College football 2018 preview: Predicting the first loss for every Top 25 team
There probably isn’t a better tandem of offensive and defensive coaches out there than Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente and defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
Foster has been taking lemons and making stout defensive units-aid since Robert Kardashian was the most famous person in his family. The defense lost several players to the NFL and two more returning starters unexpectedly this summer but Foster will find a way to at least be decent of defense. The Hokies have had a top-two scoring defense in the conference 17 times under Foster, who became the team’s defensive coordinator in 1995.
Justin Fuente is entering his third season in Blacksburg. Prior to Virginia Tech, Fuente spent four years at Memphis where he took a 2-10 program that ranked 115th in scoring in 2011 and won 10 games with a top 25 offense in 2014. This is Fuente’s first year with a returning starter at quarterback. Josh Jackson was decent to better than average as a freshman but should take a big step forward in 2018 in his second year playing for Fuente.
Most people probably expect Virginia Tech to lose to Florida State in Tallahassee to open the season but Fuente and Foster will coach circles around Willie Taggart, even if the Noles have more talent than Tech at almost every position.
Notre Dame is the next major obstacle on Virginia Tech’s schedule. The Irish will be good but they lost too much after last year and they’re young and inexperienced. Lane Stadium won’t be a friendly environment so I’m leaning towards the Hokies.
They’ll lose to Miami in November but that would mean a 10-0 start to the 2018 season. Bold, but they don’t pay me the small to medium bucks come up with conservative, obvious predictions.