WVU quarterback Nicco Marchiol hands off to Jaheim White during fall practice. (Photo provided by BlueGoldNews.com)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For the first time this preseason, West Virginia showed a little more insight into the quarterback room other than the vague responses from Rich Rodriguez, who is tactically holding his cards close to his chest when talking about naming a starting quarterback.

WVU had its first player talk to the media during the preseason, and to a surprise, quarterback Nicco Marchiol took the podium. Marchiol is in the middle of an open quarterback battle that started in the spring between a of quarterbacks. There are seven quarterbacks listed on that Marchiol is competing with, although all might not be practicing.

There’s been a bunch of speculation of who the starter will be, whether that’s based on a sportsbook or a video game, but throughout the spring and summer, no quarterback has spoken on it. Most would say veterans Marchiol, Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson, and Charlotte transfer Max Brown are the favorites, but Rodriguez hasn’t favored a single one.

To add even more speculation, Marchiol was trotted out first to the media first, and spoke highly of his room.

“They’re awesome,” Marchiol said. “It’s nice to have other like old guys in the room. We’re kind of on the back half of our career, but they’re awesome. They’re great, great competitors. They both bring different kinds of mindsets from both their past schools. And I like that they can have a separation, off the field and on the field. On the field competing, there’s only one quarterback that can play. Off the field, we’re friends.”

Although Marchiol is a veteran at WVU and college football, Rodriguez called himself, Henderson and Brown all “freshmen” when it comes to learning a whole new system. Rodriguez said Marchiol and Henderson have “grasped” it a bit quicker because of their experience.

Marchiol has had some early surprises when playing in Rodriguez’s faced-past, spread offense.

“The biggest surprise is always going to be the tempo,” Marchiol said. “You know what a fast offense is, you can talk about playing fast, and everyone you know wants to be fast, and then you come out here, and there’s a difference between jogging up to the ball and sprinting up to the ball every single play. Tempo is something we wanted to continue to get better at every day.

Marchiol also said he was surprised how many different players get the football, and that the tight ends sometimes get similar targets as the wide receivers, and running backs run the same amount as the quarterback.

Like Rodriguez said, Marchiol talked about how his past experience made it easier to learn this scheme based off past seasons. There’s a lot new, but there’s some carry over.

Marchiol said coverages are the same, mechanics and the footwork he’s learned over the years have been helpful in this new system.

“I think experience is the best way to have confidence in anything you do,” Marchiol said. “With the games that I have played in and the experience I do have in college football, that’s something I can always go back to and think back on. Having something to compare to some form when I had success. You remember those moments and the ones you didn’t do so well on, so you can learn from it.”

A rushing quarterback was a staple in Rodriguez’s first time at WVU. Quarterback Pat White, who’s the assistant quarterbacks coach, rushed for almost 1,000 yards each season, and it’ll be crucial again in the second stint.

Marchiol wasn’t much of a runner in his past seasons with the Mountaineers. He rushed 40 times in eight appearances last year. If Marchiol wants to run Rodriguez’s offense, he’ll have to run a lot more. He said he’s ready for the workload on his legs and is in the best athletic shape of his career.

“When I have my chance to run and get every piece of decent yardage that I can get, and then hustle, sprint back to the ball, and I’m gonna run the next play,” Marchiol said. “It’s another quarterback run. I’m gonna run just as hard as I did.”

Over the first couple of practices, it’s been hard to fully judge each quarterback because they’re allowed to rush and sit in the pocket without the fear of getting blasted. Tuesday marks the first day of full pads, and Rodriguez said all quarterbacks will be live, meaning they can be hit.

When someone mentioned getting hit and full pads, Marchiol smiled. He was excited about it because the real football starts. Rodriguez said the real evaluation will also begin.

“Rhett [Rodriguez], Pat [White],myself and Travis [Trickett] will probably be talking about these guys every day and what the rotation is,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll be patient to some degree, but I always like yelling at quarterbacks. It’s like, what hobbies do you have? It’s not working in the garden, right? It’s yelling at quarterbacks.”