MONDAY HUDDLE: Is Justin Fuente on hot seat after historic loss?

Here are three takeaways from this past weekend's football action around the state.

Hot seat getting hotter for Fuente

For those curious, the figure to buy out Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente's contract is $15 million after this year and $12.5 million following the 2020 season.

Those are becoming increasingly important numbers to grasp for a Virginia Tech fan base that has gotten more and more irate. 

The low point came on Friday, when the Hokies suffered a 45-10 loss at home to Duke, the worst home loss for Virginia Tech since 1974. 

After a successful first season for Fuente in 2016 that saw the Hokies nearly upset eventual national champion Clemson in the ACC championship game, the program has regressed.

Virginia Tech had its first losing season (6-7) since 1992 last year, and it's been a struggle this year, with the wins being closer than thought with victories over FCS school Furman and Old Dominion. 

The Hokies hope Saturday's game at Miami will be the start of a turnaround. 

Protection problems doom Cavaliers

Virginia fought gallantly and took a 17-14 lead at halftime at Notre Dame on Saturday, but the inability to protect quarterback Bryce Perkins was the downfall for Virginia in a 35-20 loss. 

Notre Dame registered eight sacks in the game, two of them being particularly harmful to Virginia.

In the third quarter with Virginia leading 17-14, Jamir Jones sacked and stripped Perkins of the ball and the fumble was recovered by Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, who returned the ball to the Virginia 7-yard line.

Two plays later, Notre Dame scored to take a 21-17 lead.

Then, Julian Okwara stripped Perkins of the ball and the fumble was recovered by Adetokunbo Ogundeji, who ran 23 yards for a touchdown to give Notre Dame a 28-17 lead. 

The Cavaliers never recovered in losing their first game of the year.

Liberty beats familiar face

Last season, Joe Dailey was the offensive coordinator for Liberty when it went to New Mexico and recorded a 52-43 win. 

In the rematch at Liberty on Saturday, Dailey was in the other booth as New Mexico's offensive coordinator, hired by Lobos head man Bob Davie in the offseason after Turner Gill stepped down as Liberty coach following the 2018 season.

After helping Liberty torch the New Mexico defense last year, Dailey couldn't duplicate that success being on the other side against Liberty this time. 

In a game not nearly as high-scoring as last year, Liberty earned a 17-10 victory over New Mexico to earn another win over an FBS opponent. 

Liberty also beat Buffalo earlier in the year.