sterns (an FBS-leading 150 receptions for 1,902 yards), is giving up his final year of college eligibility and declaring for the NFL.

In addition, the team�����Ƶ�s second-leading receiver in 2021, Mitchell Tinsley (87 receptions for 1,402 yards), is transferring to Penn State.

Doege is not the only Mountaineer departing via transfer who has landed at a new school.

Wide receiver Sam Brown recently committed to Houston, wide receiver Sean Ryan is headed to Rutgers, defensive back Jackie Matthews will attend Mississippi State, receiver Winston Wright is enrolling at Florida State, tight end T.J. Banks and defensive back K.J. Martin have both announced they�����Ƶ�re going to Akron, linebacker Devell Washington is moving on to Northern Iowa, linebacker VanDarius Cowan will transfer to Maryland, offensive lineman Parker Moorer is bound for East Carolina, while defensive linemen Darel Middleton and Eddie Watkins each are headed to Alabama A&M.

That leaves wide receiver Isaiah Esdale, linebacker James Thomas and running back A�����Ƶ�Varius Sparrow (who has visited Middle Tennessee) as the only �����ƵU scholarship players who entered the portal last fall but have not yet announced new homes.

In the meantime, West Virginia has four incoming transfers from four-year universities �����Ƶ� running back Lyn-J Dixon (Clemson), defensive lineman Zeiqui Lawton (Cincinnat)i, defensive back Marcis Floyd (Murray State) and tight end Brian Polendey (Colorado State) �����Ƶ� all of whom have already enrolled at �����ƵU.

The Mountaineers plan to add additional transfers before the 2022 football season begins, but in today�����Ƶ�s world where the portal runs both ways, further exits are always a possibility as well.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (�����Ƶ News) �����Ƶ� There are few things more angst-ridden for a college sports fan right now than trying to keep up with football�����Ƶ�s transfer portal rollercoaster.

It�����Ƶ�s likely that there will be in the neighborhood of 3,000 Division I football players entering the portal in the 2021-22 athletic year (July 1 to June 30). There were 2,600 transfers in the 2020-21 academic year, and there will probably be an average of 15 portal entrants for each D-I program in the current campaign. Walk-ons and some others enrolled, but who never played, are included in that number, but still, it appears that scholarship athletes make up about two-thirds of all of those transfers.

Most everyone looks at their particular team and thinks the sky is falling. Some schools are already dealing with more thant 20 transfers, and those numbers are only going to go up as winter turns to spring, spring turns to summer and summer brings football season very near.

Already the Guaranteed Rate Bowl offensive MVP, Minnesota running back Ky Thomas, has jumped in the portal, and Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams is exploring the portal as well, even though the Sooner QB he beat out for the starting job, Spencer Rattler, had previously taken the transfer train to South Carolina.

West Virginia has not had the most scholarship portal entrants since Aug. 1 (14 and counting), but it has also not had the least. The latest Mountaineers who are seeking new homes include three starters in quarterback Jarret Doege, slot receiver Winston Wright and defensive back Jackie Matthews.

Having started 26 straight games for �����ƵU since late in the 2019 season, Doege completed 590 of 911 passes (64.8%) during his time at West Virginia for 6,453 yards with 40 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He is third in �����ƵU history in career completions, fourth in attempts and fifth in yards. The Lubbock, Texas, native ultimately had to look for a new home for his final college season, though, because, as is often the case with quarterbacks, he was saddled with way too much of the blame from those outside the program when things didn�����Ƶ�t go well. A return to �����ƵU would have been untenable. For a student-athlete who was as friendly and classy as any with whom I�����Ƶ�ve dealt, he endured social media criticism from an ignorant minority that in some instances bordered on criminal. There is a special section of Hell reserved for those who treat other good, reasonable human beings in such a manner.

His departure leaves the Mountaineers with an extremely young quarterback corps with sophomore-to-be Garrett Greene, redshirt freshman Goose Crowder and incoming true freshman Nicco Marchiol being the only scholarship QBs who are expected to be on the roster when the spring semester at �����ƵU begins on Jan. 10.

Doege isn�����Ƶ�t the only loss for West Virginia via the transfer portal. Wright led the Mountaineers in receptions in each of the past two seasons (60 for 686 yards in 2021 and 47 for 553 yards in 2020) and departs �����ƵU with 129 career catches (the 14th most in school history) for 1,336 yards. Meanwhile, Matthews, a former juco transfer, played in all 23 games for West Virginia over the past two seasons, starting nine of those, as he split time between safety and cornerback.

Just like Doege, neither Wright nor Matthews will be easy replacements, though all the roster management news for the Mountaineers hasn�����Ƶ�t been bad.

The best news came when linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo and defensive tackle Dante Stills each reversed course on their earlier indications that they were going to give the NFL a try after the 2021 campaign. Instead, each announced recently that they would return for a fifth season at �����ƵU. Chandler-Semedo has started 30 games and played in a total of 45 since arriving at West Virginia as a true freshman in 2019. Stills has played in all 47 games in that same span, starting 25 of them.

Their return is extremely good news for the Mountaineers, who also are making additions of their own through the transfer portal, gaining running back Lyn-J Dixon from Clemson, defensive lineman Zeiqui Lawton from Cincinnati, tight end Brian Polendey from Colorado State and defensive back Marcis Floyd from Murray State. More transfers are sure to join �����ƵU before the 2022 football season.

The portal teleports both ways, and while each departure brings consternation from the fans and media, in today�����Ƶ�s world everyone had better get used to the rollercoaster because, like it or not, each year �����Ƶ� heck, each day �����Ƶ� is going to be a crazy ride.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (�����Ƶ News) �����Ƶ� The timing was exquisite.

It was Dec. 31. New Year's Eve and the finality it represents.

The end of the old, bring on the new.

Doubtful that was on West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege's mind when he announced via Twitter that he had come to the end of the line as West Virginia's quarterback.

Give me a verse of Auld Lang Syne, which translates literally into "days gone by."

Never a man of many words, Doege's three years at �����ƵU were years of frustration. His term of running the team was fraught with controversy, which was unfortunate because he possesses anything but a controversial personality.

His social media announcement of his pending trip into the transfer portal was what you would expect ... polite, politically correct and terse:

I will forever be grateful for the friendships and memories I made at �����ƵU over the past three years. Thank you to the coaching staff for letting me live out a lifelong dream of mine. West Virginia will always have a special place in my heart. I'm looking forward to the future and am looking for a new home for 2022.

Please note, not thank you to the fans, nor should there have been, for his treatment at �����ƵU by its fans was more hostile than hospitable.

He wasn't a bad quarterback, but he wasn't a good one and in the dog-eat-dog world of college football, that doesn't cut it. You don't beat Oklahoma with average quarterbacks. He beat the teams you would expect �����ƵU to beat, lost to the teams they figured to lose to.

In truth, Doege never really had a chance.

He was quarterbacking a team in transition; came in as the best option coach Neal Brown had, but certainly not with the credentials to save the program from the situation it was left in when Dana Holgorsen left for Houston.

He had ties with Brown in a previous time and place, the younger brother of one-time Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege, whose offensive coordinator then was Neal Brown.

But this wasn't some strange form of nepotism at work, his transferring from Bowling Green. It was Brown bringing in an experienced quarterback with football blood lines to compete for the job with Austin Kendall.

Doege won the job. It was that simple.

But he wasn't a miracle man. That was proven at Bowling Green where they would go 2-10 and 3-9 in two seasons.

He came in and was what he was, which the fans of �����ƵU found unacceptable. His statistics at �����ƵU mirrored those at Bowling Green.

Bowling Green, 62.7 completion percentage; 64.8 at �����ƵU. Bowling Green, touchdowns to interceptions 39-15, at �����ƵU 40-9. Bowling Green QB rating 138.7, �����ƵU 134.6.

He did not take the step up that Brown had hoped but was that all his fault?

Hardly.

He redshirted through a transition period, then dealt with COVID-19, all that going through a year when his receivers were more deceivers in that role, dropping far too many passes.

At the same time he was being chased all over �����Ƶ� and goodness knows he was hardly Patrick White when it came to running the ball �����Ƶ� behind an offensive line that couldn't pass block and couldn't run block.

It became an untenable situation because he wasn't capable of putting the team on his shoulders and carrying it while that was being demanded by an impatient fan base that was starved to see the climb Neal Brown had asked them to trust prove to be far steeper than they had imagined.

When he had to be relieved last year in the Liberty Bowl in order for �����ƵU to pull out a victory over Army, the fans spent the off-season figuring that a change would come at quarterback but Garrett Greene failed to take advantage of the opportunity and Goose Crowder wasn't ready to take advantage.

It was an impossible situation, a 2-4 start against a top-heavy schedule only sharpening the barbs that would be hurled at Doege �����Ƶ� and Brown.

To make matters worse, the transfer portal began filling up. It was not really different than elsewhere, but the appearance was that there were internal problems within a program where a strong family culture would be developed.

Since the end of last season 29 players have transferred out, 13 since the start of this season.

The last two were the starting quarterback, Doege, and the leading receiver, Winston Wright Jr.

Why would the leading receiver leave? Why did starters and potential All-American Tykee Smith and starting cornerback Drayshun Miller leave last year?

This wasn't a matter of guys leaving for playing time. These were big time players and they were gone.

There was panic among the fan base and they were rough, make no doubt about it. The players, who always have returned the love of a strong fan backing, noticed.

J.P. Hadley, the accomplished long-snapper who announced his entering into the portal after the bowl game, went on social media after the reaction to Doege hit the Internet to say:

"You ask him to leave, he leaves, and you continue to s--t on him. Unreal."

His teammates did not feel the way the fans did, as exemplified by receiver Bruce Ford-Wheaton, who Tweeted:

"Best of luck dawg. The mentally toughest person I ever met. Stg I'll be rooting for you."

Meanwhile, Brown has to do some soul searching and fix whatever is broken. He has a quarterback competition on his hands between Greene and Crowder and now a 4-star recruit out of Arizona in Nicco Marchiol.

He has to look at his coaching staff and their methods. He has to develop a way to keep the likes of Wright and Isaiah Esdale, both of whom have recently announced their exits, believing that playing at �����ƵU is what it always has been ... a life experience that will forever cherish.

And he has to find a way to reconvince his fans to again "Trust the Climb" or there is nothing but trouble lying ahead.

PHOENIX, Ariz. �����Ƶ� Minnesota won the battle in the trenches, and that led the Golden Gophers to an 18-6 victory over West Virginia in the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Tuesday night at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

With the loss, �����ƵU finished its season with a 6-7 record, while UM wrapped up its campaign with a 9-4 mark.

Atmosphere �����Ƶ� The Mountaineer football team and the fans who accompanied it to Arizona spent several days enjoying the sights, sounds and entertainment of Phoenix/Scottsdale area. The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is run by the Fiesta Bowl committee, and that group does as good a job as any in the business for the teams, media and fans involved. The days leading up to the game were excellent, though the weather in central Arizona was unseasonably cool (mid-50s) with even some rain. Unfortunately, not many fans from either side were able to follow their respective teams to Phoenix �����Ƶ� though admitted the Golden Gopher faithful traveled much better than the Mountaineers�����Ƶ� �����Ƶ� as the 47,519-seat Chase Field was half full. Still, the atmosphere was nice, as each university sent scale-down versions of their bands (albeit the Pride of West Virginia went through struggles just getting to Arizona, as its charter flight on Monday was delayed six hours because of mechanical problems). The set-up for a football game in a baseball stadium is a bit unique, but the Diamondback people pull it off fairly well. The roof over Chase Field opened during the pregame to allow four parachutists to drop into the stadium, but then the roof quickly closed again, though not before a few rain drops pelleted those in the stands. Grade: B+

Offense �����Ƶ� West Virginia�����Ƶ�s three offensive possessions of the first quarter all started deep in its own territory, and it was unable to make any headway on those, netting just six yards in the first period. �����ƵU started to find some rhythm in the second quarter, though, putting together a 12-play, 75-yard march that quarterback Jarret Doege capped off with a TD scramble, which was his first scoring run in two years. The Mountaineer QB completed 18 of 31 pass attempts for 140 yards in the game, despite constantly facing strong pressure from the Gopher defensive front. Tony Mathis did a decent job filling in at running back for opt-out Leddie Brown, finishing with 56 rushing yards on 18 carries. Still, West Virginia�����Ƶ�s run game didn�����Ƶ�t threaten Minnesota, and Golden Gophers were able to focus on slowing the Mountaineers�����Ƶ� passing attack. �����ƵU tried a variety of things, including ramping up its tempo, but none of the variations made much of a difference. Lacking big plays and continually faced with bad field position, West Virginia�����Ƶ�s offense just couldn�����Ƶ�t sustain enough drives to dent a good Gopher defense. Grade: D

Defense �����Ƶ� Minnesota�����Ƶ�s offensive line was highly regarded all season, and it showed why, as the Golden Gophers�����Ƶ� massive front (averages 6-foot-6 and 334 pounds) continually smashed openings in �����ƵU�����Ƶ�s defense. UM rushed for 249 yards, though the shortest of those runs may have been the most noteworthy. Minnesota�����Ƶ�s 6-foot-9, 380-pound right tackle Daniel Faalele moved into the backfield with UM on the one-yard line. The huge Australia native had not been seen at the fullback position since a spring game three years ago, but he took the handoff Tuesday night and powered his way in for a touchdown. �����ƵU dodged a couple other Gopher first half scoring opportunities when UM missed a short field goal and then turned the ball over on a fumble. A third-quarter Charles Woods interception helped keep the Mountaineers within shouting distance, but just barely. Even given those breaks, the �����ƵU defense had a hard time holding up against the size, strength and experience of the Minnesota offensive line. Grade: D+

Special teams �����Ƶ� West Virginia�����Ƶ�s special teams didn�����Ƶ�t do anything extremely harmful, but they also didn�����Ƶ�t make any real positive plays. In a game where both the Mountaineer offense and defense needed some help, �����ƵU�����Ƶ�s special teams didn�����Ƶ�t provide an impact. Grade: D

Coaching �����Ƶ� Without their top running back and their top three tight ends, the Mountaineer coaches tried a lot of different things. They speed up the offensive tempo and used offensive lineman Nick Malone and defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor as blocking tight ends on multiple occasions. Defensively they constantly shifted the alignment of their fronts. In the end, though, it came down to the formula that always decides football games. The team that blocks and tackles the best wins, and on Tuesday night in Phoenix, that was definitely Minnesota. Grade: D

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (�����Ƶ News) -- Depending on the way you look at, West Virginia either put a disastrous finish to its 2021 season or got off to a dismal start in its 2022 season as they were manhandled by a bigger, more physical Minnesota team from the Big Ten in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl game at Chase Field in Phoenix, 18-6.

The Golden Gophers finished their season with a 9-4 record by controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, constantly pressuring quarterback Jarret Doege, who never had a fighting chance.

Coach Neal Brown went into the game hoping that a late-season run where the Mountaineers won four of their final six games to turn a 2-4 start into a 6-6 record to become bowl qualified was a sign of growth and improvement in his team rather than simply a result of the schedule being front-loaded with the best the Big 12 had to offer.

"It's about finishing. If we win, it's three in a row and five of seven. It shows progress," Brown said before the game. "�����Ƶ young as we are and with as much as we have coming back, it speaks well for 2022."

But none of that mattered at 1:45 a.m. EST. when it was over.

Minnesota had dominated from the opening kickoff, putting their knee on the Mountaineers' throats and never letting up.

The statistics told the story, a story that Minnesota had written all year long with a solid defense and a ball control offense.

They finished with 358 total yards to 206 for �����ƵU, the seventh straight opponent they have held to less than 300 yards of offense. They dominated on the ground with 249 rushing yards to 66 for a Mountaineer team playing without its 1,000-yard rusher, Leddie Brown.

"They are probably the best offensive line we have played against, by far," �����ƵU senior linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo said from watching film before the game. "They've got the biggest player, I believe, in college football at right tackle."

That is when he's not playing fullback.

Daniel Faalele stands 6-foot-9 and weights 380 pounds, and if anything, that's understated.

It was almost unfair when early in the second quarter after a scoreless first quarter, they had the ball at the Mountaineer 2 and put him in at fullback.

He wasn't there to block, though. He rammed all 380 pounds and the football into the end zone for a touchdown. Then they faked kicking the extra point and turned it into a trick play that worked for two points ... not that they needed an extra point.

Actually, �����ƵU held its own on defense.

"We played really well defensively," Neal Brown said. "We're good enough on that side of the ball."

In fact �����ƵU held Minnesota to just three second-half points.

But they could not do anything against the nation's fourth-best defense.

"We are just not good enough offensively," Brown said. "They beat us."

�����ƵU knew what it was getting into before the game. Dante Stills, the senior All-Big 12 defensive lineman who probably played his final game as a Mountaineer, admitted as much during pre-game interviews.

"They are a veteran group and they are all seniors, so they know how to work together," he said. "They like to be physical. That's kind of their main goal. Our defensive line and front seven have to bring the physicality back."

They did on the defensive side but the offensive line was overrun by defenders.

Doege, who has to decide whether he wants to return at quarterback, had his second straight bad bowl experience.

He completed 18 of 31 passes for 140 yards without a touchdown and with one interception. He ended the night with more bruises than completions.

What they did to Doege was reminiscent of the way Mike Tyson handled opponents early in his career. He was sacked five times, most of them free runs at the quarterback. And when he wasn't being sacked he was being belted right after the ball left his hand.

�����ƵU's only touchdown did come from Doege on a 1-yard touchdown run for the pylon but the try for the two-point conversion failed.

That TD was the last hurrah for the year.

Minnesota got 144 yards on 21 carries from Ky Thomas, who mixed a 50-yard breakaway in there to set up a short TD run by him, and added a second-half field goal of 49 yards from Mike Trickett.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. �����Ƶ� One thing that is common among almost all college student-athletes is their desire to compete.

It doesn�����Ƶ�t matter if it is their chosen sport, ping-pong or tiddlywinks, there is usually an intense desire to win.

That goes even during the �����Ƶ�fun�����Ƶ� pre-bowl game activities.

The competition for the Mountaineers started even prior to their departure to Arizona for Tuesday�����Ƶ�s Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The entire team, as well as most of the coaching staff and their families, went to Wisp Ski Resort in Deep Creek, Maryland a few days before Christmas for a night of snow tubing. The race was on to the bottom, over and over again.

Once �����ƵU arrived in Phoenix, there were a number of activities planned. First up on Sunday morning was a trip by many Mountaineers to Mavrix Scottsdale, which is an arcade filled with video games, laser tag, bowling and more. West Virginia�����Ƶ�s players were joined by Special Olympians for a couple hours of fun and games.

Monday night, the �����ƵU entourage headed to the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix to watch an NBA game between the Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies.

�����Ƶ�It goes back to trying to create memories,�����Ƶ� said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, referring to one of his mantras when it comes to bowl games. �����Ƶ�Very few of our guys have ever been to an NBA game. Tickets are expensive, and a lot of our guys aren�����Ƶ�t from big cities with NBA teams. We went to a (Pelicans-Bucks) game when I was at Troy and we played a bowl game in New Orleans. It was a huge hit.

�����Ƶ������Ƶ soon as I found out we were coming here for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, I looked at the schedule and checked to see if we could get tickets for the Suns�����Ƶ� Christmas Day game. Well, the Warriors were in town for that game, and those tickets had been sold out for a while. But Ja Morant and the Grizzlies are coming in Monday night, and that will be fun.�����Ƶ�

A native of Fairmont, West Virginia, �����ƵU center Zach Frazier is one of those who has never been to an NBA game before.

�����Ƶ�I�����Ƶ�m looking forward to the Suns game. That will be a cool experience,�����Ƶ� said Frazier. �����Ƶ�I�����Ƶ�ve been to Mountaineer basketball games but never an NBA game.�����Ƶ�

�����Ƶ�We want to have some fun, including at the Suns game, finish up our meetings, get a good night�����Ƶ�s sleep Monday and then go win the football game,�����Ƶ� added �����ƵU quarterback Jarret Doege, a native of Lubbock, Texas. �����Ƶ�The only time I was at an NBA game was when I was really little and we went to a (Dallas) Mavericks game, so I don�����Ƶ�t remember much of it. I�����Ƶ�m super excited to see Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Ja Morant, guys like that. We usually only get to see them play on TV, so we�����Ƶ�re all excited to see them play in person.�����Ƶ�

Outside of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl itself, the most competitive event on the Mountaineers�����Ƶ� pre-bowl active list is a trip to Topgolf Scottsdale. The anticipation of that swing-fest got the smack talk going hours ahead of the first duck hook.

�����Ƶ�Matt Cavallaro is one of the better golfers. I�����Ƶ�d say me and him go back and forth on who is the best golfer in the quarterback room,�����Ƶ� smiled Doege when asked about competitors for King of Topgolf. �����Ƶ�Garrett (Greene) can also play. Frazier and Doug (Nester) are pretty good. Graeson (Malashevich) just got a new set of clubs for Christmas, so he�����Ƶ�s getting serious about it. There are a ton of guys on the team who can golf. Topgolf is going to be a good time.�����Ƶ�

Usually linemen are not known as skilled golfers, so it�����Ƶ�s a bit unique that Frazier and Nester earned some praise from their roommate/quarterback. The key word, though, is �����Ƶ�some.�����Ƶ�

�����Ƶ�Those big guys can hit it far, but you�����Ƶ�re never sure what way it is going to go,�����Ƶ� laughed Doege about his two golfing o-linemen.

Frazier heard Doege�����Ƶ�s analysis of his golf game and turned the good-natured ribbing back on his QB.

�����Ƶ�I guess he doesn�����Ƶ�t remember I beat him a couple times this past summer,�����Ƶ� Frazier retorted with a wry grin. �����Ƶ�There are about 10 of us who get together and play golf when we can. We can�����Ƶ�t just go out and play, though. We always have to compete. I�����Ƶ�m sure we will even compete when we�����Ƶ�re at Topgolf tonight.�����Ƶ�

Nicco Marchiol is a soon-to-be Mountaineer who wasn�����Ƶ�t competing with the others this week, but he�����Ƶ�ll be part of the fun soon enough.

The recent West Virginia signee is from Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, and he took the opportunity to see his new team going through its practice session Sunday at Chaparral High, about a half hour from his home.

Marchiol stood on the sidelines and watched the Mountaineers work out. The four-star quarterback prospect is going to enroll at �����ƵU in time for the spring semester, so it won�����Ƶ�t be long before Marchiol is participating in those same West Virginia practice drills, though the hills of Almost Heaven will serve as the backdrop instead of Camelback Mountain.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (�����Ƶ News) �����Ƶ� Its real name is the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, but to Jarret Doege, the West Virginia quarterback for the Tuesday meeting in Phoenix with Minnesota, it ought to be called the Atonement Bowl.

Of all the participants on the 80 teams that are playing in this year's bloated bowl schedule, it's doubtful that any one participant has more of a weight on his back than does Doege, although he maintains that his first journey into the bowl world last year against Army is buried deeply in his past.

Doege has become a polarizing figure in West Virginia football ever since he arrived as a transfer from Bowling Green as coach Neal Brown searched for the next Will Grier. Austin Kendall inherited the job after playing backup to Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, but he couldn't carry the load.

With each game Doege started, fans grew to love him or hate him, the restlessness of the crowd often indicating that the latter was in the majority.

It capped last December when Doege got a chance to play in his first bowl game, not surprising since the only bowling that Bowling Green ever did with him there was replete with alleys, 10-pins and a lot of beer.

Facing Army, Doege's performance was so disappointing that he had to be replaced by the same Kendall whom he replaced as starter. Kendall found a way to pull the game out with a second-half performance that wiped out the Army's 21-10 halftime lead to bring about a 24-21 victory.

Statistically, Doege's day did not look terrible with 15 completions in 25 attempts for 159 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but the interception was just horrible near the end of the half, and he also lost a fumble.

This year was more of the same kind of stuff, Doege throwing well enough to put up numbers but the team just not finding the end zone. Fans respected his effort, his courage under great pressure and the fact that he currently is sixth all-time in yardage thrown for by a Mountaineer.

But they were still eager for a change.

Now he returns to a bowl, claiming he is not haunted by last year's performance. But reality says that the reaction he received all this year, the calls for Garrett Greene to replace him at quarterback echoing loudly throughout the hills of West Virginia, cannot really be ignored.

"I think I put the bowl game behind me a long time ago," he said as he began preparing for Minnesota. "I'm going to go into this game, prepare like I usually prepare and go in with a great mindset to win this football game."

How can one forget being yanked at halftime of a bowl game and having his backup come in and win the game?

"I just prepare harder, kind of like in 2019 when I threw three interceptions against TCU. Then, in 2020 I wiped that out and we beat them. I had a pretty good game," he said. "I just try to make it a different outcome. I'll go into the game not thinking about last year's game but thinking about what my job is and what I need to do to win it."

His preparation this year has changed from a year ago.

�����Ƶ�We�����Ƶ�ve changed up our prep a little bit,�����Ƶ� Brown said. �����Ƶ�Last year, he did not play very well and he would take full ownership of that, but our season was so odd at the end. We played one game over a six-week period. The pass game is such a rhythm deal and we had the shutdown with covid, too, so we were out of the facility for 10 days.

�����Ƶ�What we�����Ƶ�ve tried to do this year, while we were out on the road [recruiting] as coaches, they had four different throwing sessions to keep in rhythm. I think that�����Ƶ�ll be helpful. But he has to go out and perform. Last year was odd. I�����Ƶ�m not making an excuse for him. He didn�����Ƶ�t play very well. We didn�����Ƶ�t play very well at all offensively. We had a bunch of dropped balls, too. But we�����Ƶ�ve done a better job this year of staying in rhythm and we�����Ƶ�re not having to deal with some of the issues we had last year.�����Ƶ�

Certainly, he is saying the right thing. He might even be doing the right thing by trying to act as though that were forgotten and didn't happen, but atoning for the game could be strong motivation going into a game that has even more meaning than just being a season-ending bowl game.

See, Doege has another year of eligibility available due to the NCAA's decision to erase last year's Covid-marred season as a year played.

He could be playing to earn next year's starting job, should he decide to come back.

Now, you might think that he would have made that decision already, but when last spoken to, he claimed he had not.

"I haven't really gotten to a decision yet. I'm just going to focus on the bowl game and see what happens, then talk to Coach Brown," he said. "I didn't want to make this whole thing about me. I wanted to make it about winning the football game."

Brown, too, has said that he hasn't had the discussion with Doege about next year. If Doege were to come back, he wouldn't have to go with an inexperienced quarterback like Greene, Goose Crowder or this year's highly promising recruit Nicco Marchiol out of Arizona.

A bowl win could be looked at as perfect closing to Doege's career, going out with a 7-6 record, 5 wins in his last 7 games, or it could convince him that he could benefit from another year at �����ƵU.

There is also the idea of transferring to consider.

All of it, of course, could be a distraction from the job at hand in the bowl game.

�����Ƶ important as all that is how Brown looks at the situation. Next year, his fourth as �����ƵU head coach, is the year where he will be expected to take a large stride forward.

A start this season's might cost Brown his job, and with the opener coming against Pitt, which has made a huge jump in the college ranks over the past few years and won the ACC this season behind Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Kenny Pickett, having an experienced quarterback like Doege might be crucial right out of the chute.

So, there is much at stake this year in a bowl game that will get only cursory notice across America.