Holgorsen makes early call for Trickett

Clint Trickett threw for 254 yards on 27-of-43 passing against Texas Tech, but West Virginia’s offense stalled on its final five series.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For one week at least, Dana Holgorsen wasn’t bashful about revealing his starting quarterback.

West Virginia’s coach said he plans to go with Clint Trickett when the Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3) visit Kansas State (2-4, 0-3) on Saturday. That’s the only option that makes sense with freshman Ford Childress (pectoral) out indefinitely and junior Paul Millard seemingly typecast in a backup role due to a limited skill set.

Trickett completed 27-of-43 passes for 254 yards and one touchdown against Texas Tech, but guided the offense to just one first down on the final five series in a 37-27 loss. After throwing three interceptions in his first two starts, Trickett did not have a pass picked off against Texas Tech. At least not officially—one underthown interception was negated by a defensive holding flag.

“I do think he played his best game, (but) not a winning performance,” Holgorsen said. “We made progress. We made some things happen, moved the ball, scored some points and got the ball in the end zone several times.

“We had a chance to win a game at home—we didn’t get it done in the fourth quarter.”

Trickett led WVU to an upset of then-No. 11 Oklahoma State on Sept. 28, despite a fourth-quarter hit that created a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. The injury left Trickett wincing after almost every throw in the ensuing week’s 73-42 loss at Baylor, but coming off a bye week, the junior played pain-free against Texas Tech.

“He’s healthy, so he’ll be able to rep Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which is the first time he’s been able to do that in quite some time. We’ll give him the majority of the reps and try to get him better.”

The late fade against Texas Tech dropped West Virginia to 5-8 in Big 12 games.

“The depth is an issue. The depth needs to continue to change,” Holgorsen said. “Our second- and third-team guys are not as good as what they need to be to compete against the likes of Baylor and Texas Tech over the last couple of weeks.”

The West Virginia-Kansas State kickoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Eastern and will be televised on FoxSports1. MetroNews radio affiliates around the state will have wrap-around coverage stretching from three hours pregame until three hours postgame.







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