White and Kresser Bruised but Ready for LSU Showdown
Good morning! This is the Shotgun/Throwdown, your daily West Virginia sports roundup.
Morgantown is crackling with nervous electricity this week as West Virginia’s bruised but unbroken quarterback tandem, Jake White and Marcus Kresser, prepare for their high-stakes showdown against SEC powerhouse LSU. The Mountaineers have had a turbulent season, marred by inconsistency, injuries, and controversy, but with Baton Rouge in their sights, the storylines are reaching a boiling point.
Jake White, the golden-armed junior who was hailed as WVU’s quarterback savior, has spent the last two weeks nursing a sprained shoulder and a bruised ego. The latter perhaps more painful. After tossing two picks and being sacked four times in the crushing loss to Oklahoma State, critics questioned not just his health—but his heart. Rumors swirled of a sideline blow-up with offensive coordinator Ryan Darby. Sources inside the program insist it was “just passion,” but the tension was palpable.
Then there’s Marcus Kresser, the enigmatic sophomore who many fans believe should have taken the reins long ago. Kresser is pure chaos in cleats: unpredictable, unfiltered, and occasionally unstoppable. When White went down in the third quarter against Kansas State, Kresser ignited the field, leading a near comeback with a 60-yard scramble that broke four tackles and social media. But he too emerged battered—limping heavily, his ankle wrapped tighter than a drum.
Now, both quarterbacks are “cleared to play,” but the truth behind those words is as murky as a Monongahela mudslide.
Head coach Brent Callahan isn’t tipping his hand. “We’ll go with the guy who gives us the best chance to win,” he said in Tuesday’s press conference, his tone as flat as a pancake at Tudor’s Biscuit World. But insiders whisper that a dual-quarterback system is in play. A risky gambit against an LSU defense ranked fourth nationally in sacks and first in soul-crushing intimidation.
Critics argue that Callahan’s refusal to commit to one quarterback is a sign of desperation, not strategy. ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum even called the Mountaineers “a team caught in identity limbo.” Yet others see it differently—perhaps this storm of injuries and internal drama is exactly what WVU needs to rally around. A battered team with something to prove is a dangerous one.
What’s certain is that Saturday’s matchup in Death Valley won’t be for the faint of heart. LSU fans are notoriously rowdy, and the Tigers are itching to make an example of a team that many in the SEC still see as a “Big 12 lightweight.” But White and Kresser have both heard the talk. They’ve both felt the hits—literal and figurative.
And now, bruised and borderline broken, they’re coming to Baton Rouge with a chip on their shoulders and the kind of gritty defiance that defines Mountaineer football.
Whether that’s enough to survive the Tiger onslaught remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: the LSU-WVU war won’t be won quietly.
