The Blue Devils are hot off an unprecedented three-year run of success (25 wins, three bowl games and a division title in 2013), but many of the on-field components of that turnaround, including two-year starting QB Anthony Boone, are gone. Can Duke’s new crop of starters carry that standard into 2015?

Offense

How the Blue Devils beat you:Duke is unlikely, in Boone’s absence, to shift to a full-fledged ground-and-pound offense, but there is no question that the running game will be the foundation of the offense this fall. While last year’s top receiver, Jamison Crowder, departs, the Blue Devils’ leading rusher, senior Shaquille Powell, returns, along with a plethora of runners who can come on in relief. Sophomore Shaun Wilson looks to build off a standout campaign (7.7 ypc, 5 TDs), and junior Jela Duncan, who missed all of 2014 due to suspension, returns to give the RB corps a passing weapon out of the backfield (13 receptions for 123 yards in 2013). With three starters returning to an O-line that surrendered just 13 sacks last year, Duke’s ground game—as versatile and as deep as any in the ACC—should continue to find holes in 2015.

How you beat the Blue Devils: Coach David Cutcliffe calls junior QB Thomas Sirk “the fastest starting quarterback I’ve ever had.” And while the signal-caller was Duke’s red zone weapon of choice last year (8 TDs on the ground), he was rarely asked to do much more. Sirk has attempted just 14 career passes—he’s the least experienced of any new starting QB in the Cutcliffe era—and won’t have Crowder (three straight 1,000-yard seasons) in 2015.

Defense

How the Blue Devils beat you: Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ 4-2-5 puts three safeties on the field, and the Blue Devils’ returnees—senior Jeremy Cash and juniors DeVon Edwards and Deondre Singleton—give Duke one of the top ball-swarming units in the conference. Cash, who spurned the NFL in the offseason, forced four fumbles last year (and chipped in 2 INTs), while Edwards and Singleton combined to break up 16 passes. The Blue Devils’ pass D contained big plays all season: Duke allowed just 4 TDs on completions of 20-plus yards, a mark bested by only two teams in the country (San Jose State, Georgia). The secondary will again be asked to limit explosiveness thanks to a serious amount of turnover on the front line.

How you beat the Blue Devils: Said turnover: Duke loses six guys with at least eight starts each in ’14 up front, and while Knowles says he is heartened by the progress of his young DTs, just two linemen who logged sacks in ’14 return (seniors Carlos Wray and Kyler Brown, 2½ combined). And last year’s leading tackler, LB David Helton, is among the departed, so Duke must hope Kelby Brown, a senior coming off his third knee surgery, returns to his ’13 All-ACC form. So the Blue Devils’ first-level D? It’s a puzzle with key missing pieces.