Boston College Athletics
Mistakes In The Past, BC Confidently Moves Onto Georgia Tech
October 20, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The turnover story stood out, but the highlights merged into blended work this week.
Saturday night's game started as smoothly as possible for the Boston College offense. David Bailey gained 28 yards on four carries, his best single drive output of the season, and Phil Jurkovec balanced the run with first down completions to both Hunter Long and Zay Flowers. The offensive line motored forward and shell-shocked the No. 23 Hokies with seven quick, physical plays.
On the eight play, a third consecutive run, Patrick Garwo broke open for a big gain. He rumbled towards Virginia Tech's red zone and blasted into space before Divine Deablo collided with him. The tackle jarred the ball loose before Garwo hit the turf, and Amare Barno fell on it to end an otherwise-perfect drive.
Garwo's fumble set a tone for the remainder of the game. BC plowed forward and executed well against a tough Virginia Tech defense, but uncharacteristic turnovers piled up against the offense and doomed the Eagles to a 40-14 loss. As the work week begins to churn towards Georgia Tech, it's a clear storyline to watch and one the coaching staff knows is shining brightly on the radar.
"It's more than just mental," Hafley said. "We have to simulate situations that are (impacting) us. If that means our offense, that means our scout team defense needs to attack the ball violently and go after backs to give us drills. Every time I looked over at the backs last week, they were doing ball security drills. Clearly it wasn't good enough, and it can't just be a mental thing. If that's what we're doing, then we're not coaching well enough. We have to put them in those situations, so our scout team will be ripping at the ball and simulating what it will be like on game day."
Fumbles and interceptions are, in general, jarring sights on a football field. Their instantaneous momentum swings shatter an offense's forward movement and hang like a cloud over an opponent's ensuing possession. They are, in many ways, a lost opportunity's pendulum and a potential two-score swing is especially fatal in a game with a razor-thin margin of error.
Saturday night highlighted that criticality. BC's two turnovers in the first quarter led to an early 3-0 deficit, and a later interception gave the Hokies a 17-7 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, a fumble turned a 24-14 into a two-touchdown shortfall. A second interception occurred in the fourth quarter, but game context more or less absolved Phil Jurkovec of sin because the Eagles were completely out of their routine by then.
Replacing any of those earlier turnovers with swing points would have drastically altered the topography of the third and fourth quarters. BC could have led that game 14-0 instead of trailing 3-0 in the first or led 14-10 at halftime. The third quarter fumble could have brought the game back within a field goal.Â
"I'm never going to be the one that (is pouty) after a loss, and change who I am," Hafley said. "I'm not going to say things that I haven't said all year. I'm (angry), but if you look at that tape, it's 17-14 with four minutes left in the third quarter. We turned the ball over four times. That's what gets you angry. The system looked unstoppable.
"That's our fault and there's no excuse," he said. "We turned the ball over three of our first four possessions, and it was 17-14 late, in the third quarter. You have to hold the ball, and credit to (Virginia Tech) for taking it away when they did."
There's clear frustration, but the uncharacteristic nature of the turnovers did nothing to quell the optimism surrounding this team. The offense lost only one fumble prior to last week, and Phil Jurkovec didn't throw an interception against either North Carolina or Pittsburgh. He spread the ball around better than he had all year, especially early, and Jaelen Gill scored his first touchdown for BC while pushing over 100 yards receiving. The running game, invisible in the first four weeks, cruised through the Hokies' frontal track early.
"We ran the ball better than we had all year," Hafley said. "There were cutbacks and holes, and we were getting 15 yards per pop early in the game. The pass protection gave Phil time to throw, and credit the offensive line and Coach Applebaum. I thought they did a nice job, and I'm confident they will get better. I still hope people understand that this is a system that's very, very new. They are going to get better every week, and they have to."
It's why Hafley refused to panic after Saturday's game. He identified positives, especially in the running game, where David Bailey slashed through early yardage returns, and Patrick Garwo knifed through the defense prior to his fumble. Travis Levy returned from a late absence against Pittsburgh to execute quick hits, and he picked up key blitz blocks in pass protection before he, too, fumbled in the third quarter.
"Like any other position, we look at what those guys do best," Hafley said. "We ask which guy is the best blocker and which is the best inside zone runner and who can catch the ball out of the backfield. We'd love to ask, 'Which guy is the best guy to run this play? Okay, put Travis in, (for example).' But sometimes it's hard to do that. We have certain calls for certain people, certain receivers and certain running backs. I told those guys that I have their back. They're going to hold the ball and get better, and I'm not going to get into panic mode. I want confident guys back there.
"We look at the tape, just as we do after we win," he said. "We show them what needs to improve. We show what's inexcusable, and we show the highlights. I don't change from a win to a loss. I coach hard and am demanding. We're going to fix the things we need to."
On the eight play, a third consecutive run, Patrick Garwo broke open for a big gain. He rumbled towards Virginia Tech's red zone and blasted into space before Divine Deablo collided with him. The tackle jarred the ball loose before Garwo hit the turf, and Amare Barno fell on it to end an otherwise-perfect drive.
Garwo's fumble set a tone for the remainder of the game. BC plowed forward and executed well against a tough Virginia Tech defense, but uncharacteristic turnovers piled up against the offense and doomed the Eagles to a 40-14 loss. As the work week begins to churn towards Georgia Tech, it's a clear storyline to watch and one the coaching staff knows is shining brightly on the radar.
"It's more than just mental," Hafley said. "We have to simulate situations that are (impacting) us. If that means our offense, that means our scout team defense needs to attack the ball violently and go after backs to give us drills. Every time I looked over at the backs last week, they were doing ball security drills. Clearly it wasn't good enough, and it can't just be a mental thing. If that's what we're doing, then we're not coaching well enough. We have to put them in those situations, so our scout team will be ripping at the ball and simulating what it will be like on game day."
Fumbles and interceptions are, in general, jarring sights on a football field. Their instantaneous momentum swings shatter an offense's forward movement and hang like a cloud over an opponent's ensuing possession. They are, in many ways, a lost opportunity's pendulum and a potential two-score swing is especially fatal in a game with a razor-thin margin of error.
Saturday night highlighted that criticality. BC's two turnovers in the first quarter led to an early 3-0 deficit, and a later interception gave the Hokies a 17-7 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, a fumble turned a 24-14 into a two-touchdown shortfall. A second interception occurred in the fourth quarter, but game context more or less absolved Phil Jurkovec of sin because the Eagles were completely out of their routine by then.
Replacing any of those earlier turnovers with swing points would have drastically altered the topography of the third and fourth quarters. BC could have led that game 14-0 instead of trailing 3-0 in the first or led 14-10 at halftime. The third quarter fumble could have brought the game back within a field goal.Â
"I'm never going to be the one that (is pouty) after a loss, and change who I am," Hafley said. "I'm not going to say things that I haven't said all year. I'm (angry), but if you look at that tape, it's 17-14 with four minutes left in the third quarter. We turned the ball over four times. That's what gets you angry. The system looked unstoppable.
"That's our fault and there's no excuse," he said. "We turned the ball over three of our first four possessions, and it was 17-14 late, in the third quarter. You have to hold the ball, and credit to (Virginia Tech) for taking it away when they did."
There's clear frustration, but the uncharacteristic nature of the turnovers did nothing to quell the optimism surrounding this team. The offense lost only one fumble prior to last week, and Phil Jurkovec didn't throw an interception against either North Carolina or Pittsburgh. He spread the ball around better than he had all year, especially early, and Jaelen Gill scored his first touchdown for BC while pushing over 100 yards receiving. The running game, invisible in the first four weeks, cruised through the Hokies' frontal track early.
"We ran the ball better than we had all year," Hafley said. "There were cutbacks and holes, and we were getting 15 yards per pop early in the game. The pass protection gave Phil time to throw, and credit the offensive line and Coach Applebaum. I thought they did a nice job, and I'm confident they will get better. I still hope people understand that this is a system that's very, very new. They are going to get better every week, and they have to."
It's why Hafley refused to panic after Saturday's game. He identified positives, especially in the running game, where David Bailey slashed through early yardage returns, and Patrick Garwo knifed through the defense prior to his fumble. Travis Levy returned from a late absence against Pittsburgh to execute quick hits, and he picked up key blitz blocks in pass protection before he, too, fumbled in the third quarter.
"Like any other position, we look at what those guys do best," Hafley said. "We ask which guy is the best blocker and which is the best inside zone runner and who can catch the ball out of the backfield. We'd love to ask, 'Which guy is the best guy to run this play? Okay, put Travis in, (for example).' But sometimes it's hard to do that. We have certain calls for certain people, certain receivers and certain running backs. I told those guys that I have their back. They're going to hold the ball and get better, and I'm not going to get into panic mode. I want confident guys back there.
"We look at the tape, just as we do after we win," he said. "We show them what needs to improve. We show what's inexcusable, and we show the highlights. I don't change from a win to a loss. I coach hard and am demanding. We're going to fix the things we need to."
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