Quarterback to Back: Alan Bowman, Garrett Greene Each Coming Off Overshadowed Performances

The Cowboys and Mountaineers will square off in Morgantown, each team is in the hunt for its third Big 12 win. And each of the two teams’ quarterback is coming off a year-best performance that was overshadowed.

Before we get into the matchup, or last weekend, let’s take a look at how the two passers compare statistically so far this season.

While there are parallels to draw between the two last week (which we’ll get to below), there isn’t much the two QBs share in terms of on-field style.

While Bowman is the stereotypical pocket passer who’s become known for his veteran live-to-fight another day attitude, Greene is a dynamic running threat, who — at least lately — has been tagged as a bit reckless.

Early in his career, Greene was brought in as an extension of the run game, often outrushing his passing total. But Greene won the starting job this offseason after some late starts last season and has been steadily improving since.

He’s tough to corral and can burn you if he breaks containment.

“The quarterback runs way better than what people think he does,” Mike Gundy said earlier this week. “He’s not a burner, like you worried about the guy we played last week just taking off and blowing everybody’s doors off. This guy’s not that, but he’s more effective than you think. He runs better than you think, and then he doesn’t get caught a lot of times. He did that to us out here last year, so he’s really effective.” 

“He was special (Thursday),” WVU coach Neal Brown said after the game. “I thought he was going to have a breakout performance, and he did.”

Both QBs Overshadowed Last Week

Both Bowman and Greene are each coming off their best game of the season, but each of those performances were overshadowed.

Bowman’s 336-yard, two-touchdown performance was his best as a Cowboy. His 153.2 passer rating was his best since he turned in a 154.7 against Oklahoma State back in 2020 (with Texas Tech). He was the most comfortable leading the offense and it translated year-best marks (or close to them) in just about every category.

But Bowman’s big performance was overshadowed by the impressive outing of OSU running back Ollie Gordon and the big numbers (thanks to Bowman) that receivers like Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens racked up.

On the other hand, Greene’s big game was overshadowed by, well, himself.

In the final seconds of the Mountaineers’ road game at Houston, Greene connected with wide receiver Hudson Clement for a 50-yard touchdown to take the lead. But his celebration, which included removing his helmet, drew a 15-yard penalty that put the Cougars in scoring position and ultimately allowed them to come back and win.

But that late drama overshadowed Greene’s a career game, in which he threw for nearly 400 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) to just one pick.

Back in front of his home crowd, you can bet that Greene will have some extra motivation to get the Mountaineers back on track. It should provide an intriguing QB matchup.