And for an encore . . .

MIAMI The locker room at Dolphin Stadium almost was empty in the wee hours of yesterday morning, as Virginia Tech's players gathered their bags and headed to the bus. Orange Bowl champions hats rested on their heads.

A year earlier, in a corner of this locker room, Tech quarterback Sean Glennon spoke quietly as he struggled to grasp the Orange Bowl loss to Kansas -- a game in which he and Tyrod Taylor combined to throw three interceptions, two of which handed the Jayhawks touchdowns.

But early yesterday, near that same corner, Taylor sat with a towel around his waist. He still was waiting to shower as the room cleared out, because he was too busy talking, through a wide smile, about the Hokies' 20-7 win over Cincinnati.

"I think we showed people that we can play on this type of level against any team," he said.

Taylor, a sophomore, showed it by completing 59 percent of his passes for 140 yards -- a performance that seemed unlikely earlier in the season, when Tech's passing game was sputtering.

Redshirt freshman right guard Jaymes Brooks showed it by acquitting himself well in his first start.

Linebacker Barquell Rivers, also a redshirt freshman making his first start, showed it by wrapping up quarterback Tony Pike on fourth and goal at the Tech 1 with 7:25 left in the game.

The Hokies showed this wasn't a rebuilding year after all -- or maybe that the construction of the program's latest era is ahead of schedule.

"It can only get better," Taylor said.

They lost 12 starters from last season -- including all of their wide receivers, both of their linebackers and their tailback.

This team is scheduled to lose seven senior starters: left guard Nick Marshman, fullback Devin Perez, center Ryan Shuman, linebacker Brett Warren, linebacker Purnell Sturdivant, defensive end Orion Martin and cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris, a Highland Springs High graduate. Senior kicker Dustin Keys also will depart.

But because of Marshman's academic suspension and injuries to Warren and sophomore defensive end Jason Worilds, the Hokies got an early look at three players likely to start next season: Brooks, Rivers and defensive end Nekos Brown, a rising senior.

Beau Warren, who will be a junior, figures to ascend at center. Harris' replacement could be junior Rashad Carmichael or sophomore Cris Hill, also from Highland Springs.

In the months leading up to the Sept. 5 season opener against Alabama in Atlanta -- a potential matchup of top-15 teams -- many observers will wonder, logically or otherwise, if the Hokies can use their Orange Bowl victory as a foundation for a run at their first national championship.

They almost did it 10 years ago, when they beat Alabama in the 1998 Music City Bowl, then went 11-0 in 1999 before losing to Florida State in the national title game.

After all, their new starters already are getting rave reviews. Brooks "played like it was his fifth year starting," redshirt freshman tailback Darren Evans said.

Harris gushed about Rivers, comparing him to Vince Hall, a senior last season who is one of the best linebackers in school history.

"We knew he was gonna be the next Vince," Harris said.

Fair or not, the expectations are there. For newcomers such as Brooks and Rivers. For offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, who will enter his eighth season on the job with a group that has to perform more consistently than it did this season. Stinespring and Co. could look back to Thursday as the genesis of next season's success.

The Hokies were ranked 107th nationally before the meeting with the Bearcats' 25th-ranked defense. But they gained 398 yards, had six plays of 20 yards or longer and won the time-of-possession battle by 19 minutes. They entered the game averaging 296.2 yards and 2.6 plays of 20 yards or longer per game.

How good, then, will the Hokies be next season? Only the 245 days between now and the Alabama game will tell. But Harris was prepared to offer an early and optimistic forecast before he left Dolphin Stadium.

"Dangerous," he said. "Daaaaangerous."