W2WF: North Carolina

Aaron Boumerhi stood on the Alumni Stadium turf and ran through his motions in his mind. He had the rare redemptive opportunity to make right a blocked field goal from the first quarter, but the superfluous drama didn't phase him. Neither did the three timeouts called by Texas State's Jake Spavital to ice him, even though the latter made him laugh a bit. His focus was too single-tracked to his immediate task of putting a 36-yard field goal between the uprights.

Once that kick sailed home, though, his emotions exploded into a euphoric celebration.

"I was on the sideline going crazy," Boumerhi said, "and we were all hitting each other. I think too many guys hit me, and I wound up on the ground. How hard this offseason had been, with surgery and COVID, coming back from a second hip surgery, you can't describe that feeling. In the moment, you can't describe it unless you've been in it."

He simply couldn't process all that went into that kick. He was BC's primary field goal kicker during the 2019 season, but postseason hip surgery meant he entered spring practice in a position battle with both Danny Longman and John Tessitore before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled all activity. Three days before campus closed and sent players home, he underwent a second surgery.

"It was tough," Boumerhi said. "It's my kicking hip, so it's not ideal. It was really tough, no matter what the situation, but I added a pandemic into trying to get physical therapy. I wasn't able to work out and wasn't able to kick all summer before being thrown into camp while recovering from surgery. I started kicking in camp, (but) it's hard to prepare when you're learning how to swing your leg again."

That stalled recovery delayed his season preparation, and he missed the Duke game while Longman kicked two successful field goals. It added pressure to Boumerhi, who subsequently tested better during the Texas State week and earned his job back in practice. None of that, though, helped him when his first field goal back was summarily blocked off the edge by the Bobcats.

"Whenever there's a block, it (stinks)," Boumerhi said. "You feel the kick, and then there's the second sound. That one especially (stunk) because I hit a good ball. It was my first kick back and wasn't an extra point. I felt I was a little slow, but my coach said I wasn't. It's so hard to tell in the game. It could be a split second, but you can't tell until you watch."

"He wasn't quite healthy (for Duke)," head coach Jeff Hafley said, "and it wouldn't have been fair for him to go out and kick. He went through strong work and tested this week, and he looked good in Thursday's practice. I thought he gave us the best chance to win (against Texas State). We had the one field goal block early off the edge, but it wasn't his fault. The timing was good."

All of that - the injury, the surgeries, the obstacle-riddled road to recovery, and the blocked kick - melted away during that final field goal. Time stood still just long enough to watch the ball sail to its exact destination before everything exploded into a single, solitary realization.

"The coaches, the training staff, and my teammates never gave up on me," Boumerhi said. "They always supported me if I needed a day to be down or if I needed a pick-me-up. They gave me confidence and supported me. I owe them a lot. From the time I was home, until this day, my family's been the most supportive people ever, too. They supported me in whatever decision I (made)."

This week, Boumerhi and the Eagles once again host an opponent in Alumni Stadium. Here's what to watch for when BC hosts No. 11 North Carolina:

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Weekly Storylines (300 Edition)

Leonidas: You there, what is your profession?
Soldier: I am a potter, sir.
Leonidas: And you, Arcadian, what is your profession?
Soldier: Sculptor, sir.
Leonidas: You?
Soldier: Blacksmith:
Leonidas: SPARTANS! What is YOUR profession?
Spartans: A-OOH! A-OOH! A-OOH!

North Carolina's offense is a well-oiled machine with well-loaded components and arguably the best engineer in the nation at quarterback. It's almost impossible to stop, but the most direct route to controlling its output is by limiting its opportunities. To do that, Boston College will need a better surge from its own offense, which enters this week ranked somewhat surprisingly in last place in the league in rushing after two games.

Over their first two games, the Eagles failed to gain more than 100 yards against Duke or Texas State and subsequently didn't outrush either opponent. In both games, though, tight scoreboards in the first half necessitated the minimization of a clock controlling offensive mindset. Last week, a full-blown deficit in the fourth quarter went a step further and forced BC into a two-minute drill in order to fire on all cylinders.

"I thought David (Bailey) played well (against Texas State)," Hafley said. "He graded out as one of our higher players. If you look at carries in the second half and time of possession, we had to catch up and throw the ball. We had some packages where he wasn't in for that reason, or he would've gotten more touches. He played better in (the second game) than (the first game), but I understand that he disappeared in the second half a little bit. We needed to score extremely fast, and we needed to throw the ball."

The statistical performance, though, threatens a general irony on BC's ground game. The former, run-heavy mentality pressed larger backs into stacked boxes, but blocking schemes from the offensive line cleared roads and paths through the teeth of opposing defenses. It balanced yardage with downfield passing shots even though the number of rushes called felt like it vastly outweighed the number of passing attempts.

That's a very different outlook from Frank Cignetti's less-straightforward, new offense. The look incorporates more Run-Pass Option and spread looks, and short checkdown passes occasionally replace the power run game. Being forced to throw in the second half isn't helping matters, least of all on the offensive line.

That could change this week against North Carolina because the offense needs to control the clock in order to keep Sam Howell off the field. First downs can matriculate the ball down the field with chunk plays, and moving the chains can reset the clock over and over until the offense reaches the end zone. Expecting bigger doses of that will create more balance and, in turn, generate more opportunities for the running game.

Persian: A thousand nations of the Persian empire will descend upon you. Our armies will blot out the sun.
Stelios: Then we will fight in the shade.

Creating that surge will require the Boston College offense to achieve balance against UNC's ability to create defensive chaos. In their first game, the Tar Heels blasted Syracuse with seven sacks and 11 tackles for losses, and quarterback Tommy Devito spent substantial time under duress. UNC amassed nine quarterback hurries in that game and further broke up five passes Eight players recorded at least four tackles.

That's a distinct problem for BC's offense and an offensive line that notably struggled for extended periods against both Duke and Texas State. UNC is going to aggressively attack the line of scrimmage, which consequently creates pressure to maintain time for quarterback Phil Jurkovec to identify open receivers.

"(UNC) runs an odd and even defense," offensive lineman Alec Lindstrom said. "They're good. They're big, they're strong, and they're good. We, as a unit, know that and put in extra work in our pass protection, even after practice. I've been working with Ryan Betro on the bull rush because I know the guy I'm going to go against is big and strong. I want to sit on that."

That base defense is listed as a 3-4 setup but can vacillate a fourth rusher from its linebacking group. Both Tomon Fox and Tyrone Hopper stand six feet, four inches tall and are 250-pound demons, and inside linebackers Chazz Surratt and Jeremiah Gemmel bring stout stuffing in between the gaps. They line up behind a two-tackle formation on the line with nose guard Raymond Vohasek directly over center, but tackle Jahlil Taylor is a 320-pound monster matchup for the interior guards.

"Their defensive line is very good," Jurkovec said. "Their front seven has speed and size. They work good techniques. They're going to be a force out there, but we just have to be aware of pressures and be alert on everything they're going to bring. We can't focus too much, though, and we have to take what they're going to give us."

"We're watching tape to know what they're doing," Lindstrom said. "We have to step it up a little bit. We can always play better in the run game and do extra work. We want Phil to stay up and make those throws to make it nice and easy on us."

Leonidas: The battle is over when I say it is over.
Daxos: By morning the Immortals will surround us. The hot gates will fall!
Leonidas: SPARTANS! PREPARE FOR GLORY!

North Carolina's offensive breakout earned national respect last season that spilled over into this year's national polls. It created a constant among voters throughout the turbulent first month, and the Tar Heels consistently hovered right around the Top Ten as teams emerged from previously-announced hibernation. This week, they enter Alumni Stadium as the No. 11 team in the Coaches Poll despite not playing a game for the past two weeks.

"This is our first time to travel," UNC head coach Mack Brown said. "We have to get on a plane, and that'll be different. The whole thing will be different. This will be a great test for us...We've been talked about and bragged on enough, and it's time to prove something."

Since BC's 2014 win over No. 9 Southern California, there have been 18 games played against 10 ranked opponents for the Eagles. Those teams averaged a ranking between 11th and 12th in the nation, although Clemson's individual average of No. 6 over six games made up the bulk of the schedule. Over that time, the Eagles won exactly one game in 2018 over No. 25 Miami.

Beating UNC would go a long way to dispelling a notion that the Eagles struggle with nationally-ranked teams. It would vault BC into a national conversation that has been hungry to talk about Jeff Hafley's team, and it would put the players squarely inside the polls for the first time in over a year. It's not necessarily a focus for the team, but it's unquestionably in the conversation after the polls rapidly devolved over the past two weeks.

"I know this is a big challenge with a great team and our players know that," Hafley said. "I'm not going to make it about the opponent this year, we have to get better. I said the same thing going into that Texas State game. I respect every opponent we play. They are a good team. We just need to focus on ourselves and get better, and that's how we have to approach it."

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Countdown to Kickoff

10…UNC's win over Syracuse was Mack Brown's 10th victory in two seasons back as the Tar Heels' head coach.
9…Years since UNC was shut out by an opponent in a game (NC State, 2011)
8…UNC's last game as the No. 11 team in the nation ended with a win that pushed them to No. 8 in 2015.
7…Jeff Hafley can become the seventh BC head coach to go 3-0 in his first three games if the Eagles beat UNC.
6…The last second field goal win ensured BC's streak of consecutive seasons without an overtime win continued in its sixth year (last overtime game: 2014 Pinstripe Bowl)
5…BC played five games that started at 3:30 p.m. over the past two years with a 3-2 record.
4…The Tar Heels were last ranked in 2015 and won four straight games before losing to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
3…This game is the third all-time meeting between BC and UNC played at BC.
2...Sam Howell was one of two QBs with 3,000 yards with at least 35 touchdowns and no more than seven interceptions last season. The other was Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.
1…UNC wideout Dazz Newsome is the ACC's active leader in receptions.

*****
BC-North Carolina X Factor

Power-Vs.-Power

I love the feeling when a strength-on-strength matchup grips me to the edge of my seat. The dramatic energy reached a palpable, grueling height because a game's give-and-take nature never truly shows up. It's indescribable, although I likened it to those baseball at-bats when a pure power, fastball hitter faces a flamethrowing pitcher.

Saturday's matchup plays right into that box. UNC's loaded offense can hit any play at any time, but BC's defense is already undergoing a dominant shift. Sam Howell can make any throw, and his receivers can catch every pass. Brandon Sebastian, though, can defend any receiver, and Deon Jones, Josh DeBerry, and Jahmin Muse have a distinctive thump on downfield threats.

UNC's offensive line's speed and size form a protective cocoon for Howell, but BC's defensive front is disruptive. Isaiah McDuffie is a tackling machine, and Max Richardson is a smart, emotional leader with an overall skill set. Shitta Sillah, Chibueze Onwuka, Luc Bequette, Maximilian Roberts, Marcus Valdez, TJ Rayam, Brandon Barlow - all can force mistakes with their communication.

"They have some good size up front," defensive lineman Brandon Barlow said. "We have to really make sure that we come with aggression and physicality this week. It's a big job for the defensive line to be able to stop this downhill running game that they have. We're going to be attacking all day, trying to be violent to the junction point of attack by getting on blocks."

Some games legitimately boil down to simple base components where one team's strength goes head to head against its opponent. That will happen this week, so whichever team will gain the upper hand will likely walk away with the victory.

*****
Dan's Homegrown Tailgate Tip of the Week

Tailgating at Boston College requires a little bit of creativity because restrictions exist on certain locations on campus. Charcoal grills and smokers are uniformly prohibited, and gas grills aren't allowed in parking garages or indoor parking areas. That's always been fine by me because I'm a huge pizza guy.

Pizza is a third rail topic every time it comes up because I find myself embroiled in hours-long debates over styles, crusts, toppings, and everything else under the sun. Last week, I started talking out loud during Alec Lindstrom's interview with athletic director Patrick Kraft because the two started discussing pizza on the latest episode of "Listen Up My Dudes," even though I was on a walk through the neighborhood by myself.

I specifically felt the urge to respond to the discussion around Chicago style pizza. Mr. Kraft specifically mentioned pizzeria that ship deep dish pizza to Massachusetts, and my head exploded. I've never had a truly great Chicago style pizza, and I have no problem admitting my love for deep dish. My wife wasn't nearly as impressed when I sprinted in the front door to excitedly shout about ordering online.

That said, I need to take up one piece of discussion. I love Chicago-style pizza, but nothing tops the old fashioned slice from New York. It's traditional in every sense of the word, and the perfect slice is the perfect pizza. That's not debatable for me.

In the midst of all of this, I specifically remembered an old, "Daily Show" rant from Jon Stewart. Chicago-style pizza was named the favorite pie in America, and Jon, ever the New Yorker, went off about the differences. I actually agree that the New York pizza is superior, but I don't think it was as much of a runaway as the over-the-top clip implied.

P.S. - I have one last note about that podcast because Wawa came up. I have never been to a Wawa in my life, but I legitimately feel like I'm missing out. My only problem is that I once planned an entire vacation around coffee, and my wife won't be fooled if I try to tell her that a road trip isn't about going to Wawa, you know, once we can do road trips again.

That's actually a fun story. A few years ago, I planned a road trip vacation over the border for us to Montreal. I sold it as a weekend getaway to one of my favorite cities, but I really planned the whole trip around getting two ten pound tins of Tim Horton's coffee. You can imagine the cheesy smile on my face that first morning and the look of disdain and disgust she had with me.

Anyways… on with the preview.

*****
Scoreboard Watching

Last weekend produced a whirlwind of updates to bring the college football season completely full circle. First came the Pac-12 on Thursday night, and the Mid-American Conference, the first league to opt out of playing in the fall, followed suit on Friday.

Getting all of those teams back into the fold flipped the polls sideways again after the weekend and caused a mess exactly one week after the Big Ten did the exact same thing. Oklahoma fell 15 spots in the Associated Press Top 25 after losing to Kansas State, and LSU, the defending national champion, tumbled 14 spots after losing to Mississippi State.

Further chaos came from previously-removed programs now back under consideration for votes. The AP began considering Big Ten and Pac-12 teams on Sunday, and Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon immediately jumped into the Top 15 with the Buckeyes earning four first place votes. The team also moved up four spots in the Coaches Poll with two first place votes.

It knocked a couple of Cinderella contenders out of the ball entirely. Louisiana improved to 3-0 after its win over Georgia Southern, but pollsters outright dropped the Ragin' Cajuns out of their No. 19 spot. Virginia Tech suffered a similar fate after beating NC State with a 45-28 result when pollsters dropped the No. 20 Hokies out of the AP rankings.

Both teams are just outside of the polls, and one point separates the Hokies, who remained at No. 23 in the Coaches poll, from No. 25 Memphis in the AP poll.

The downstream impacts left no fringe team unscathed, and Boston College likewise took its lumps from voters when it received zero votes in the Associated Press poll. The Eagles retained nine votes in the Coaches Poll, but that number diminished the prior week's total. That said, a win this week over North Carolina - No. 11 in the Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the AP Top 25 - would likely shove the Eagles back to the bubble, if not into the rankings entirely.

That leads to the slate of key games on the docket for the ACC this week. In the early slot on Saturday, Pittsburgh defends its national ranking in both polls against NC State, a team smarting from last week's debacle loss against Virginia Tech. Those Hokies follow that game with a 4 p.m. kickoff at Duke on ACC Network before No. 1 Clemson hosts Virginia.

Florida State, meanwhile, hosts Jacksonville State in a game that means a whole lot more than people originally expected. The Seminoles lost badly to Miami last week and looked rudderless without head coach Mike Norvell, who was sidelined with COVID-19. They play at Notre Dame next week and home against North Carolina in the week after, so a home game against Jacksonville State, an FCS team, is all of a sudden a massive game for the team's mojo.

On the national radar, a number of intriguing games and ranked matchups dot the schedule, including a 3:30 p.m. kickoff between Texas A&M and Alabama and a 7:30 p.m. kickoff between Auburn and Georgia. All of those teams are ranked, and the winner of the Auburn-Georgia game likely earns an inside track on the College Football Playoff if Texas A&M upsets the Crimson Tide on the road.

I'm more intrigued with a couple of down ballot games, though. In the Big 12, Oklahoma plays at Iowa State at 7:30 p.m. in a game I'm really watching with one eye open after the Cyclones beat TCU, 37-34. It follows a mid-afternoon start for Memphis and SMU.

*****
Around the Sports World

The Stanley Cup playoffs ended this past week with the Tampa Bay Lightning's series-clinching victory over the Dallas Stars. It was Tampa's second finals victory and closed the NHL Bubble in Canada with the image of Steven Stamkos hoisting Lord Stanley for the first time in his tremendous, 12-year career.

I always get emotional in seeing that trophy, but it struck me a little bit differently this year. I vividly remember the raw happiness of Washington's championship run from a couple of years ago, when Alex Ovechkin skated off the bench and took the Cup for an extended run throughout the rink.

I felt great for Stamkos because he missed so much time in the postseason with an injury. He played in one game and scored a goal on his only shot, which only added to his on-ice legacy. Watching a player cement his off-ice image, though, was even better because a decade with the same team, with that kind of career, deserves that accolade.

Seeing the trophy triggered a discussion among my group of friends about what everyone would do with the Cup if they received a day with it. Five different opinions existed within that group with completely different intentions. One guy naturally said he would find a story to add to the Cup's...well...interesting legacy. I told my brother I would eat breakfast out of it, and he responded that he would tuck it into bed with his children.

It felt really weird to watch a league crown its champion when the season began with the St. Louis Blues raising a banner exactly one year ago this weekend, but that's life in the COVID world. It robbed us of some of the great off-ice traditions around the Cup with the winning team, and it cost us the opportunity to boo Gary Bettman just because we wanted to boo Gary Bettman. Still, it did nothing to diminish the importance of that moment or what it meant to the franchise.

*****
Pregame Quote and Prediction

Don't count the days, make the days count. -Muhammad Ali

I don't believe a team that tries to go yard-for-yard with North Carolina is going to earn many wins over the Tar Heels this year. They have too many weapons on offense and a quarterback that has a place at the table as one of the best in the country. Attempting to go point-for-point with that skill is a tough ask, and I wouldn't place that expectation on any team.

I do believe, however, that Boston College represents a real challenge for UNC. The Eagles have a proven passing attack seeking more consistency and a running game waiting for an inevitable breakout. The defense is stout and took away downfield options last week even after it lost two players in the secondary.

This is a golden opportunity, and college football has been waiting a very long time for the Eagles to grab the brass ring within the ACC. They almost did it in 2018 when they played a de facto division championship game at home against Clemson. They have another shot on Saturday against a future first round NFL draft choice, a legendary head coach, and one of the best teams in the country.

Boston College and No. 11 North Carolina will kick off at 3:30 p.m. from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill. The game can be seen on national television on ABC, with Joe Tessitore and Greg McElroy on the call in Boston. Radio broadcast can be heard on the BC IMG Learfield Radio Network, locally in Boston on WEEI 93.7 FM.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Barlow

Luc Bequette

Ryan Betro

Aaron Boumerhi

Josh DeBerry

Deon Jones

Phil Jurkovec

Alec Lindstrom

Danny Longman

Isaiah McDuffie

Jahmin Muse

Chibueze Onwuka

TJ Rayam

Max Richardson

Maximilian Roberts

Brandon Sebastian

Shitta Sillah

John Tessitore

Marcus Valdez