West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene immediately flipped the switch upon beating Duquesne over the weekend.
After Greene talked briefly about beating Duquesne in a game that saw a long weather delay extend the night into the morning, it was then instantly “Pitt Week” for WVU’s signal caller. Greene may not be from West Virginia, or the region at all, but he’s well aware of what the Backyard Brawl is all about and what that game means to the fans.
“We don’t like them and they don’t like us. We’re fired up for it,” said Greene. He’s also confident that his team can win it this year.
“I think that if we prepare how we have been, I think we’re in for a good one on Saturday. It all comes down to me getting the guys going and getting the guys starting fast on offense,” he explained.
Greene got to experience a taste of the rivalry last season when the matchup was brought back to life in Pittsburgh, but he was watching JT Daniels lead the Mountaineers. This time around, it’s Greene, West Virginia’s quarterback and leader, who’s tasked with claiming revenge for the 2022 loss to the Panthers.
He’s coming off a solid performance and a win against the Dukes. He threw 240 yards and four touchdowns in only about a half of football against Duquesne. It was actually the first time a Mountaineer quarterback threw four touchdowns in any game since Will Grier did it in 2018.
Obviously, nothing guarantees anything that happened against an FCS school translates to a matchup with your arch-rival from another major conference, but Pitt is on the heels of losing 27-21 to Cincinnati.
For WVU head coach Neal Brown, he was most pleased that Greene found the deep ball, something he felt his young quarterback struggled to complete the prior week in State College. Brown even mentioned during his postgame press conference that he may need to call more deep pass plays based on what he saw from Greene on Saturday night.
Greene knows the task ahead of him this week and he seems ready to get to work.
“I think the biggest thing was me getting on page with the wideouts. It all gets back to me. I’ve got to get them going.”
**This story originally appeared on our sister-site WVSportsNow.com**
