Virginia Tech Football: Can Justin Fuente right the ship in 2021?

How will Virginia Tech football fare in 2021?

Finally, we look at Virginia Tech’s schedule and do our best to project how the 2021 season will go for the Hokies.

• Game 1: (10) North Carolina (L) — The season couldn’t start much tougher for the Hokies as they’ll go up against preseason Heisman contender Sam Howell and the top-10 ranked Tar Heels.
• Game 2: Middle Tennessee State (W) — The Blue Raiders are coming off a tough season themselves and it’s hard to see a quick turnaround in Murfreesboro. Either way, the Hokies should win this one rather easily.
• Game 3: at West Virginia (L) — The Mountaineers should be improved in 2021 and will be a tough team to beat. If this was in Blacksburg, I’d give it to the Hokies but with this one being in Morgantown, it’s hard to go against the Mountaineers.
• Game 4: Richmond (W) — If the Hokies lose this one, Justin Fuente should probably be fired immediately after the game.
• Game 5: (9) Notre Dame (L) — Another really tough game for the Hokies just five games into the season as the Fighting Irish come to town. They may not have Ian Book at quarterback but the Irish will be just fine this season.
• Game 6: Pitt (W) — This won’t be an easy one as Pittsburgh is a quality team themselves but in a coin toss of a game like this, we tend to go with the home team.
• Game 7: Syracuse (W) — Syracuse is entering the season on paper as one of the worst Power Five teams in the country and is a team that Virginia Tech should beat rather easily. Should is the keyword in that sentence.
• Game 8: at Georgia Tech (W) — Like Pitt, this is a really tough one to predict this far out. Georgia Tech has the potential to be a much-improved team this upcoming season but at the same time, it wouldn’t be shocking if they once again struggle and win three games or fewer. For now, we’ll give Virginia Tech the win here.
• Game 9: at Boston College (L) — Personally, I’m a big believer in Phil Jurkovec and I believe Boston College as a whole will be a really good team and amongst the best in the ACC this season.
• Game 10: Duke (W) — Like Syracuse, Duke is entering the season as one of the country’s worst Power Five teams. There doesn’t seem to be much hope right now in Durham and at this point in the season, the Blue Devils may be ready to pack it in and go home.
• Game 11: at Miami (L) — Theoretically, this could decide the ACC Coastal but we’ll have to go with D’Eriq King and the Hurricanes here in this November matchup.
• Game 12: at Virginia (W) — In these predictions, the Hokies enter this game looking for win No. 7 as well as their 60th all-time victory against the Cavaliers. If this is how the season truly goes for the Hokies in 2021, this game could ultimately dictate Fuente’s future in Blacksburg. Luckily for him, we’re going with the Hokies in this matchup.

Prediction: 7-5, 5-3 ACC

It’s certainly not the easiest of schedules for Virginia Tech and Fuente in what’s going to be a potential make-or-break season. Facing the trio of North Carolina, West Virginia, and Notre Dame within the first five games of the season is a tough task and will set the tone in the season. If they can pick up one victory out of those three, it would be huge and could allow them to get to the eight-win mark by the season’s end.

There are also quite a few tricky games on this schedule following their matchup with Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Miami, and Virginia are all games that one could legitimately see being considered toss-ups.

At the end of the day, only four games feel like definite victories on paper for the Hokies: Middle Tennessee State, Richmond, Syracuse, and Duke.

An 8-4 record may be enough to buy Fuente another season, a 9-3 record will definitely mark him safe. That means outside of those four “definite” wins, the Hokies must find four wins in their other games. There’s definitely the opportunity to do so and on paper, they should get to that eight-win mark but if we’ve learned anything about the Fuente era of Virginia Tech football, nothing comes easy.