I apologize for this, but we failed to cover something very important from Tuesday’s news conference:

We went back to work on Sunday night and had a very upbeat meeting and practice with the guys on Sunday. I told them, and I tell you guys the same thing, if anybody has got their dang dauber down, you need to regroup quickly. We lost to a Top 10 team, so that’s just what happened.

Daubers up, everybody!

– A case can and ought to be made for Rasul Douglas as the Big 12’s defensive player of the year. He’s doing significant stuff on defense in a conference that remains renowned for offense. And he’s a cornerback in a league filled with passers and catchers. “We still have two games to play,” Mountaineers defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said, “but right now, his numbers speak for themselves.”

Believe it or not, the Big 12 has honored 27 players as the player or co-player of the year since 1996. Four were cornerbacks. The Mountaineers are pushing for Douglas, I assure you, but they’re not doing it out in the open.

“I don’t know if he’s the best,” said cornerbacks coach Blue Adams. “He’s playing good ball. I don’t know how all the corners in the league are doing, but he’s not first. His numbers don’t say he’s first, so for that alone, there’s room for growth. We’ll continue to chase that to the end, and once the final game ends, we’ll see how he stacks up then.”

Adams is in his first season with the Mountaineers, and he deserves credit for what Douglas is doing, especially when it relates to batting down accomplishments and reaching for more.

Douglas’ numbers actually do say he’s not first. He leads the Big 12 but is second in the nation in interceptions, but being the best cornerback or the best defender in the conference is one of those things Adams and Douglas will lean over so that they can get their hands on something else.

– Another very good defensive back will be on the field Saturday: Iowa State’s Kamari Cotton-Moya. He’s from California, and the Cyclones have players from 21 states, Washington, D.C., and Nigeria on their roster. The Bakersfieldian had some ups and downs in high school, including the night he was shot about a week after his daughter was born.

“It made me realize I was living too fast and maybe doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing,” said Cotton-Moya, who was shot in the shoulder. “And it made me mad. If it would have been a little higher, I could have passed away. Something tragic would have happened, and [my daughter] would have been living her whole life without a dad. Those thoughts made me prioritize.”

– Iowa State rolls with two quarterbacks. One starts, one plays. One passes, one runs. Good luck figuring out which is which.

“I don’t know who’s going to start, I don’t know when they’re going to pull one out and when they’re going to plug one in,” Holgorsen said. “It’s fairly random.”

– In that same piece, Holgorsen, uh, walks back his mild critique of Justin Crawford not scoring.

– WVU faced Joel Lanning last season, but he wasn’t used as a runner like he is now. Jacob Park is a junior college transfer who didn’t play last season. The Cyclones are about to set a program record for points per game in Big 12 play with a new coaching staff.

The duo’s effectiveness was on full display in a 66-10 over the Red Raiders on Saturday. Park completed 14-of-18 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns while Lanning had a career-high in rushing yards (171) and rushing touchdowns (five) — the latter which tied a school record for most in a game.

“I thought both Jacob and Joel played about as fluid and as well executed a game between the two I have seen,” ISU coach Matt Campbell said after Saturday’s victory.

The two quarterbacks were making play after play for the Cyclones, which is something that could’ve been limited by choosing only one guy to play the position.

“I think it’s foolish, just because they play the same position, that one guy doesn’t get to play,” Cyclone offensive coordinator Tom Manning said. “If you want to be competitive, you have to play your best players.”

– Confession: I didn’t know Park was on Iowa State’s team until the preseason. But I knew the name. Maybe you did, too. He was a top guy in the 2014 recruiting class and went to Georgia. Alabama, Florida State and Notre Dame all wanted him. He’s a pretty good prospect with a very good head shot. And credit to him and his coaches, because Park was a virtual afterthought when coach Matt Campbell’s first season.

– Park is the future, by the way, which means Lanning is maybe playing his final home game Saturday. Or maybe not.

– Speaking of emotion, Iowa Stae’s Mitchell Myers beat cancer. The defensive lineman has started all 11 games this season.

“I kind of said that from the beginning that I wanted to go out on my own terms and I think I have,” Meyers said. “So I’m just going to try to enjoy this last game.”

– Campbell is an extremely popular player’s coach, and consider everybody liked Paul Rhoads. But with Park and maybe Lanning returning, with two talented running backs and with Allen Lazard, if he doesn’t go pro, well, the Cyclones might be something next season.

“They can win here,” senior linebacker Kane Seeley told me [Edit: Not “me” me.] Monday. “They can win (Big 12) championships someday. Matt Campbell can get it done here.”

– The NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee is kind of like a representative watchdog to “prioritize enhancement of the student-athlete educational experience (academically and athletically), and in doing so, promote student-athletes’ personal growth and leadership development.” It has three football players, which isn’t enough but is a start. One of the three? WVU’s Gary Jennings.

“It’s an honor to be a voice for such a prestigious organization and represent West Virginia University, the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA as a member of the football oversight committee,“ Jennings said. “To be able to express our concerns as a whole and to come to a conclusion on a lot of different topics will help enhance football student-athletes across the country.

“There are a bunch of different concerns for student-athletes. I believe they have come a long way in protecting student-athletes and giving us the necessary time and resources to be successful at the college level. I look forward to serving on the committee.”

– Kicking Nikkis. Tomorrow.

– Illinois saw a press for the first time ever Thursday and had neither a clue nor a chance against West Virginia.

“You know what I like? The best feeling is when you feel like somebody is intimidated by the press,” said Teyvon Myers, who played at Brooklyn’s Boys and Girls High School, less than 3 miles away from the Barclays Center. “One thing Coach [Bob] Huggins told us is that we attack people in the trap — there’s two people trapping — we kind of go get ’em. … When you feel that the press is working, it’s the greatest thing.”

As the highlights suggest, this was a mugging. Illinois cut a 19-point lead to nine at one spot in the first half and had the ball when it just threw the orange thing to WVU on back-to-back possessions for easy scored. The Mountaineers had a 34-1 edge in points off turnovers. Also, Dax Miles played. That helps. A lot.

The Mountaineers now play a Temple team that lost to the New Hampshire team that WVU beat by 59 points Sunday. It would appear Bob Huggins got everybody’s attention.