By: James Gravley | WV Sports Chat
Earlier this week, I published a story giving three reasons as to why freshman quarterback Khalil Wilkins should start for WVU on Friday against BYU.
Now, on Thursday, it appears he will be the go-to starter against the Cougars.
According to Mike Asti of WV Sports Now, Wilkins is expected to be named the starter, making this his first collegiate start. And it comes against one of the toughest defenses in the Big 12.
The news of Wilkins starting shouldn’t come as a surprise after backup quarterback Jaylen Henderson was downgraded to out on Friday night.
Also, on the quarterback note is that starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol is redshirting and will enter the transfer portal once the season is over.
That now means that West Virginia enters the BYU game with three quarterbacks. Two healthy, and one who’s questionable.
Khalil Wilkins will start, but my expectation is that he will play over 90% of the game on Friday night. Max Brown, who’s shown flashes this season, is listed as questionable. The other young quarterback Scotty Fox is healthy but there’s no indication that he will play or won’t play Friday night.
Against Utah last week Wilkins went three of six for 63 yards passing with a touchdown. He also rushed it nine times for 39 yards.
“Khalil can make all the throws and obviously he’s a dynamic runner. He’s got some explosive ability. I think his future, his upside looks really good,” Rodriguez said to the media about Wilkins play style.
Rodriguez and his staff knew from the jump that Wilkins would be the future of the Mountaineer program, but probably didn’t want to rush the process. However, they don’t have much of a choice at this point.
Photo: WVU Athletics
