Four Downs: North Carolina

Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec stood in the huddle and stared at his teammates as confidence flowed from player to player. They collectively started a drive with just under six minutes remaining after North Carolina missed a potential game-breaking field goal, but the quarterback and his charges stood on the precipice of striking a second lightning bolt.

They had, once again, effectively completed a two-minute drill to tie the Tar Heels. What started on the 31-yard line marched into the red zone with less than a minute on the clock, and Jurkovec's pass to CJ Lewis scored six to pull the Eagles to within 24-22 of the 11th-ranked team in the nation.

"The last possession, we had a lot of confidence," Jurkovec said. "We knew we could do it. Everyone in the offense and in that huddle was confident in each other. We were going to fight with each other until the end. We knew that we were going to attack each play."

The lightning bolts, though, wouldn't strike twice, and there wouldn't be joy in Mudville. The mighty Jurkovec, rolling to his right on the conversion try, threw a necessary, forced pass into coverage, but it was the white jersey of defensive back Trey Morrison that caught it. A full football field later, it was a rare interception conversion for UNC, and the Eagles lost for the first time in the Jeff Hafley era, 26-22.

"I told the team all week that we would win it in the fourth," Hafley said after the loss. "We were in a position to, and we had it there on the two-minute drive. The confidence was incredible. The execution was amazing. I think we scored three times, and we just came up short on the two-point conversion. It was a really good job by (offensive coordinator) Frank Cignetti and the offense on that two-minute drive."

The loss cast a bitter pall over a strong, passionate performance on both sides of the ball. Jurkovec was 37-for-56 for 313 yards, numbers that elevated him into a selective pantheon in just his third overall start. He tied Frank Harris' 1968 performance against Army for second-most in program history while throwing the most passes since Matt Ryan's 56-pass game against Maryland in 2007. In the process, he became the first player with multiple 300-yard games in a single season since Chase Rettig in 2012.

"We weren't expecting to throw that much," Jurkovec said, "but Coach Cignetti wanted to throw the ball and air it out. There was a lot there, there were open guys. There were throws that I missed and reads that I missed. There was a lot that I missed, and there's still a lot to get better from."

"Our players expected to win that game," Hafley agreed. "That's how they expect to go into every game. This is a confident group that loves each other, and the staff thought the same thing. I feel for those guys, but that's football. That's every time you enter the stadium. They should feel confident and proud. They left it all out there. They had so much energy and juice, especially in that second half. We just came up a little bit short at the end.

Here are the rest of the takeaways from Saturday afternoon:

*****
First Down: Sam Howell

North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell entered Saturday's game with the hype of a future first round draft pick. In the first quarter, he lived up to that billing by gutting the Boston College defense with surgical precision. He completed four of his six attempts, including one throw to Beau Corrales on 3rd-and-18 that went across his body as he scrambled away from pressure. He amassed 69 yards and capped it with a 24-yard catch-and-run that put wide receiver Khafre Brown in the end zone for his first career touchdown.

After that, though, he looked human. He missed four consecutive passes at one point and threw an interception from deep inside his own red zone that led directly to David Bailey's touchdown catch. He fell under water at one point and was 6-for-13 before his 41-yard touchdown pass to Javonte Williams pulled him back to 50 percent.

"We wanted to turn up the physicality on him and we wanted to wear him down," defensive lineman Brandon Barlow said. "We wanted to make him work the long, hard way. It's a mentality factor. The coaches make the adjustments, and it's our job to just go fast."

That touchdown score was essentially his last chunk play. He threw a 15-yard pass to Corrales to start the second half but fumbled away the drive on a short yardage third down. After that, he missed three consecutive passes and remained at or under 50 percent passing for the rest of the game. His last pass, a completion to Dyami Brown, finished the game for him at 14-of-27 passing, his lowest percentage since a game last November against Virginia.

It was the byproduct of full-fledged confusion after BC masked its coverages. The defensive line stood up its defensive edge rushers on obvious passing downs and mixed up its pass rushers to confuse the offensive line. Marcus Valdez and Brandon Barlow made noise at the line by stunting and twisting early on, and it flowed to more free-form defense when Max Richardson, Isaiah McDuffie, and Mike Palmer all blitzed the same gap over the center, which itself was occupied by nose tackle TJ Rayam.

"We wanted to use speed to our advantage," Barlow said. "Part of that is going full speed when the stunt calls for it. We wanted to cause confusion on the offensive line and create some openings, so we could get home on the QB."

"If we're having a stunt up front, it's because we're sending pressure," defensive back Brandon Sebastian said. "That means we're going to be in man coverage, so you have to be on your toes. The ball is going to come out quick, so you have to line up high against a better receiver."

*****
Second Down: Brandon Sebastian

That ability to mask blitz coverages led directly to Howell's lone interception early in the second quarter. With UNC backed up against its end zone, BC blasted the line of scrimmage and sent safety Jahmin Muse as an extra edge rush on Howell's blind side. Javonte Williams tried to protect, but Muse swim-blocked to his inside behind the offensive line. He hit Howell on the blind side while his arm was cocked for a pass, and it resulted in a pop-up interception for Brandon Sebastian.

Sebastian actually had to cover a good amount of ground against Beau Corrales to make the pick. The pop-up floated closer to the line of scrimmage, and Sebastian, a downfield, lockdown corner, had to break for the spot and fly through the air against a six-foot, three-inch receiver. His forward momentum gained him that extra step and leveraged his jump into the air to play a proverbial centerfield.

"I thought our secondary played hard," Jeff Hafley said. "That is one of the most explosive offenses in the ACC, with one of the better quarterbacks. Our guys fought, and I'm so proud of the defense and the team. I wish I could do more to help us win the game. I have a ton of respect for Mack Brown, Jay Bateman, and that staff. They're going to be one of the best teams in the ACC. By no means am I taking that away."

The pick was the first of the season for Sebastian and, somewhat ironically, only the fourth of his career. As the No. 1 defensive back, it's more of a compliment to not be targeted at all, and he did a good job on Saturday of taking away UNC's top receiving threats. He helped limit Corrales to two catches for 35 yards while Dazz Newsome, a 1,000-yard receiver last year, only caught one pass for six yards.

"That's what I signed up for," Sebastian said. "I want to go up against the best receivers in the country."

*****
HAF-time Hits

-I really have to do a better job of figuring out my eating schedule for 3:30 p.m. starts. I had a late lunch and wasn't hungry enough to do any food before the game, but I didn't want to wait until 8 p.m. to cook dinner. So I decided to cook at halftime, which led to a completely basic, stripped-down stir fry dinner consisting of sliced beef and egg noodles. I expect more of myself, to be honest.

-I am pretty sure that I made up for it with the tweet of the game. At one point, Phil Jurkovec got pushed into the UNC sideline during that fourth quarter drive. I grabbed my phone and punched out, "The medical tent needs a medical tent." Good one, Dan. Self high five.

-The one thing I will constantly miss about Alumni Stadium at this time of year is the weather. In a month, the weather will turn raw and cold, and there will be a couple of games where the cold wind will sit in everyone's bones. Saturday, though, was perfect. The leaves are starting to turn, and it's the middle of apple season in New England. Foliage is starting to bloom everywhere. It's gorgeous, and it's very clearly the best time of year anywhere in the world.

-BC's locker room allows for an open air walk by the fans to the tunnel to take the field, and the atmosphere around that section of the concourse is electric during pregame and after big wins. Without fans, the athletics department erected a screen for families of players to Zoom onto a tiled screen. The shot of families wishing their son and brothers well as they walked out onto the field made me a little emotional, if only because of the reminders of the world we're living in.

-Before the game, BC released a video of "The Power of Ted" about the cardboard cutouts in section ZZ. I suggest everyone watch it but keep a box of tissues handy.

-Ralph Macchio, Matt Hasselbeck, Will and Chuckie, Matt Ryan, Luke Kuechly, Doug Flutie...but nobody put a Bruce Springsteen cutout anywhere in Alumni Stadium? Looks like I found my calling.

-I'll come back to it a little later, but the field microphone on Jeff Hafley after Trey Morrison's hit on Hunter Long reminded me a little bit of Herb Brooks in 1980 when the US Olympic hockey coach looked out onto the ice and told a rival player that he was going to "eat that Koho" for putting a tough hit on one of his players.

-Wear a mask.

*****
Third Down: Hunter Long

On third down with 7:35 left in the first quarter, Phil Jurkovec led tight end Hunter Long with a pass that was just outside of his reach. Long outstretched for the catch, exposing his side, and defensive back Trey Morrison collided with his chest and side. Morrison got up and celebrated the play while Long crumpled to the turf. The scary moment called for trainers, but Long returned and collected nine receptions on 17 targets for 96 yards.

"I don't think they flinched," Jeff Hafley said. "That's what I love about this team. It doesn't matter who we play and what it's in front of. It doesn't matter if there's anybody at the stadium. Whoever lines up against us, we're going to go as hard as we can. We're not going to back down. It doesn't surprise me, though, if you look at these kids have done since the day we got here."

Long is already Jurkovec's full-blown security blanket, and he's going to turn a lot more heads before the season is over. His 25 catches are nearly matching his numbers from all of last year, and his next touchdown will put him within shouting distance of Kobay White's team-leading five scores in 2019.

It's a complete contrast to the running game, and it's shocking to observers expecting BC to run a traditional, horsepower, run-heavy offense. It was always impossible to compare the two offenses based solely on personnel and coaching staff, but the production is now mind-boggling because the Eagles eschewed the run almost altogether against the Tar Heels.

"They made some adjustments, but we did too," Long said. "We had all the plays that we needed to, but we just didn't execute (enough)."

*****
Fourth Down: Emotions Run Hot

Trey Morrison's hit on Hunter Long was, upon initial and further review, a completely clean hit. Long's side was exposed, and Morrison attempted to dislodge the ball by firing a missile at the bigger target. He didn't launch, didn't leave his feet, and didn't use his helmet in order to make a tough, physical play. He did, however, run back to his sideline celebrating the hit while Long was on the field.

I'm not surprised the hit juiced up UNC, and I don't think the Tar Heels knew Long was down when they were celebrating. The field microphone, however, caught Jeff Hafley's reaction to his own sideline and his response to an opponent apparently celebrating a teammate's downing.

It did not sit well.

"It was emotional," Hafley said, "and (everyone) heard what I said because there wasn't anybody there. The one thing that I promised my team is that I'll always have their back. At that moment, I had their back."

"If one of our guys goes down, and we see someone celebrating, it adds fuel to the fire," Brandon Barlow said. "We knew what kind of game it was going to be going in, but that reinforced it to go harder. We stick up together as a team, and that makes us go harder."

The moment energized the Eagles, and the game slowly turned into a passionate, emotional, physical affair. It stepped to the edge and went overboard a few times, forcing officials to throw flags. A number of interference and late hit whistles landed in the second half, and it resulted in over 200 penalty yards being assessed against the two teams.

"Those are unacceptable," Hafley said. "We can't have late hits and that's on me. I want to be aggressive, and I want to toe the line. That's how we're going to play, but we have to do it within the rules. We are going to be disciplined, but we're going to be very aggressive."

I know I mentioned this before, but there's something different about empty arena games. In a standard game with fans, the tension is shared, and the energy of an entire game is spread out through the stands, the crowd noise, and the pomp of a stadium atmosphere. Taking all of those extras away results in a hovering of energy over the game itself. Everything points down on the field, and that entire tension creates some of the toughest, most energetic contests I can remember.

On Saturday, that energy spilled out. It went over the edge and caused sloppy, disciplinary penalties. The more teams play in quieter surroundings, the more they'll get used to things and learn how to harness that energy in big moments. On Saturday, it just spilled out.

*****
Point After: Pittsburgh

The reemergence of the Big Ten and Pac-12 forced a number of ranked teams out of the national poll last week, but Pittsburgh, an ACC team, held the slimmest of margins to remain a consensus team in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. That likely will come to an end on Sunday after the Panthers lost, 30-29, to NC State.

The loss gut-wrenched Pitt after the Panthers held two fourth-quarter leads, the latter of which was lost with less than 30 seconds remaining. That's when Devin Leary drove nearly 80 yards and threw a 13-yard touchdown to Emeka Emezie to up-end the host team.

Kenny Pickett was positively electric for Pitt in the loss. He threw for 411 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-39 attempts, and DJ Turner posted 186 yards on eight receptions. The defense, though, surrendered four touchdowns to Leary and 101 yards on seven catches with two scores to Emezie in the loss.

Next week will mark the second time Pitt visits Alumni Stadium since the teams realigned into the ACC. The two programs were once annual foes as part of the Big East, but BC's defection ended the rivalry altogether. In 2014, Pittsburgh played BC as part of its crossover from the Coastal Division, one week before the USC upset. They didn't meet again until last season at Heinz Field, a game the Eagles won to clinch bowl eligibility.

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Players Mentioned

David Bailey

Brandon Barlow

Phil Jurkovec

CJ Lewis

Hunter Long

Isaiah McDuffie

Jahmin Muse

Mike Palmer

TJ Rayam

Max Richardson

Brandon Sebastian

Marcus Valdez

Kobay White

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