Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
QB Garrett Greene Becoming WVU’s Two-Minute Maestro
September 28, 2024 11:54 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Earlier this week, coach Neal Brown discussed some of the unpredictable things that quarterback Garrett Greene does in football games.
"There is good and bad with that," he admitted Monday afternoon during his weekly media session. "As a play caller, especially in that game on Saturday, I felt like our best opportunity was to just spread them out and use plays where it was basically one-two run. Now that's not always the best, but you allow him to be who he is.
"There are some things that he does that are really frustrating to me," Brown conceded, "but he also does some things that I can't coach. I can't coach him to break tackles, so I think there is some give and take."
For us old-timers, watching Greene operate out there evokes memories of Major Harris freelancing his way down the football field. Sure, Major gave coach Don Nehlen fits when he forgot plays and went the wrong way, but sometimes those mistakes ended up turning into touchdowns.
When Major was being Major, he was at his best, but when was trying to be Andre Ware, as some outsiders suggested he be, he wasn't.
It was basically the same deal with Pat White a year after Rich Rodriguez left to coach at Michigan. Those two come to mind when some try and put Greene in the same category with some of the other quarterbacks in the game today.
Garrett has his own unique style that is effective in its own right.
"Sometimes people want to (say) this is what high-level quarterback play is," Brown pointed out. "To me, it's about scoring points. Are you moving the ball? Are you moving the chains? Garrett does it very similar to watching Lamar Jackson (last Sunday night).
"Now, I'm not comparing Garrett to Lamar, I'm just saying Lamar Jackson is probably the best running quarterback ever in the NFL, and he does it different than (Tom) Brady. And Lamar Jackson is still pretty special. As the game continues to evolve, I just think quarterbacks have a lot more freedom, and I'm comfortable with some of the (unease) of just playing backyard ball sometimes."
When West Virginia fell behind by 11 points with less than five minutes remaining in last Saturday's 34-28 win against Kansas, Brown felt the best way to rally the team was to spread out the field and let Garrett do his thing.
"When we decide to do some things, I know there is going to be some latitude taken by him and I've just got to be okay with it," he said. "We got into the two-minute mode the other day, and I'm like, 'Hey, this is what we're going to run and if you pull it down and run, that's fine, just get your eyes where they're supposed to be.' The kid makes plays. He's a playmaker that can continue to be better as a passer."
It's tempting to just play two-minute offense the entire game and turn Greene into the two-minute maestro, but Brown indicated it's not as simple as that.
There is some cause-and-effect that impacts the entire team when you do that, not to mention the physical toll it can take on the 195-pound quarterback. Greene carried the ball 17 times against Kansas, not to mention the times he was hit while passing in the pocket, and he was completely covered in ice walking around the Milan Puskar Center Monday afternoon.
"If you do that all the time, you make it really hard on your defense," Brown explained. "The second thing is if you are going to do that all the time then people are working that all the time.
"When people are going to line up and play us, that's not the first thing they are working on. They are working on how we are going to play our run game concepts and they are working on playing the quarterback run stuff," he said. "Then, how do they stop shot plays? Now, they probably get to the two-minute stuff later in the week."
What Brown would like to see is more consistency from his quarterback, particularly regarding his feet. Is there still time to get this accomplished with a third of the season now in the books?
Brown believes so.
"If he would consistently do what he's supposed to do with his feet, he would be at a higher completion percentage," the coach explained. "From a coaching perspective, I'm good if he's going to run around. I'm fine with all that. But when the play is in the pocket, let's be fundamentally sound. That's what he's got to get better at.
"He throws the deep ball extremely well, and I'm talking about all kinds of different deep balls, but in rhythm throws, he's got to make sure his base stays the way it should be," he said.
Therefore, those hoping to see the two-minute maestro for an entire football game is probably not realistic.
"Is what we did on Saturday always going to be the answer, I would say probably not, but on Saturday it was the best answer because we just spread them out and we got some guys in some favorable one-on-ones and we opened up a lot of running lanes for him to pull it down and run," Brown concluded.
"There is good and bad with that," he admitted Monday afternoon during his weekly media session. "As a play caller, especially in that game on Saturday, I felt like our best opportunity was to just spread them out and use plays where it was basically one-two run. Now that's not always the best, but you allow him to be who he is.
"There are some things that he does that are really frustrating to me," Brown conceded, "but he also does some things that I can't coach. I can't coach him to break tackles, so I think there is some give and take."
For us old-timers, watching Greene operate out there evokes memories of Major Harris freelancing his way down the football field. Sure, Major gave coach Don Nehlen fits when he forgot plays and went the wrong way, but sometimes those mistakes ended up turning into touchdowns.
When Major was being Major, he was at his best, but when was trying to be Andre Ware, as some outsiders suggested he be, he wasn't.
It was basically the same deal with Pat White a year after Rich Rodriguez left to coach at Michigan. Those two come to mind when some try and put Greene in the same category with some of the other quarterbacks in the game today.
Garrett has his own unique style that is effective in its own right.
"Sometimes people want to (say) this is what high-level quarterback play is," Brown pointed out. "To me, it's about scoring points. Are you moving the ball? Are you moving the chains? Garrett does it very similar to watching Lamar Jackson (last Sunday night).
"Now, I'm not comparing Garrett to Lamar, I'm just saying Lamar Jackson is probably the best running quarterback ever in the NFL, and he does it different than (Tom) Brady. And Lamar Jackson is still pretty special. As the game continues to evolve, I just think quarterbacks have a lot more freedom, and I'm comfortable with some of the (unease) of just playing backyard ball sometimes."
When West Virginia fell behind by 11 points with less than five minutes remaining in last Saturday's 34-28 win against Kansas, Brown felt the best way to rally the team was to spread out the field and let Garrett do his thing.
"When we decide to do some things, I know there is going to be some latitude taken by him and I've just got to be okay with it," he said. "We got into the two-minute mode the other day, and I'm like, 'Hey, this is what we're going to run and if you pull it down and run, that's fine, just get your eyes where they're supposed to be.' The kid makes plays. He's a playmaker that can continue to be better as a passer."
It's tempting to just play two-minute offense the entire game and turn Greene into the two-minute maestro, but Brown indicated it's not as simple as that.
There is some cause-and-effect that impacts the entire team when you do that, not to mention the physical toll it can take on the 195-pound quarterback. Greene carried the ball 17 times against Kansas, not to mention the times he was hit while passing in the pocket, and he was completely covered in ice walking around the Milan Puskar Center Monday afternoon.
"If you do that all the time, you make it really hard on your defense," Brown explained. "The second thing is if you are going to do that all the time then people are working that all the time.
"When people are going to line up and play us, that's not the first thing they are working on. They are working on how we are going to play our run game concepts and they are working on playing the quarterback run stuff," he said. "Then, how do they stop shot plays? Now, they probably get to the two-minute stuff later in the week."
What Brown would like to see is more consistency from his quarterback, particularly regarding his feet. Is there still time to get this accomplished with a third of the season now in the books?
Brown believes so.
"If he would consistently do what he's supposed to do with his feet, he would be at a higher completion percentage," the coach explained. "From a coaching perspective, I'm good if he's going to run around. I'm fine with all that. But when the play is in the pocket, let's be fundamentally sound. That's what he's got to get better at.
"He throws the deep ball extremely well, and I'm talking about all kinds of different deep balls, but in rhythm throws, he's got to make sure his base stays the way it should be," he said.
Therefore, those hoping to see the two-minute maestro for an entire football game is probably not realistic.
"Is what we did on Saturday always going to be the answer, I would say probably not, but on Saturday it was the best answer because we just spread them out and we got some guys in some favorable one-on-ones and we opened up a lot of running lanes for him to pull it down and run," Brown concluded.
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