West Virginia’s quarterback gauntlet this season is no joke, and the Big 12 schedule brings a little bit of everything: proven veterans, high-upside dual threats, and a few situations where the starter still isn’t fully settled. That makes the prep work messy for the Mountaineers, especially when some opponents could rotate passers before WVU ever gets a look at them in Morgantown.
At the top of the list is Arizona’s Noah Fifita. He shook off a rough 2024 and came back with a massive 2025 season, throwing for 3,228 yards and 29 touchdowns after superstar WR Tetairoa McMillan moved on to the NFL.
Even without that security blanket, he found ways to distribute the ball and keep Arizona rolling. West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley will need answers in the secondary before that matchup arrives.
Another quarterback who jumps off the page is New Mexico’s Devon Dampier. He made a major leap last year by improving his completion percentage by nearly six full points and trimming his interception total from 12 to five.
On top of that, he’s one of the most dangerous true dual-threats in the Big 12. His career numbers tell the story: 5,783 passing yards and 2,329 rushing yards.
Then there’s Conner Weigman, who finally settled in after an uneven run at Texas A&M. Last season with the Cougars, he threw for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns while adding 700 rushing yards and 11 scores. With a full year in Houston now behind him, the expectation is that he’ll be even more comfortable and even more productive.
At North Texas, some people are already calling Drew Mestemaker the best quarterback in the league. It’s easy to see why.
He has the look, the production from last season, and continuity with his head coach and several others around him. The question mark is how he stacked up against the two best teams on the schedule, South Florida and Tulane, where he didn’t look nearly as sharp.
Texas Tech’s Will Hammond is stepping into the job Brendan Sorsby left behind. This isn’t a mystery backup story; the Red Raiders know what they have.
Joey McGuire made sure Hammond was on a multi-year deal because he believed he’d be the guy eventually. Hammond is coming off a torn ACL, but he appears ahead of schedule and could start Week 1.
He’ll definitely be ready by the time WVU goes to Lubbock.
Kansas may not even have its final answer locked in yet, which is part of what makes that matchup tricky. Jalon Marshall gives them more of a dual-threat look, while Cole Ballard brings more experience and can run as well. Ballard is the name I’d expect them to start with, though that could easily change before November.
Penn State has its own decision to sort through with Drew Pribula and Ethan Holstein, both of whom have already shown they can lead a Power Four offense. Pribula seems to have the edge right now, but it could go either way. The talent is there for both, but turnovers remain a concern.
Cincinnati’s Brendan French has shown enough to keep the Bearcats in games, but the inconsistency is hard to ignore. He put up solid numbers at Georgia Southern last year, yet had rough outings against James Madison, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion. There’s ability there, but the hype around him feels a little ahead of the production.
TCU’s Josh Craig is another tough one to place. He should benefit from a better supporting cast and could have the best season of his career, but the jump from Harvard to the Big 12 is a steep one.
At Baylor, Sawyer Robertson is still a bit of a mystery from week to week. One game he looks unstoppable with both his arm and legs, and the next he’s missing easy throws and giving the ball away. If he gets more consistent, Iowa State could avoid landing in the bottom two or three of the league.
The same uncertainty applies to Missouri State’s quarterback battle. It looks like Jacob Calvez will get the nod after three years as a backup, but he’s completed just 43.9% of his passes in 189 career attempts. That leaves plenty of questions.
Florida State and Arkansas transfer D.J. Jackson is also in the mix, while Chase Bailey has the upside to be a dynamic dual-threat. Bailey is still young and developing, but he spent last season with head coach Ryan Beard at Missouri State, so don’t be shocked if he ends up winning the job.
And then there’s a familiar name in the middle of all this uncertainty: Jake Pribula and Ethan Holstein both have the kind of talent that can change a game, but they also come with turnover issues. That’s part of what makes this quarterback slate so difficult for West Virginia - there are dangerous arms, dangerous legs, and enough uncertainty to keep every week interesting.
In Other News...
Kalani Sitake Shows Why WVU Country Roads Means So Much
Three years ago, Kalani Sitake found himself in the middle of one of the more memorable West Virginia traditions without fully understanding the fine print. The BYU coach had talked up hearing fans sing Take Me Home, Country Roads at a game, only to later realize that at WVU, the song is reserved for after a win. It was the kind of harmless misstep that sticks because it says so much about how deeply that anthem is tied to Mountaineer football and the atmosphere around it.
Sitake revisited the moment during Big 12 Media Day and handled it with the sort of perspective that tends to play well in league circles. He acknowledged the mistake and made clear he respects what the song means in Morgantown, which is part of why the exchange has lingered beyond the original game. BYU and WVU are not on each others schedule this season, but the next trip to Morgantown is already on the horizon. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Fans Wont Believe What Big 12 Branding Means For Mountaineer Uniforms
The Big 12s new partnership with Monster Energy is about to show up in a very visible way across the league, with the brands patches set to land on football and mens and womens basketball uniforms while logos also appear on fields and courts. The agreement is reportedly worth $20 million and is expected to send about $1 million annually to each conference member, another sign of how aggressively the league is leaning into sponsorship revenue.
For West Virginia, the branding move also opens the door to more local creativity. Athletic director Wren Baker has already mentioned the possibility of pursuing an additional jersey patch sponsorship, and the Mountaineers are actively looking for more revenue streams as college athletics keeps pushing deeper into the commercial space. What that could look like for WVU uniforms is still taking shape, but the conversation is clearly moving beyond conference-wide branding and into school-specific add-ons. [Read more 🡒]
Big 12 Commissioner Just Sent WVU Fans A Powerful Message
West Virginia has spent the spring and summer giving the Big 12 plenty to notice. The womens basketball team won the conference tournament, the baseball program reached the College World Series, and those milestones have only added to the sense that the Mountaineers are building something that travels well beyond a single season. That backdrop made Brett Yormarks comments at media days stand out, because the commissioner was not just acknowledging results. He was signaling that WVUs brand, investment and overall direction are being noticed at the highest level of the league.
For Mountaineer fans, the encouraging part is that the praise went beyond polite conference talk. Yormark pointed to the schools competitive potential and the way its fan base shows up, which matters in a league that values both performance and energy. There is also a broader layer here: West Virginia seems to fit the Big 12s culture in a way that could matter again if the conference landscape shifts, and the optimism around what Wren Baker is building only adds to that picture. [Read more 🡒]