The Bud Foster farewell factor looms large in this Belk Bowl
The Belk Bowl wild card is Bud Foster.
Tuesday is the final game for the Virginia Tech defensive coordinator, long regarded as one of the best in the business. A native Kentuckian born in Somerset, the 60-year-old Foster is retiring after 33 seasons with the Hokies, his final game the 12 p.m. kickoff against Mark Stoops’ Kentucky Wildcats.
Stoops knows Foster well. From 2010 through 2012, Stoops was defensive coordinator at Florida State where he tried to match his defenses against Foster’s Virginia Tech defenses in the ACC. And because of that, the UK coach believes he knows what to expect Tuesday.
“I think you’re going to see an aggressive approach in my opinion from Virginia Tech,” said Stoops at Monday’s Belk Bowl Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. “Just knowing Bud and playing against him and his style, I think he’s going to be aggressive.”
The trick will be how the UK offense, led by quarterback Lynn Bowden, adjusts to Foster’s aggressive approach.
“We’ve got to create big plays with that,” Stoops said. “You guys could see the defensive approach with Lynn at quarterback, the last six games, there’s different styles. Missouri was blitzing and pressuring and we found a way to exploit that, to create big plays. And others did more bend but don’t break, Tennessee we played with a post safety most of the game, or showed that and pressured off of it. I don’t think there’s any question you’re going to see a very aggressive approach from Virginia Tech.”
Read more:
▪ Our old friend Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post wrote about Foster and the Belk Bowl:
“In his 324th game helming a defense after 33 seasons as a Virginia Tech coach and 25 in his current role, the retiring coordinator who turned 60 in July will make his geometric ploy against a quarterback whose total of receptions plummeted from 67 in 2018, the most by a Kentucky sophomore since Randall Cobb, to a mere 30 in 2019.
“Disclaimer: That’s because Bowden moved to quarterback as of Oct. 12, after which Kentucky went 5-2. In truth, he should have obtained a special provision that allowed him to throw passes to himself, providing unusual intrigue for the ticket-buying public.”
▪ Mike Niziolek of the Roanoke Times on the challenge facing the Virginia Tech defense:
“Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is worried about his depth at cornerback going into the Belk Bowl.
With starting corner Caleb Farley sidelined with a back injury — his status for the game is up in the air — Kentucky’s run-heavy offense could really test the Hokies depth at the position.”
▪ Nizolek also wrote on Foster’s last game:
“Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster couldn’t help but think of his pending retirement as professional driver Jeb Burton pulled off the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday morning.
Burton drove Tech’s coaches around the track for a “NASCAR experience” as part of the Belk Bowl’s pregame festivities. Players and coaches were driven around the track at speeds upwards of 200 mph.”
Virginia Tech defensive statistics
(Rush-Pass-Total yards)
- Boston College 157-275-432
- Old Dominion 202-122-324
- Furman 163-68-231
- Duke 234-188-422
- Miami 94-469-563
- Rhode Island 24-286-310
- North Carolina 143-348-491
- Notre Dame 106-336-442
- Wake Forest 63-238-301
- Georgia Tech 53-81-134
- Pittsburgh 60-117-177
- Virginia 181-311-492
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 8:41 AM.
