The voice barking instructions and dishing praise to Colorado defensive linemen toiling on the practice fields during training camp wasn't always defensive line coach Romeo Bandison. Much of the time senior defensive tackle George Hypolite played task master.

When young CU defensive backs need to get a coverage straight in their head or refine their footwork, they don't always seek out secondary coach Greg Brown or defensive intern Ashley Ambrose. Senior safeties D.J. Dykes and Ryan Walters can teach them, too.

While the perception of coach Dan Hawkins' 2008 team as young is an accurate one overall, it doesn't necessarily hold up when it comes to the defense. Sure, the roster is loaded with 72 freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores, but there are seven senior defenders who figure to begin the season as starters.

Hypolite, Brandon Nicolas and Maurice Lucas are well established on the defensive line. Dykes and Walters will probably team with cornerback Gardner McKay in the secondary and linebacker Brad Jones has played more games at CU than any of them.

In a season such as this surrounded by youth and inexperience, they might be the heart and soul of the team and the difference between a winning and losing record.

"Those guys have all been to war for us," defensive coordinator Ron Collins said.

Collins begins his third year in Boulder with a defense he says is further along in its development at the start of the year than any since he coached at Boise State. He said he is also beginning to see more of the characteristics of his Boise State defenses emerging in the Buffs.

Those Bronco defenses were generally pretty good at sacking the quarterback, creating turnovers and limiting big plays in the passing game. The Buffs were not good in those areas a year ago, finishing 103rd in the nation against the pass, 95th in sacks and 70th in forced turnovers.

Collins' defenses have always focused first on stopping the run and the past six years -- four at Boise State and two in Boulder -- his units have ranked no worse than 31st in the nation against the run. He believes the Buffs have a chance to be good in that area once again this fall, in part because of the four seniors he will have in his front seven and three more in the secondary.

Collins also became accustomed to his defenses regularly winning the turnover battle while at Boise State. The Buffs have been decent at taking the ball away since he took over, but after three training camps of emphasis on attacking the ball and finishing every play, he and his players are hoping for a breakthrough year similar to the one the Kansas defense produced last season.

"A lot of times your defense is what holds it together," Dykes said. "If your offense isn't playing well, your defense can keep you in a game. I'd love for our offense to do some great things this year, but even if they don't, I put it on our defense to win some games. If we become the backbone, then we become the backbone."

The Buffs are coming off their first consecutive losing seasons in more than 20 years. But they also played in a bowl game last season and it represented a step forward for these seniors, who believe they can lead the program back into the conference title hunt with an everyone-does-his-job approach to each week.

While the seniors are the leaders, they are only part of the experience returning on defense. Juniors Jeff Smart, Cha'pelle Brown and Jason Brace and sophomores Jalil Brown and Jimmy Smith have all played. Smart and Cha'pelle Brown have considerable experience to compliment the seniors.

"With the whole experience thing, people kind of understand where they can and can't kind of cheat within the defense," Walters said. "I think just knowing what's going on and where you can and can't try to go make the play is going to help us a lot this year. I think we can definitely be one of those bounce back teams like Kansas was last year. I really see it within our team and our leaders that we have."

Hey, crazy stuff happens in this game. Take the entire 2007 college season as one example. A sophomore won the Heisman Trophy. Notre Dame lost nine games. An unranked team beat a top-five team 13 times. Kansas scored 76 against Nebraska. Appalachian State won at Michigan.

Teams have certainly made bigger turnarounds than the Buffs would require this season to get into the conference championship and Bowl Championship Series hunt.

And, CU has done it before. The Buffs were 3-8 in 2000 and probably should have taken part in the 2001 National Championship game. They finished 10-3 that year with a loss in the Fiesta Bowl.

Who would have picked Illinois as the Big Ten representative in the Rose Bowl at this time last year? The Illini were coming off a 2-10 season in 2006.

"There are a lot of things we can do now that we couldn't do my first two years here," Hypolite said. "We can call things on the field or go on the field with kind of two calls.

"We can do a lot of things on the run because we have a lot of guys who have been in the system for awhile and generally know what we're doing. It's going to help when you play against a lot of spread offenses that stare at the sideline and are constantly changing plays. Now we can play some games with them."

They have played in a total of 195 games combined. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, but they understand the game and how the subtle details can make the difference.

One of those subtleties is recognizing every opportunity. The Buffs have emphasized improving on third and fourth downs this year. They allowed opponents to convert 36 percent of the time on third downs and nearly 60 percent on fourth downs in 2007.

By comparison, the best defenses in the country last season surrendered first downs in those situations less than 30 percent of the time.

"We're getting there. It's been a long transition, but we're getting there," Collins said. "The guys are getting the idea that we've got to stop the run and run to the ball and be on top of our game and execute. You know all the clichés They're starting to understand what we're trying to get across to them."

Seven seniors on one side of the ball adds a maturity to the entire unit that is impossible for some teams to replicate. When those seniors are leaders as they appear to be at CU, it shows up on the field, in the locker room and in the approach taken to going about business.

It also provides the wisdom to know that just having seven older, more experienced guys around doesn't necessarily guarantee results. Players have to make them happen.

"Young, old, what does it really matter?" Hypolite said. "You can't depend on experience all the time and you can't use youth as an excuse all the time. We've got to play football. We have to line up every day, get after it in practice, work on what we need to work on and put a group product on the field.

"It really doesn't matter how young or how old we are on either side of the ball. What it's going to come down to is can we make plays? That doesn't change regardless of what age you are."