What if I told you that I produced and scheduled this post Tuesday night and that the nickname I used for the players in the story was the “Final Four?” I only used it to fit the headline, not to print T-shirts … and then gymnastics happened later that night, and, well, I had to make an edit this morning.

Anyhow, WVU’s defense has a pretty unusual thing going at cornerback. Eight players — apologies to freshmen Sean Mahone and now-injured Jake Long — are battling for the two starting spots … and then the backup and nickel back roles. But half of those eight are fifth-year seniors with wholly different backgrounds and one thing in common: There is no next year.

The Mountaineers believe there’s something to that motivation.

“It’s not necessarily pressure, it’s more that you have to be focused and you can’t slip up and have a bad day,” Kyeremeh said. “We’re so close on the depth chart that somebody can pass you if you have one bad day. That makes you more focused to try not to have those mistakes.”

Repeated errors or one bad day will cost a cornerback his spot in a competition as crowded as this one, and it can take a few days to make up for what went wrong. Time isn’t something any of the four seniors can afford to waste.

“You see a lot in this business when guys become seniors that something happens to them mentally,” Gibson said. “I’ve seen a ton of guys have their best year in their senior year, which is the way it should be.

“These guys are on their last chance to make an impression and finish their careers the right way. Some of them might be able to go play at the next level, and some of them will play, hopefully, 13 or 14 games here and that’ll be their last hurrah.”