MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two nationally ranked football teams, two head football coaches with Southwestern football backgrounds, two new starting quarterbacks and a pair of attacking defenses provide interesting sub plots to the revival of the West Virginia-Virginia Tech series taking place Sunday night at FedExField in Landover, Maryland.
 
The main story, of course, is the return of one of college football's better regional rivalries that dates back to the William Howard Taft administration in 1912.
 
And while Pitt will always be Public Enemy No. 1, the Hokies have moved significantly closer to that status with West Virginians, particularly in the southern part of state because of the great success Tech enjoyed in the 1990s and 2000s under Frank Beamer.
 
These two longtime Southern Conference and Big East combatants last played in Morgantown in 2005 when the Hokies pinned the only loss on Rich Rodriguez's Sugar Bowl-champion Mountaineers.
 
Although West Virginia owns six more victories than Tech in the 51-game series, the Hokies have claimed seven of the last 10 meetings including blowout triumphs in 2005, 2001, 2000 and 1996.
 
Sunday's affair will be just the fourth time in series history both teams enter the game nationally ranked – the other instances happening during a three-year stretch from 1996-98.
 
The two coaches, West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen and Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente, may be vying for their first Black Diamond Trophy, but they are quickly learning about the importance of the game to the people of the Old and New Dominions.
 
"Getting the rivalry started back up, we're excited about that," Holgorsen said.
 
Three members of Holgorsen's WVU staff have experience coaching against Virginia Tech – defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, defensive line coach Bruce Tall and running backs coach Tony Dews, a native of Clifton, Virginia.
 
Fuente's Hokie staff includes Black Diamond Trophy game holdovers Bud Foster and Charley Wiles.
 
Both teams used to have players from both states on their rosters but that will not be the case this year. West Virginia has only two – starting wide receiver Gary Jennings Jr. and reserve tailback Lorenzo Dorr –from Virginia but that could change soon with Dews' strong ties to the Washington, D.C., area.
 
Virginia Tech doesn't have a single player on its roster from West Virginia this year, despite Blacksburg being approximately 60 miles from Bluefield, West Virginia.
 
So, from an on-field perspective, this game will more closely resemble a regular Big 12-ACC game in terms of player familiarity.
 
Offensively, Holgorsen said he sees a lot of similarities with Kansas State in terms of what the Hokies have done with their quarterback run game and the big, physical players Tech has up front.
 
"Any time you run-gap schemes and throw your quarterback up inside the tackles it's going to resemble Kansas State," Holgorsen said. "Put tight ends and fullbacks in there and it's going to resemble Kansas State."
 
All five offensive line regulars listed on Tech's "unofficial" depth chart weigh more than 300 pounds, led by junior left tackle Yosuah Nijman, a Maplewood, New Jersey, resident.
 
The group is headlined by senior left guard Wyatt Teller from Bealton, Virginia – one of 21 Virginia natives in Tech's offensive and defensive two-deeps. Teller earned All-ACC honors in 2016 by Pro Football Focus and was named to the preseason All-ACC team this year.

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Junior tailback Travon McMillan, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2015, and senior wide receiver Cam Phillips, ranked sixth in Hokie history in career receiving yardage with 2,063 heading into 2017, are Tech's two primary offensive weapons.
 
In charge of getting them the ball is touted redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Jackson of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who beat out junior college transfer AJ Bush during fall camp for the starting job.
 
Jackson is the son of former Michigan assistant coach Fred Jackson and will become the first freshman to open the season as the starter for the Hokies since Michael Vick did it against James Madison 18 years ago in 1999.
 
Jackson was rated a four-star recruit and the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback in the country coming out of Saline High after throwing for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns during his senior season.
 
Fuente's specialty is developing quarterbacks, and Jackson now becomes his next protégé.
 
"We recruited the Jackson kid; he's a good athlete, he's a coach's kid that can throw the ball," Holgorsen noted. "But they have another guy back there that can run it as well."
 
On the other side of the ball, veteran defensive coordinator Bud Foster could have one of the best defensive backfields in the country led by senior corner Greg Stroman, another Virginia resident who earned second team All-ACC honors a season ago.
 
All five players in Virginia Tech's secondary stand 6-feet or taller, including 6-foot-3-inch, 197-pound junior right cornerback Adonis Alexander from Charlotte.
 
Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, back in Morgantown to call the plays for Holgorsen, says Tech's secondary length resembles LSU and will pose a big challenge to West Virginia's receivers.
 
The two linebackers in Foster's 4-2-5 scheme are also outstanding. Left outside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is a second team preseason All-American choice by Sports Illustrated after recording 106 tackles and an eye-opening 18 ½ tackles for losses in 2016.
 
Senior middle linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka was in on 114 tackles last season to earn second team All-ACC honors. He logged several games with 10-plus stops, including a season-high 15 in last year's loss against Tennessee.
 
There are some unknowns up front, however, with only one starter returning - junior defensive end Vinny Mihota of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mihota was in on 43 tackles, seven tackles for losses and a pair of sacks in 2016.
 
"I know it's been rumored that this may be (Foster's) best unit from what I understand," Holgorsen said. "If you watch them they have all of their guys coming back and they were incredibly good last year, so it will be a challenge."
 
The Hokies also have one of the best returning place kickers in the country in senior Joey Slye of Stafford, Virginia. Slye is now seven field goals shy of breaking Shayne Graham's Tech record of 68 field goals booted from 1996-99.
 
Slye also ranks third in school history in career scoring with 321 points heading into 2017, and needs just 51 to top Graham for the top spot.
 
There are plenty of unknowns on the West Virginia sideline, too, beginning with its starting quarterback Will Grier.
 
The former Parade Magazine National Prep Player of the Year last played a college football game for the Florida Gators in 2015 before being suspended for the remainder of the season for taking a banned, over-the-counter supplement. He opted to transfer soon afterward, and WVU beat out Ohio State, Oregon and a host of other schools for his services.
 
Grier's season debut is the most anticipated since Penn State transfer Jeff Hostetler opened the 1982 campaign at ninth-ranked Oklahoma, a 41-27 Mountaineer victory incidentally.
 
"He's ready to go," Holgorsen said. "There's a lot of talk about him and a lot of talk about him finally being able to play football again. It's been almost two years, I guess, to when he last played. I've never seen him in a live situation, so I'm anxious to see him in a live setting to where he can cut it loose a little bit.
 
"He's our quarterback, so our job is to protect him with how we call things. His job is to be able to play within himself and run the offense the way we ask him to," Holgorsen added.
 
Grier has three experienced blockers up front in right guard Kyle Bosch, a former Michigan transfer, sophomore right tackle Colton McKivitz and junior left tackle Yodny Cajuste, who missed most of 2016 with a knee injury he sustained in the season opener against Missouri.
 
West Virginia has the Big 12's top returning rusher in senior Justin Crawford, as well as two other returning running backs with at least one 100-yard rushing performance to their credit. Holgorsen said Monday as many as six different running backs could see action against the Hokies, including fullback/H-back Elijah Wellman.
 
Crawford had big rushing performances against Oklahoma and Baylor without reaching the end zone, something Holgorsen wants to see more of from his senior in 2017.
 
"What good is getting 200, 300 yards if you can't get into the end zone?" Holgorsen said. "I'd like to see him bust a few of those and finish them off with some points."
 
The Mountaineers are down a couple of receivers expected to help them in 2017, but the coaches are confident the three front-line guys, juniors David Sills V, Gary Jennings Jr. and senior Ka'Raun White, can handle the load.
 
Depth behind them is somewhat of a concern, however.
 
On the other side of the ball, veteran defensive aide Tony Gibson will once again go into the season without one of his best defenders. Last year it was free safety Dravon Askew-Henry and this year it is sophomore outside linebacker David Long Jr., sidelined until at least the Big 12 opener against Kansas on Saturday, Sept. 23, after suffering a preseason knee injury.
 
In Long's place at outside linebacker will be redshirt freshman Dylan Tonkery of Bridgeport, West Virginia.
 
Safety is where Gibson has the most experience returning with Askew-Henry back at free safety to team with playmaking spur Kyzir White, a safety masquerading in a linebacker's body.
 
West Virginia will be starting two new corners against the Hokies - senior Mike Daniels Jr., who beat out Syracuse transfer Corey Winfield, and promising junior college transfer Hakeem Bailey, who bested veteran Elijah Battle for the other cornerback spot.
 
Up front, as many as six different players could see action, including four different nose tackles. Sophomore defensive end Adam Shuler II had a strong preseason camp and is expected to be one of the team's top playmakers.
 
Senior Mike Molina will handle the place kicking chores while junior Billy Kinney will once again take care of the punting duties.
 
West Virginia will bus to the Washington, D.C., suburbs on Saturday afternoon and have a walk-through on Sunday afternoon prior to Sunday night's game, which will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ABC.
 
"There's not going to be anything that is more important than trying to keep everybody grounded a little bit to play this game," Holgorsen said. "We're not going to have to give them a whole lot of pep talks. Everybody understands all this stuff. Not only that, but coupled with the first game, there's going to be a lot of excitement."
 
Legendary former coaches Frank Beamer and Don Nehlen will serve as honorary game captains.
There are a very limited number of tickets remaining (premium seating) and those can be purchased through the Washington Redskins on Ticketmaster.