WTOP’s Dave Preston shares his Week 4 predictions of the Maryland-Wisconsin, Virginia Tech-Wofford, James Madison-Liberty and Virginia-Stanford games.<\/p>\n
College football is known for having hot seats on many a Power Four sideline. Some fan bases that feel entitled to double-digit wins annually, especially in the south or Texas, make coaches feel as if the seat has heat built into it or the off switch is broken.\n<\/p>\n
Usually \u201chot seat season\u201d doesn\u2019t begin until the end of summer, but this fall, the coaching carousel fired up with two moves in mid-September. And while many never understood the DeShaun Foster to UCLA hire last year, not a lot of people had Virginia Tech firing Brent Pry after a 0-3 start on their bingo card.<\/p>\n
It appeared as if he had the program on the right track after a first-season hiccup, but four losses in five games to close 2024, plus an 0-3 start that included blowout home losses to Vanderbilt and Old Dominion, proved to be a bridge too far for the boosters.<\/p>\n
Now, the real fun begins.<\/p>\n
Who gets this job? And who would be a good fit at this school in 2025?<\/p>\n
Naturally, the first names that were mentioned have ties to the program\u2019s glory era: South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is the son of Hall of Fame Hokies head coach Frank Beamer, and Norfolk State head coach Michael Vick quarterbacked the 1999 team that played for the national championship.<\/p>\n
Would the younger Beamer leave an SEC school with the commitment and foundation in place to compete nationally (the Gamecocks barely missed the College Football Playoff last year) to work at a place where he will always be the son of Frank? And, Vick\u2019s college coaching career is all of three games.<\/p>\n
Names that have been thrown out also include former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald and current USF head coach Alex Golesh, who is also reportedly in the mix for the UCLA vacancy.<\/p>\n
Regardless of who takes over, the program that won consistently from the 1990s until recently (13 double-digit victory seasons from 1995-2011, but only one since) needs to find its footing in the NIL\/transfer portal era of college athletics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am confident you will soon see a modernized structure built for success in this rapidly changing environment of college athletics,\u201d Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock said Tuesday. \u201cMore in line with a professional football-type organizational structure on the football side of things. And from an athletic department standpoint, a structure and organization more in line with corporate business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enter interim coach Philip Montgomery, who guided Tulsa to four bowl appearances in eight seasons with the Golden Hurricane from 2015-22.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got an opportunity right now to write the ending of what this story is going to be,\u201d Montgomery said at his introductory news conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got some things we\u2019ve got to fix. We\u2019ve got some things we\u2019ve got to change. We\u2019ve got to continue to grow and to develop. But that being said, we\u2019ve got a lot of time to get that done. It starts this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
This week, the Hokies play winless Wofford, but six of their final eight opponents are currently unbeaten and three (No. 4 Miami, No. 7 Florida State, and No. 18 Georgia Tech) reside in this week\u2019s Top 25.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s Games<\/p>\n
Maryland (3-0) vs. Wisconsin (2-1), 12 p.m., NBC.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Terrapins are 0-4 all-time against the Badgers, with an average score of 38-10 in the three meetings at Camp-Randall Stadium. And they\u2019re facing an angry team that got roasted 38-14 by then-No. 19 Alabama last week. They\u2019ll also be reunited with their former quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who threw for 2,881 yards with 15 touchdowns in a Terps uniform last year.<\/p>\n Edwards has tossed just 13 passes this fall after hurting his knee in the season opener against Miami (Ohio), but his replacement, Danny O\u2019Neil, is completing 73% of his passes this fall. The Terps defense is fresh from posting a pick-6 and a fumble recovery against Towson, where they denied the Tigers on 12 of 13 third downs. They also rushed for a season-high 152 yards, and hope that success can transfer to conference play.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Big Ten you\u2019ve got to win running the football in tough environments during tough times with tough weather,\u201d head coach Mike Locksley said this week.<\/p>\n The Badgers allow 46 yards per game on the ground (fourth-lowest in FBS) and 1.9 yards per carry (fifth-lowest).<\/p>\n Presto\u2019s Pick:<\/strong> Terrapins run into a brick wall that\u2019s Wisconsin red, falling 20-14.<\/p>\n Virginia Tech (0-3) vs. Wofford (0-3), 12 p.m., ESPN+\/ACC Extra. <\/strong><\/p>\n A game not even worthy of the CW has interim coach Philip Montgomery making his debut against the winless Terriers, but this dog has bite, with its three losses coming by a combined six points. To say quarterback Ethan Drumm is under the radar is a major understatement, as the freshman doesn\u2019t even have a photo in his ESPN.com profile.<\/p>\n Kyron Drones\u2019 profile has taken a serious hit over the first three weeks, with multiple turnovers in multiple games. Can he put together a solid 60 minutes with minimal mistakes? And will the defense bounce back from coughing up 40+ points in consecutive weeks at home?<\/p>\n Presto\u2019s Pick:<\/strong> Hokies begin their transition with a triumph, 38-14.<\/p>\n James Madison (2-0) at Liberty (1-2), 3:30 p.m., ESPNU. <\/strong><\/p>\n Scheduling before league play is always a challenge for good Group of Five schools that Power Four programs don\u2019t necessarily want to play, and that causes early gaps in the schedule because the open date can\u2019t be easily filled.<\/p>\n Therefore, the Dukes are coming off an early bye week, and before you get on them for needing two weeks to prepare for a Conference USA team let the record show the Flames do boast an infusion of talent, from quarterback Ethan Vasko (Coastal Carolina) to running back Evan Dickens (Georgia Tech).<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been haunted by turnovers this fall as a pair led to 14 points in Liberty\u2019s loss to Jacksonville State and four led to 10 points in LU\u2019s defeat at Bowling Green. JMU has won four straight in Lynchburg.<\/p>\n Presto\u2019s Pick:<\/strong> Dukes dominate, 37-15.<\/p>\n Virginia (2-1) vs. Stanford (1-2, 1-0 ACC), 7:30 p.m., ACC Network.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Cardinal are one of two FBS schools that are currently unbeaten in conference play while also being winless outside their league (Conference USA\u2019s Jacksonville State is the other outlier).<\/p>\n This is the first meeting between these schools, although Stanford head coach Frank Reich is no stranger to Scott Stadium, having thrown for 173 yards and a touchdown for Maryland in a November 1984 win (truth be told, Rick Badanjek\u2019s 217 yards and two touchdowns rushing may have been a bigger factor in the 45-34 victory).<\/p>\n Reich\u2019s team leans on the run this year as well, with Micah Ford averaging 5.3 yards per carry while posting a pair of 100-yard games rushing. And that\u2019s a good thing, as the Cardinal currently ranks last in the ACC in passing yardage and efficiency.<\/p>\n Kippy & Buffy welcome a California school to Charlottesville by leaning on a California red, pouring a bottle of 2022 Tablas Creek Grenache from the Adelaida District (three hours south of the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California).<\/p>\n \u201cHigh-toned aromas of cherry candy, tarragon, and all the pieces of strawberry shortcake, from the fruit to the buttery biscuits to the whipped cream,\u201d according to the winery website. \u201cThe mouth is pretty and medium-bodied, with flavors of strawberry jam and meringue, vibrant blood orange acids, and lots of chalky minerality on the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n Presto\u2019s Pick:<\/strong> Cavaliers deliver chalky minerality from start to finish in a 35-14 win.<\/p>\n Georgetown<\/strong> beats Brown, Howard<\/strong> humbles Hampton, Towson<\/strong> tops Youngstown State, William & Mary<\/strong> tops Charleston Southern, Richmond<\/strong> routs VMI, Morgan State<\/strong> beats Central State (OH).<\/p>\n