Here’s an idea! Let’s be brief with the review today … because there was no brevity at all last night during West Virginia’s highlight-filled yet somehow ho-hum victory over Kansas. I mean, both WVU and Marshall had 7 p.m. kicks. The Mountaineers had to wait until 7:10 p.m. because of the developments in Snyderville, but the Old Dominion-Marshall game was over with 3:12 left in the third quarter of WVU-Kansas.

Dana Holgorsen was not a fan. “It wasn’t the cleanest game,” he said.

That said, the Mountaineers are 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12. They’ve never won eight games in the regular season since they’e been in the Big 12. They’ve never won more than five Big 12 games. Next week is a big game, to say the least, and it’ll be on Fox Sports 1 at noon. Texas, for what it’s worth, is 4-0 at home.

Baylor also lost Saturday. It’s really easy math right now. If WVU wins out and Oklahoma State loses just once — and the Cowboys are home against Texas Tech, at TCU and at Oklahoma — the Big 12 champs wear gold and blue and an SEC team gets a taste in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans … unless things get weird atop the CFP. And let’s not wholly dismiss that as impossible. There were a lot of losses above the Mountaineers Saturday, and there are four weekends left to play.

So as far as outcomes go, Saturday’s was just fine with the Mountaineers. They’ve won their last five November games after going 3-9 in their first four Big 12 seasons, but they’re also 12-2 in the past 14 games and 11-1 at home since the start of last season. It’s a new look, but it’s a good look.

“People know what’s been going on in the past here,” Howard said. “That’s why we say be mentally tough to finish the grind of the season. We put in all this work in the offseason, and to lose one game and let it go out the door, that’s not West Virginia and that’s not us individually.”

Howard departed with 7:01 remaining after completing 16 of 27 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns. He ran 11 times for 64 yards and two touchdowns and the Mountaineers finished with 341 yards on the ground even with starting running back Rushel Shell sitting out with a sprained ankle.

Justin Crawford started in Shell’s place and had his best game with the Mountaineers. The 2015 national junior college player of the year had 129 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Freshman Kennedy McKoy added 127 yards on 18 carries.

Receiver Shelton Gibson, who had just 11 receptions in the first four Big 12 games, finished with four catches for 102 yards and two scores. Daikiel Shorts caught seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown.

WVU had eight plays of 25 yards or more after getting none against the Cowboys last week,

“The big plays are always going to be there when we need them,” Gibson said.