We are 50 days from gameday at Milan Puskar Stadium! https://t.co/vVClIqxBjnhttps://t.co/tXkrYsffoR

— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) July 15, 2016

That’s still a long time. We’re basically coming off of our goal line and aiming at the opposite end zone, but at least we have the ball. And we’re about to snap.

We’ve got media days Monday and Tuesday next week, and the Mountaineers — Dana Holgorsen, quarterback Skyler Howard, center Tyler Orlosky, defensive end Noble Nwachukwu and safety Dravon Askew-Henry — are scheduled for the second day.

This week, the Big 12 unveiled its superlatives, first with the all-conference team and then yesterday with the preseason poll. To review, Orlosky and Nwachukwu were the first among WVU offensive and defensive linemen to ever make the preseason team, but that was good enough for just seventh place in the poll.

Explanation: Those were the only two Mountaineers on the preseason team. Oklahoma had nine! Only two teams had fewer than WVU’s two picks. Four of the six teams above the Mountaineers had more. Five of the six had a quarterback, running back or receiver. The exception is Texas Tech, and I think we can agree the Red Raiders have talent on offense.

In the same way it was odd to see WVU have linemen on the preseason team, it’s probably more unusual to see that none of WVU’s skill position players made the team. This is not to say it was wrong — never mind Shelton Gibson’s standing as last year’s Big 12 leader in yards per catch and his second-place standing among returning players in receiving yards and touchdowns — second to Oklahoma State’s James Washington — but it was odd.

Don’t worry, though, if for no other reason than the Mountaineers aren’t worried.

Well, they are worried, but not at all in the way you might think.

“I’m scared how good it can be,” he said. “It’s the scariest feeling. We’ve got so many players.”

Gibson admires the team’s running backs, from senior Rushel Shell, who was one of the nation’s top recruits in 2012, to freshman Kennedy McKoy, who sparkled in the spring. Gibson’s best friend on the team is the quarterback, Skyler Howard, who on Thursday was named to the Davey O’Brien Watch List.

But Gibson is speaking solely about his fellow receivers and what he believes they can do in the rapidly approaching season.

“We’ve got so many players who could be called a [third-teamer] here who could be called a starter at the level we’re at,” he said. “It’s amazing, honestly. I can go in and make a play and be tired and come out and somebody else can come in and make a play. Then that person can come out and the person behind him can go in and make a play.”

The Mountaineers, who begin preseason practice Aug. 2, have only done group workouts structured by NCAA rules, but Gibson can reference those situations to present scenarios for the fall. He’s the starter on one side after catching 37 passes for 887 yards and nine touchdowns last season. He led the Big 12 in yards per catch and ranked second among returning players in yards and touchdowns.

Behind him will be either Marcus Simms, a freshman who scored touchdowns again and again in the spring, or sophomore Jovon Durante, who is back with the team after he was suspended for the spring. On the other side is junior Ka’Raun White and sophomore Gary Jennings, who both advanced in the spring.

“Then there’s Ricky Rogers, who is just, in my opinion, the best possession receiver,” Gibson said. “He’s one of the best possession receivers I’ve ever seen.”