I’m worried, gang. There’s always a question or a line of questioning you sort of have to pursue following a game. It’s obvious, and people will rush to it or someone will get to it early. Sometimes it’s sensitive, and if we’re being honest, it’s not a lot of fun to travel that route.

And because of that, sometimes that question won’t be asked or that line of questioning won’t be pursued, and the reporting lacks. I never liked that, and I’ve jumped on my share of grenades for the greater good. Remember the loss at Colorado? I thought the clock management was a story. I hurried to the postgame news conference after it had started — we were on deadline — and whispered to someone, “Did he go over the clock management disaster?” or something like that. I’m sure I was polite and tame with my wording. Nope. I couldn’t believe it. No one asked it and now I had to ask it.

Sternum. Grenade. But there was no way you could watch that game and not obsess over the way it ended. I remember the quote in the post game: “I don’t want anyone second-guessing me.” And then, in the elevator to the press box, a few of us spun that around, and I said, “I’m going to spend 20 inches second-guessing it.”

I think I won an award for that game story, though.

Yesterday, of course, was not as dire. All things considered — 19 first-time players among the 55 who played, new left guard, new left tackle, a blow to the quarterback’s rib cage, nine new starters on defense, an opponent that was almost entirely new and hard to anticipate, etc. — it was a fine afternoon for the Mountaineers.

But what was one of the prevailing points of the offseason? Prevailing by scoring more points. Remember, 34 + 2012 = 42. But WVU scored 26 points and won by 15, thanks to a late touchdown that only mattered because Missouri recovered the onside kick and moved to the WVU 6-yard line and HOME (-10) was suddenly very interesting.

The game was never in doubt, but it should have been put on ice far sooner in the day and it would have been had the Mountaineers found ways to score more than one touchdown in five red zone opportunities. We joke about the .250 hitter who’s going to strike out 180 times but also hit 36 homers and drive in 107 runs. WVU was a .200 hitter yesterday and slapped a few singles around the yard. There was one homer, but when you’re that muscly and seeing that many fastballs with runners on base, you should hit a couple more out of the park.

Anyhow, Missouri graduate Bob Hertzel and I discussed the red zone offense in the press box during the game, and some others here and there reminded me how salty Dana Holgorsen was last season when I asked about red zone possessions — and Eli Wellman … remember that? — and I said, “I can’t ask that question again. He’ll think I’m messing with him.”

Welp!

“Heeeeere we go…” Holgorsen.

And away we went.

Am I That Guy now? Am I linked to red zone inquisitions or have I been around so long that the other perfectly acceptable reporters are savvy enough to say, “Caz has that one, I’m sure. I’ll steer clear of the grenade,” and be redeemed?

Stay tuned!

I thought it was an exquisite question and a very good answer. We knew the red zone offense wasn’t great, but we needed to know why, right? Was it close and one block or one step on a route was to blame? Was Missouri game? He explained the dilemma, which makes total sense, and he reiterated this just cannot continue to happen.

His players, as you might expect, agreed.

The Mountaineers ran 17 plays in the red zone. Howard was 2 for 5 for 7 yards and 12 runs netted 29 yards. Three possessions saw WVU run from the 3 or closer, and WVU scored just once on three carries. Crawford’s score opened the third quarter and followed an inspired talk at halftime.

“At times, I just feel like it’s a gut check,” running back Rushel Shell said. “It’s 1 yard, man. You’ve got to be able to get that, especially in Big 12 play. It’s something we’ve focused on this offseason — critical downs. We need to make those plays.

“I told the offense in the locker room at halftime, ‘The defense can’t win this game. We’ve got to score. What are we going to do when we play Baylor and they’re putting up 50 points? We can’t kick field goals. We’re not going to hang.’ It’s something we’ve got to learn from this week.”

To reiterate, though, a good day for West Virginia, which never trailed, was never really in danger and only looked wobbly in the second quarter … the worst quarter of this young season. The third quarter? The best, and having Skyler Howard back certainly helped. “He knew we needed him,” Holgorsen said.

Speaking of Howard, here’s an excellent shot from our Christian Tyler Randolph as Howard went to a knee and left the game. Can well call Howard Wristbands now, or is that retired?