Still no indication who will start at running back for the 24th-ranked Mountaineers Sunday or who will get the majority of the snaps — and understand those roles aren’t necessarily the same. Dana Holgorsen is entirely uninterested in naming a starter because, to him, it just doesn’t matter.

That’s not a gripe. It’s his wont, his consistent preference. And I doubt it’s some sort of smokescreen. I instead think he’s got four players who are fairly indistinguishable and he’d like to see someone step forward in this week’s practices, which, by the way, begin today. That’s a good way to manufacture productivity and effort, right?

But mostly, “starter” is just not an important title to Holgorsen. It means someone will be on the field for the first snap, but it doesn’t mean he’ll get 16 carries or the nod on the goal line or the responsibility to run the wheel route on the key third-and-11. Those things will be sorted out during the game when Holgorsen and Robert Gillespie, the running backs coach Holgorsen completely trusts, get a feel for the players and their play.

That said, we’re here to have some fun. Someone is going to start — unless Holgorsen reads this, shakes his water bottle and says, “Up yours! I’m going five wide!” — and someone is going to emerge as a featured performer.

So …

What’s your call? Who is the starter and who is the player that you identify after the game as the one who seized the occasion and asserted himself?

I sense Vernard Roberts is the starter. He hasn’t fallen off and the coaches have talked a lot about wanting a guy who can handle those nervous moments early in the game. If nothing else, Roberts has earned that trust by being here since January and playing and playing well in the spring game. I know you could say similar things about Trey Johnson, who is a sophomore and has played in a real regular-season home game, but I just think Roberts is ahead.

The emerging player? My hunch is Andrew Buie. He and the Mountaineers have been through too much to get here, and, um, he’s pretty good, too.

“He hits the hole real fast and once he gets one-on-one with the linebacker, it’s over,” freshman running back Dustin Garrison said. “He has the moves. He has the speed. His top speed is real fast. Defenders have angles on him, but even with those angles, they can’t catch up with his speed. It’s incredible.”

(I think a few of you have emailed me today. The answer is “No.” The news that the defensive staff signed new contracts is not news. It was reported in June, though perhaps overshadowed June 10 by the other thing that happened that day. Jake Spavital’s contract details are dated, too — and that wasn’t the first time they were in print. There is a new detail about the offensive staff having termination clauses by the university if Holgorsen leaves on his own, though. Interesting, yes, but I don’t think that really surprises anyone. That’s basically a way to make a clean break, but it’s also fairly flexible, too. That is, if WVU really liked Bill Bedenbaugh and would want to replace Holgorsen with the offensive line coach, that clause won’t stand in the way. But if Bedenbaugh wanted to follow Holgorsen, the questions as to how it happens are cut out of the equation.)