One of the great unknowns remaining and preceding the first game is how and how much Dana Holgorsen will use Skyler Howard in the running game. Make no mistake, it’s coming.

“It’s a lot of stuff that I’ve done in the past in high school and junior college,” Howard told me a few weeks ago, while staying as far from specifics as possible. “Coach Holgorsen is really good about using people’s skills.”

We’re referring to, in essence, zone read plays in which the quarterback has the option to give the ball away or keep it. There will be occasions he has the option to pass if he and the running back can suck in the defense with a proper read fake.

There will be additional times when the play that’s called is designed solely for Howard to run the ball, too.

I highly, highly doubt he’ll be asked to run triple option plays or even speed option plays when he’s pitching the ball to a teammate on the perimeter or making the call to keep it. That’s exotic as it relates to the fundamental structure of the offense, and about the most Howard will say is that what’s new merely branches off the main part of Holgorsen’s offense.

“It’s just little tweaks,” Howard said. “We’re not changing the whole offensive scheme or anything like that. It’s just little tweaks to enhance what we’re already good at.”

Well, what exactly is Howard good at, as he puts it? What were the things he did in high school and junior college?

Let’s first understand he’s always been an able and willing runner, and that no doubt has to do with the reality he was a superior or at least comparable athlete as it relates to his position and the opposing defenders he encountered.

As a high school senior, he ran 120 times for 597 yards and eight touchdowns.

As a freshman at California’s Riverside City College, he ran 108 times for 343 yards and five touchdowns.

Last season with the Mountaineers, he ran 22 times for 140 yards — I can account for sacks, which count as carries, and tell you he legitimately ran the ball 18 times for 172 yards and was sacked four times for minus-32 yards.

We saw some very basic stuff. Some was designed for him.

Some was designed for him to make a decision. On these plays, there’s an option for him to keep it and find space in the middle or on the back side of the play.

This is all interesting when viewed in the context that it’s “a lot of stuff that I’ve done in the past in high school and junior college.”

That’s high school.

That’s junior college

That’s high school

That’s junior college.

That’s high school.

That’s junior college. (Howard, in theory, should help WVU a ton in the red zone.)

That’s high school … and I love this play.

That’s junior college … and I know they’re different plays, but you get the idea.

There’s a lot of overlap there, and that’s because high school coaches knew what Howard could do and then did it. Junior colleges recognized the same and found ways to fit it into the offense. The offenses are not identical, but there are some pretty common building blocks in their respective foundations.

I think you’d agree, too, that at the base both offenses are similar to WVU’s. These are things Howard can do, has done and conceivably will do for the Mountaineers. This is Holgorsen accessorizing as opposed to redesigning.

The potential knows no limits.

High school.

Junior college.