West Virginia is going to see a bunch of good to very good quarterbacks this season and even more very good to great receivers. That’s life in today’s college football and in the Big 12 in particular. I don’t much care that, in August, the quarterback talent is down. I think that’s probably because it’s unknown, and I believe that perception can and will change in the opening weeks when answers arrive at Texas Tech, a starter emerges at Oklahoma and numbers continue to accumulate at Baylor. I do know the receivers in the Big 12 are sort of scary, and that’s why the WVU’s depth at cornerback — now deeper than before with Rasul Douglas officially eligible and practicing — is such a good development.

We forget, though, that the Mountaineers were just average against the run last season and proved to be wholly inconsistent. That deserves more ink than it’s thus far receiver.

For every Corey Coleman and Starling Shepard there is Shock Linwood and Samaje Perine. For every Trevone Boykin there is DeAndre Washington. For every quarterback controversy being settled and wide receiver waiting to emerge there is something similar at running back, too.

The league fancied a passing fancy is leaning more and more to the run and to multiple running backs. The trend is trending, if you will, and WVU just has to be better against the run this season, if for no other reason than that’s the essence of the defense: Stop the run, contain the pass. No 10-yard runs, no 18-yard passes and a lot of third-and-longs.

So with respect to the starting cornerbacks who have to line up across from K.D. Cannon and Kolby Listenbeey, to the safeties who have to handle Jakeem Grant in the slot and running plays on the perimeter, to the defensive ends who have to put pressure on the passer and the linebackers who have to tackle impressive skill in the open field, nothing WVU will do on defense will matter more toward the outcome than what nose guard Kyle Rose and middle linebacker Jared Barber do together against the run.

On those run plays, the nose guard and the middle linebacker are in charge of the “A” gap, which is the space between the center’s shoulder and the guard next to him.

When the ball is snapped, the nose guard works to fill one gap so the middle linebacker can come in to handle the other.

“The linebacker, because of his distance from the ball compared to the nose guard, has a little more time to react, and he can fix the nose if he has it wrong,” Tall said. “That’s the beauty of the defense. It’s the core of our group. You’ve got one middle linebacker and one nose. That’s where it starts and where it has to work.”

That pairing is something the Mountaineers are paying attention to as they ready for the 2015 season, which starts at home Sept. 5 against Georgia Southern. The 6-foot, 230-pound Barber missed last season recovering from the ACL tear that ended his 2013 season. The 6-4, 295-pound Rose started all 13 games last season, his first as a full-time starter. Nick Kwiatkoski was the middle linebacker and, with Rose’s help, led the team with 103 tackles.

Kwiatkoski is back on the outside, this time as the Sam. As the Will in 2013, he led the team with 86 tackles. Barber is again the middle linebacker. Working mostly with Shaq Rowell as the nose guard in 2013, Barber finished with 71 tackles in 10 games and seven starts.

Rose and Barber are roommates, but the fifth-year seniors needed spring practice and then preseason camps to really get to know each other on the field.

“You do get used to playing with a certain type of guy,” Rose said. “Nick is a faster kind of player who can make plays in the open field. Jared is somebody who can come down pretty hard in the ‘A’ gap and pull the center off me, which gives me a 1-on-1 block instead of taking on double teams.”