I’ll be spending four of my next five nights in Manhattans, concluding with the Jimmy V Classic and West Virginia v. Virginia and commencing today with the prelude to WVU v. Kansas State. There are quite a few similarities between these two teams: Up and down seasons trending up, one offense chiseled to resemble the other and quarterback injury issues.

It was so bad for the Wildcats that at one point this season they were without four quarterbacks and had to use a receiver against Oklahoma State — and Kody Cook was good! He even got to use the mop when the Wildcats got destroyed by Oklahoma a while later.

It’s been smoother sailing for WVU, but Skyler Howard has had his health issues of late, and though he says he’s fine and getting better, he’s obviously been ailing, too. His condition might be improving, but this is something the Mountaineers, who are now in the habit of recruiting more quarterbacks than before, and their fans might want to get used to as they move forward with this offense.

“There’s no question we feel fortunate with it,” Holgorsen said. “It’s just part of the game. There’s nothing you can do about it. If you really want to get paranoid about it, then you won’t ever run the quarterback, but I don’t think teams are going to do that.”

Holgorsen’s had to alter his practices, though. Howard and his backup, William Crest, were both limited last week. WVU needed true freshman Chris Chuganov to work with the regulars so the offense could rehearse the right way for Iowa State.

Howard, meanwhile, watched from the side. When he was on his own, he did exercises to strengthen his hand and tighten his grip. He said he can put more into his throws now, and the time away from practice helped refresh his body, but he still needed to work out during the week.

“I feel like I need to run a little bit more,” he said. “When I’m not practicing, whatever I’ve been doing, when I’m not throwing, I’ve been running on the sideline.”

The legs are now that important to the quarterback in WVU’s offense.

“I think teams are going to continue to go down this route and recruit a throwing quarterback who’s used to doing things from the spread, but is also a running quarterback,” Holgorsen said. “A dual-threat quarterback makes it a lot easier to move the football. I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

Your mission, should you chose to accept it: Make a prediction that includes a score and a sitcom theme, the latter in honor of K-State grads Kirstie Alley, Eric Stonestreet and, most importantly, Gordon Jump. (If you want to mix in an appliance, go crazy, folks.)