MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia's high-powered offense returns eight starters, including Heisman Trophy candidate Pat White at quarterback, so new coach Bill Stewart's chief concern should be with a depleted defense that is minus seven starters from the Mountaineers' nationally ranked unit last season.

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At a glance

• What: West Virginia Gold-Blue spring game.
• When: 12:30 p.m. today, Mountaineer Field.
• Of note: Proceeds from the scrimmage benefit WVU Children's Hospital. Last year, the Mountaineers donated $5,257.92. That brought their donations to the hospital over the past 24 years to $493,102.26.

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So, when White revealed this week that the defense had won the majority of the battles with the offense this spring, it was an encouraging sign for the Mountaineers, who will be favorites to win a fifth Big East championship in the past six years in the fall.

"They beat us every day," White said. "They're athletic, disciplined and hard to beat. I think they're one of the top defenses in the country."

West Virginia had one of the top defenses in the country last season. The Mountaineers ranked seventh nationally in total defense and eighth in scoring defense.

Matching that kind of production again with seven new players in the starting lineup would be a monumental accomplishment for defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel, who was more modest in his praise of his players.

"We have a lot of good football players we have to replace, but the work ethic has been solid," Casteel said. "For the most part, we've been pleased. We've gotten better from practice to practice and week to week. We're where we thought we would be. We're about on schedule."

The revamped defense will be on display today when West Virginia ends spring drills with the annual Gold-Blue scrimmage at Mountaineer Field.

Only defensive lineman Scooter Berry, linebackers Mortty Ivy and Reed Williams and safety Quinton Andrews are back as starters.

Casteel's biggest challenge will be with the front line. Johnny Dingle and Keilen Dykes, catalysts last season, are gone, to be replaced by younger and inexperienced players. The one returning veteran, Berry, was a freshman All-American last season.

Senior lineman Doug Slavonic, a fifth-year senior from Mt. Lebanon High School, got repetitions with the first-team defense the first few weeks of spring practice while Berry was rehabilitating a knee injury. He will be one of those inexperienced players who will be asked to play a bigger role in the fall.

"Everyone is looking at it like we're a little thin, but, after the spring, I don't think that's the case," Slavonic said.

Slavonic is like many players West Virginia coaches will be looking to next season. He has some experience, but has never been a starter.

"Doug is playing well," Casteel said. "He's had a good spring. He's played in big ball games. He just hasn't played to the extent that we're going to need him to next year. He's had a good, solid spring. He has to do a good job this summer, putting weight on, but he's a guy we're going to be able to count on."

The unquestioned strength of the unit will be the linebackers. Williams was the team's leading tackler last season and the defensive MVP of the Fiesta Bowl. Williams registered 107 tackles, had one sack and forced three fumbles.

Ivy, a senior from Gateway High School, is the returning weakside linebacker. He started all 13 games last season, had 6 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 3 forced fumbles.

"We know what we have to do," Ivy said. "A lot of us played last year. We have to work together. It's about the linebackers and making sure we know what we're doing. If we do that, we'll be able to make a lot of plays and take the pressure off our secondary."

Casteel likes the way his cornerbacks have played this spring and is confident that a starter opposite Andrews will be found by the time camp rolls around in August.

And no matter what White says, Casteel knows his defense will be measured by its performance in the fall, not for any accomplishments in March and April.

"That'll be the big question, when the fans show up and we're keeping score," Casteel said. "We have guys who have played. They just haven't played a great deal in situations where we have to count on them play in and play out.

"That remains to be seen, how we respond. We won't know until we tee it up in September."