We stop and stare sometimes at the sideline shows West Virginia puts on, what with the signs and the towels and the signals and all the subterfuge.

But that’s the point.

The Mountaineers understand people are looking, so they make it hard to know what to look for by providing a series of distractions. There may be multiple signalers, and only one is live. The sign may or may not mean something. The towels keep people from watching from above.

This isn’t new — it’s still fun and funny — but it is somewhat topical given what Georgia Southern says it discovered about WVU’s offense based solely on one photograph of one glance given by quarterback Skyler Howard.

Whether you believe Eagles defensive coordinator Jack Curtis was honest or embellishing, whether you believe it mattered naught or at all, you do know and confess people are watching.

Teams have people who look for like cues. That’s why teams close practices. That’s why WVU, as an example, doesn’t permit photographing or filming in certain parts and why the team put a Periscope ban in place this fall.

It’s why teams sign in plays with different methods and diversions. It’s why ever time the Mountaineers play Texas Tech or Oklahoma or TCU Dana Holgorsen talks about his signals and why he sometimes says he’s changing them up that week.

It’s why the NCAA has rules that are intended to prevent another Whatevergate.

And it’s why I grabbed a shovel last week and took a look at this subject.

Turns out it’s not that big of a deal these days. The Big 12 has never reprimanded a member for cheating. There’s a committee in place to field inquiries, should a school ever raise an issue about an opponent, and the cases and the penalties are judged on an individual basis. WVU has never gone to the Big 12 with a complaint since it joined in 2012, but there were occasions in the Big East when WVU was made to worry and respond.