MORGANTOWN — There will be no parades, no statues, no avenues bearing his name, but somehow you know that as Garrett Greene’s career comes to an end as West Virginia quarterback in the suburbs of Dallas for the Frisco Bowl, the memories that remain will be both positive and worth retelling.
Greene was that kind of player.
He never could quite grasp the brass ring of success as a quarterback, but he never let you forget he was there and that he was giving all he had and a lot more.
He didn’t throw like Geno Smith, didn’t run like Pat White, but he did both to the point that you knew on any play something exciting may happen.
This is his last game, lasting as it were one more game than his coach, Neal Brown, and he’s expected to start. He may play all of it or half of it, part of what has become a complicated goodbye being that lurking on the sideline will be the new coach, Rich Rodriguez, who probably would like to see Nicco Marchiol up close and personal as QB, for both of them now have their own decisions to make in this off-season.
Whatever, this will be a huge moment for Greene, who first and foremost was a Mountaineer, as he made clear after winning his final regular home game against Central Florida.
“West Virginia football means everything to me,” he said then. “They took a kid from Tallahassee, Florida, and really welcomed him with open arms ever since I got here…the fabric of the state kind of goes hand-in-hand with the fabric of my family. I think it was the best decision I ever made.”
Greene is the son of a major league baseball player who today serves as a coach for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Maybe it was that he wanted to establish himself in a different way than his dad, maybe he just enjoyed football more and the challenges it presented to him. Certainly he always likes to meet a challenge head on.
At 5-11 in an era where quarterbacks were often stretching out to 6-foot-5, he was altitude challenged. His arm was as strong as there’s but because he always had to be throwing on the run or around or over obstacles, he never could claim accuracy as an asset.
But when it came to running, he was faster than nearly everyone on the field and as tough as any. Because of it he was able to create his own style of play, but also paid the part with injuries that kept him out of games in his two starting seasons.
In the course of things, this game is far more important to Memphis, a Group of 5 school with a national ranking but without national respect. That could grow with a dominant victory over a Mountaineer team that has been defensively challenged all season.
Greene doesn’t want his team to take it lightly, for it is the final game of a season in which it carries a 6-6 record into the bowl and really would like to go out as a winner.
He has started 24 games and is 13-11, but there are so many positives that he left behind.
Following that UCF game, Neal Brown declared, “The kid’s a winner. He competes, and I’m really happy for him that he performed and won his last game here. I think he deserves that. I hope our fans appreciate him — he hasn’t always played clean football, but he’s laid it on the line for the Mountaineers every single time he has suited up.”
The legacy includes:
—No. 9 in WVU history with 27 career rushing touchdowns
—No. 11 all-time in passing yards with 5,042
—Five career games of 100 yards rushing
—One of only four WVU QBs to throw for at least 3,500 yards and rush for at least 1,500 yards.
Now there’s one more game and he wants it to represent what his career has become.
“No matter what happens, the only thing you can control is your effort, the work and how you practice,” he said. “I’m really trying to talk to everybody about just focusing on the task at hand and worrying about Memphis.
“I think it’s deeper than just football. It’s an entire attitude and outlook on life. No matter what happens in my life, I’ll always have that DNA with me.”
Memphis is 10-2 and is ranked No. 25/22 depending upon the poll.
The game can be seen on ESPN at 9 p.m. Tuesday night.
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