by Randy King, The Roanoke Times, Va. , The Roanoke Times

"I'd say a top-10 football team," Martin said. "I'm looking at our D-line and I'm the only one leaving. We have a bunch of freshmen that can really help us out. So I don't see why we can't be a top-10, a top-five football team next year."

With 18 starters returning from a young club that finally ended the ACC's eight-game losing streak in BCS bowl games, the Hokies have a strong chance at starting next September ranked in the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Tech's highest preseason ranking ever in the AP poll was eighth in 2005. The Hokies have been No. 9 three times (2007, 2003 and 2001) in the AP's preseason rankings.

Tech loses only four starters off a club that improved down the stretch and played its best game of the season in whipping favored Cincinnati 20-7. Hokies coach Frank Beamer said Monday that nothing is a given in college football.

"I think just because we finished up well and had a lot of young guys playing, I don't think there's a guarantee for next year," Beamer said. "That [Orange Bowl] finished up this year and now you start another year, and it starts over. And there's a very fine line between being OK and not being OK, and I think it's gotten tighter than ever in the ACC.

"So I think it goes back to the team chemistry, how we perform here in the offseason, how we perform in our 6 a.m. workouts, how we perform in our spring practice, what we get done over the summer. I think you've got to work for it. That's going to be our approach."

Defensively, the Hokies lose All-American cornerback Macho Harris, inside linebacker Purnell Sturdivant and Martin. That's not counting inside linebacker Brett Warren, who was injured and replaced in the Orange Bowl starting lineup by Barquell Rivers. The redshirt freshman showed he was up to the task, making the game's biggest tackle -- a stop of UC quarterback Tony Pike on a late-game, fourth-and-goal at the Tech 1.

On offense, the Hokies have to replace only one player who started the bowl game -- center Ryan Shuman.

Fifty-one percent of the 64 players that Tech dressed for the bowl game were either freshmen or sophomores. The list included only 12 seniors.

"That just shows you what can happen in the future for us," said Jaymes Brooks, a redshirt freshman who played admirably in place of two-year starter Nick Marshman (academically ineligible) in the Orange Bowl.

Tech (10-4) also got good news after the bowl win when junior free safety Kam Chancellor said he expects to return for his senior season. Chancellor recently sent in paperwork to an NFL advisory committee in regards to where he might be taken in April's draft should he leave college early.

"I would love to come back and win another ACC championship and try to win the national championship next year," Chancellor said. "At the beginning of this season, I didn't think like that. But at the end it is a crazy thought that as young group we just won that Orange Bowl."

Nekos Brown, a junior who started the bowl for injured Jason Worilds, figures to replace Martin at defensive end.

A defense that finished ranked eighth in the country in yards allowed (279.4) will have to find replacements for Sturdivant (99 tackles) and Warren (86 tackles), the unit's two leading tacklers. Rivers will enter spring drills as the favorite to fill Warren's spot, with expected competition from Jake Johnson, Allen Stephens and Quillie Odom, all of whom redshirted this past season as freshmen.

Coordinator Bud Foster said he plans to take a strong look at redshirt freshmen Bruce Taylor and Lyndell Gibson in the spring at Sturdivant's position. In the secondary, junior Rashad Carmichael will be the top candidate to fill Harris' spot.

Offensively, Tech must replace Shuman and Marshman in the line. Junior Beau Warren, who started and played every snap at center against Georgia Tech and Florida State in 2007, figures to take over at center. Brooks' bowl performance gives him the edge for Marshman's guard spot.

Elsewhere, coordinator Bryan Stinespring's unit returns intact. Except for quarterback Sean Glennon, the Hokies didn't lose a player at the skill positions.

A tailback corps that includes Darren Evans, who ran for a school-record 1,265 yards for a freshman, will be even stronger next season with the addition of Ryan Williams. The highly touted redshirt freshman is expected to push Evans and backup Josh Oglesby for time next fall.

"He's probably the quickest guy that we've played against this year," said redshirt junior rover Dorian Porch, of facing Williams in practice. "There's something big coming from him next year."

A receiving corps that entered this fall as the country's youngest group at the position will be augmented by redshirt freshmen Xavier Boyce and Randall Dunn.

The most pressing question in spring drills will be finding a backup for sophomore quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Ju-Ju Clayton and Marcus Davis, a pair of redshirt freshmen, are the early favorites.

All things considered, Tech should be loaded when its opens the season Sept. 5 against Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

"The future?" said Harris, laughing after the Orange Bowl victory. "The sky is the limit. The future is unlimited because you don't know what we're capable of doing next year. We have a whole lot of guys back. A lot of our guys are to be veterans. The coaches will be back. I'm excited to see what they're going to do next year."

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