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Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is accustomed to having his unit be a big reason for the Hokies' high expectations.
This season, that defense stands out again - as the team's biggest question mark.
''We're as young as we've been in a while and for us, that's a challenge,'' said Foster, who has to replace seven starters. ''We're used to being the reason why we've won championships around here, and I told that to the kids on the first day.
''Our expectations aren't going to change just because we've got seven new starters.''
All those new starters won't have much time to learn on the job, either.
The Hokies open against Boise State, which has 10 starters back on each side of the ball after going unbeaten and winning the Fiesta Bowl. The game Sept. 6 in Landover, Md., comes one year after Virginia Tech opened last season against eventual national champion Alabama.
''We've got to grow up in a hurry,'' Foster said.
Fortunately for Foster's group, the Hokies offense has rarely been more loaded.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor begins his second full season as the starter, and has played all four years. He'll be joined in the backfield by Ryan Williams and Darren Evans. Williams last season ran for 1,655 yards and 21 touchdowns, breaking the Atlantic Coast Conference freshman yardage record that Evans set in 2008 (1,265) before missing last season with an ACL tear.
Back, too, are wide receivers Jarrett Boykin, Danny Coale and Dyrell Roberts. The trio combined for 92 catches and 10 touchdowns.
Taylor also can be electrifying when he pulls the ball down to run, but even without his scrambling, the Hokies should be able to hurt teams on the ground and through the air.
''Having these two backs behind me, that's going to take a lot of pressure off my legs and open up lanes for the passing area,'' Taylor said. ''They're going to stack the box knowing that we have a great rushing game and that's going to open things for me and my receivers.''
Williams, trimmed down to 202 pounds, showed up in far better shape than a year ago and is the speed portion of the backfield, while the 225-pound Evans is as inclined to run over a defender as to run away from him. And he said he's all the way back from his surgery.
''I feel good,'' Evans said. ''It's fixed, I know it's fixed and I'm ready to play football.''
Having so much talent at the skill positions could seem to present offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring with a challenge in keeping them all happy, but he's not seeing it.
''The challenge is when you don't have options,'' he said.
On Foster's defense, tackle John Graves was awarded possession of the lunch pail that represents the Hokies' workmanlike style, and players like linebacker Bruce Taylor, a redshirt sophomore, relish being seen as the weak link on a contending team.
''They don't know who we are, they don't think we're any good, and that's how we like it, being the underdog,'' he said of critics that he believe have underestimated the defense.
A summer working against the offense accelerated their growth, he said.
''We go against some of the best athletes every day in practice, so that really helps us,'' Bruce Taylor said. ''When you have those guys right there on your own practice field that you're working against every day, you get better. You have no choice or you won't play.''
Cornerback Rashad Carmichael, one of just five seniors on the defensive side, said it's a mistake to ignore the defensive tradition that led the Hokies' charge to elite status.
''They're the show right now,'' Carmichael said of the offense, ''but we have a lot of pride and a lot of tradition, so we're going to do what we do on that side of the ball.''
