At long last, we have a real game. I was thinking there isn’t much else we can talk about before we get started, but then I remembered the essence of this week. It’s strength v. strength. Missouri has a productive defensive line. West Virginia has a veteran offensive line. But is it a protective offensive line?

Not really. At least it wasn’t last season. The pressure Skyler Howard felt in 2015 led to some of his problems with accuracy and decision-making, and WVU’s passers took 32 sacks. That ranked No. 93 in the country. Missouri ranked No. 59 with 27 sacks, but Dana Holgorsen and his staff are highly complimentary of the Tigers and especially Charles Harris.

The Mountaineers embarked on an offseason project, not because they knew Missouri was coming but because they knew Howard and the offense could not survive, never mind thrive, with more of the same. So we got to know one of those cool football terms, not unlike stretching the field or shortening the game or whatever is your favorite.

This spring and summer was about — wait for it — widening the pocket.

“It means your guys on the edge — the tackles — are expanding the defensive ends and giving the quarterback comfort so he can sit in there and not feel like everyone is collapsing on him,” offensive line coach Ron Crook said.

WVU’s pocket in 2015? Not too wide. The pocket belongs to two municipalities. The two guards and the center are in charge of the depth. They can’t retreat or be pushed back. The tackles are responsible for the width. They can’t let the edges give in on the quarterback.

If the depth collapses, the tackles have to make sure the quarterback as an escape route around a corner. If the tackles surrender their space, the center and the guards must allow the quarterback to step up and either pass or run before the pressure off the edge arrives.

WVU’s guard-center-guard arrangement is pretty good. The tackles could be good, but both Yodny Cajuste and Marcell Lazard were first-time players last season and each has started just six times. The Mountaineers are asking them to fan out and create some extra space for Howard in 2016.

“It’s not rocket science,” said offensive coordinator Joe Wickline, who coaches the tackles. “It’s the same thing we’ve been teaching for 100 years now.”

A pocket can vary. Howard’s launch point can be behind the center or he can roll out and take part of the pocket with him. The length of the routes can be different, too, and the pocket can adapt for how quickly Howard throws a pass. If it’s a quick throw, the linemen will take short sets to quickly combat the rush. If the route requires more time before the pass, the linemen will set deeper so they have a better chance to last longer protecting the passer.

Yet the linemen also have to account for situations, and Wickline said the down and distance causes ends to act one way and for tackles to counter.

“If it’s first-and-10, the end is going to be on the tackle to play run or to play play-action pass, and he’ll squeeze gaps,” Wickline said. “As it gets to second-and-long and third-and-long, he wants to get on air. He’s, like, way out there. The reason is he wants to get away from the tackle and get off his hips and now get by the line and run around the quarterback.

“We’re going to throw the ball on first down, second down and third down, and [the tackle] is going to have varied sets based on who’s responsible and how wide [the end] is. If that end is tight, he’ll set up. If the end is real loose on third-and-long, a two-minute drill, the last play of the game, I want to give ground and expand all at the same time to get between him and the quarterback.”

Not in the story? Something potentially important today…

Suppose this works and Lazard and Cajuste can work effectively six inches to his right and left, respectively. And suppose the guards and the center can keep the roof from caving in on Howard. It you add width to depth, you’re creating windows for Howard to see and pass through, but you’re creating alleys for him to run through, too. So if this does work, Howard should have more room for designed or improvised runs.

“We’ve run a good bit of draws with wider pockets and a better pocket when they’re not heating us up,” Holgorsen said. “When they’re heating us up, that pocket does gets smaller. The ball has to come out quick. When they don’t heat us up, the pocket can widen and then they can drop. It’s hard to find windows sometimes when they drop them like that, so with wide lanes you can run that quarterback up in there a good bit.

Now, can it work? You’re asking tackles to work in more space, and that’s not always fun or effective against a speed rush or a bull rush or someone who has an array of moves. But Lazard and Cajuste both said they like what they’re doing now because they really have to put their hands on people and rely more or less on brutality.

In short, they’ve already taken to Joe Wickline’s teaching.

“If he’s not violent and if he’s not combative,” said Wickline, the offensive coordinator who works with the tackles, “just being a ball player is not enough.”