College football: Predicting the first loss for every remaining undefeated team
Liberty’s first loss: at Virginia Tech – Saturday, Nov. 7
Some might look at Hugh Freeze and the Liberty Flames and peg that their first loss of the 2020 season is going to come in Week 7 as they go on the road to face the Syracuse Orange. After all, the Flames haven’t been facing a who’s who of the sport to this point with wins over Western Kentucky, FIU, North Alabama and UL Monroe.
While that may be true, Liberty has been impressive against lesser competition and has looked far better than Syracuse has at any point this year. But even if they get past this ACC foe, they won’t get past the next as they travel to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech in the first weekend of November. While the Hokies may not be a top-tier team, they have the horses to simply out-talent the Flames, especially in Lane Stadium.
Marshall’s first loss: at Louisiana Tech – Saturday, Oct. 17
When predicting that Marshall will hand FAU the Owls’ first loss of the season, I of course mentioned that the Thundering Herd are unbeaten in their own right. However, that won’t be the case when they face Florida Atlantic as they are going to taste defeat for the first time this season when they go on the road to face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
Marshall can hang their hats on an upset win over App State to this point in the year but they aren’t exactly battle-tested with wins over Eastern Kentucky and Western Kentucky in addition to two postponed games. The Bulldogs aren’t elite by any stretch but they are grinders that fight with anyone they face and can raise their level of play. At home, they do that to topple the unbeaten Herd.
North Carolina’s first loss: vs. Notre Dame – Friday, Nov. 27
With a ton of preseason hype behind Mack Brown, Sam Howell and the Tar Heels, this team has started the season perfect but has looked quite imperfect in doing so. The good news for them is that Howell and the offense have found their footing, looking as if they can find success against anyone. But the question is if a thin North Carolina defense will be able to hang with the heavy-hitters on their schedule, such as Notre Dame.
The Tar Heels finish the 2020 season in the ACC at home against Notre Dame before making a trip to Miami. They should be favorites in every game leading up to that final stretch but that’s where things get tricky. For me, they are on-par with the Irish and Hurricanes and will likely split those games. Really, it’s take your pick as to when they will suffer their first loss but, given the pedigree of Notre Dame, we’ll give it to them.