If you’re just watching casually and without the emotional investment, Dana Holgorsen might look like a guy with a twitch or a bug flying around his head and not a man with a plan.

And Geno Smith might look like a quarterback with a pain shooting through his hand or a helmet that doesn’t fight quite right instead of a leader with a message to spread.

Welcome to the West Virginia offense, where neither time nor motions can be wasted as Holgorsen sends a play to Smith and Smith tells his teammates what to do.

No matter when it begins, Holgorsen and Smith have a constant conversation before each play in the no-huddle offense.

“There’s a whole bunch of non-verbal communication and signals through body language and through stares,” Holgorsen said.

“A lot of hand gestures and a lot of faces being made from him to me,” Smith said.

Through it all, Holgorsen tells Smith if he wants him to hurry or to play at a normal pace. Then comes the play call, the formation and the personnel in rapid succession. Smith then shares it with his teammates.

Sometimes Holgorsen will scan the field and amend something. Smith has been taught to always look back one last time, but sometimes he needs Holgorsen to yell at him or running backs coach Robert Gillespie to run and jump around to get Smith’s attention.

“It’s not that hard,” Smith said. “That’s the key to it actually. It’s simple. He makes it simple. It’s something that’s been going on for 10 years and something that pretty much always works. It’s my job to get the right signals and make sure everyone is communicating and on the same page.”