Boston College Athletics
Time to Recharge for Weary Eagles
November 18, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
After nine straight games, it's time for BC to rest and recharge.
Jeff Hafley looked exhausted. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep in almost three months, and it finally caught up to him. The first-year head coach is known for his energy and exuberance, but the 2020 football season finally took its toll on him after nine straight weeks without a stoppage. His weekly repetitions of reviewing film and setting a game plan for his players set tones for practice, but the revolutions and hours invested in reinforcing steady gains equally exhausted the coach as much as it invigorated him.
He was more relieved than excited to have 12 hours off, time to spend with his family. On Tuesday, though, those 12 hours likely extended as the result of a late-season ACC schedule shuffle to accommodate a COVID-19 outbreak at Miami.
"Mentally, the staff and I need to get away for a day or a day and a half," he said. "We need to reset, sleep and see our families. We haven't had a day off since July, which I know is what we do, but normally we would have had a bye week somewhere earlier than it is now. We need to be fresh because you coach better when you're fresh, and you treat people better when you're fresh."
The reorganization marked COVID-19's third impact on Hafley's first season. The initial schedule released in January slated four non-conference games amidst eight league games in the more-recognizable two-division format, but it was shattered by March's initial pandemic outbreak. The conference temporarily expanded to 15 teams by adding Notre Dame and shifted its season to a single-division, "10+1" format.
It insulated the ACC, and the Eagles received an overhauled schedule in late August. Games against Purdue, Kansas and Holy Cross were gone, and a season-opening game against Ohio preceded 10 ACC games. Duke, Pitt, Georgia Tech and Virginia replaced traditional matchups against NC State, Wake Forest and Florida State, though Clemson remained and the Notre Dame addition added rivalry star power to the reconfigured setup.
BC expected two bye dates on September 26 and November 21 with seven consecutive games in between, but that underwent a further shift when the Mid-American Conference opted out of the Fall, 2020 season. It removed Ohio from the schedule and eventually replaced the date with a bye when the Eagles added Texas State.
The game against the Bobcats, though, kicked off after Duke on September 26, meaning it shifted the first bye week to Week One instead of Week Three. It gave the Eagles nine consecutive weeks in a row with rivalry games against Syracuse and Notre Dame on the back end, additionally closing with consecutive road games against both Clemson and the Orange before the home game against the Irish.
It ultimately meant BC closed nine consecutive weeks of games against the No. 1 team in the nation, its oldest active continuous rival and the No. 2 team in the nation after Notre Dame beat Clemson. The Eagles ultimately lost two of those three games but did so by a combined 20 points after leading both the Tigers and Fighting Irish.
"I'm proud of how we fought," Hafley said. "It wasn't for lack of effort or lack of preparation. We're fighters, and I'm proud of (this team). We're going to get better. The sign of a good team is how, after you lose a game, you fix it and go out and win a game. Just looking back over these last three (weeks), we played the No. 1 and No. 2 teams, and it's disappointing that we couldn't knock one off, but we lost by a combined 20 points. You look around college football, and there are (blowout) scores. We're not where we want to be, but at the end of the day, I'm proud of this team."
Now the Eagles face two consecutive bye weeks after positive COVID-19 tests and quarantine procedures within the Miami program forced the Hurricanes to reschedule games against both Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. Instead, Miami will play Wake Forest on December 5 and potentially play the Yellow Jackets on December 19 if the Hurricanes do not play for a conference title and if the result of the game would not directly impact which two teams participate in the ACC Championship.
In order to accommodate, the ACC moved BC's game against Louisville to December 12 in order to reschedule the Cardinals' game against Wake Forest to November 28 and open December 5 for the Miami-Wake Forest postponement. Wake Forest, though, will also need a new date for this weekend's game against Duke after positive tests forced quarantine procedures in Winston-Salem.
Ultimately, the impact on Boston College included consecutive bye weeks across this weekend and next weekend before a return to play on December 5 against Virginia. The Eagles will then end their season at home against Louisville on December 12.
"We're looking at what we do well and sticking with that," Hafley said. "We'll look during the bye, a little bit closer, without the pressure of getting ready for a game on Saturday. Sometimes it's fun just to watch film on your own time rather than having something done (by a certain time). We'll look and see if we're giving anything away and what we're doing well and not doing well."
The unexpected, consecutive bye weeks will have unintended consequences on the 2020 season. They are the first regular season games in December since the Eagles defeated Holy Cross, 27-26, on December 1, 1979 and the first time BC will play two regular season games in December since losses to Holy Cross and Temple in 1978. The Louisville game will additionally be the latest BC regular season game ever played.
They are, though, vital to the team's recovery, both physically and mentally. The nine-game streak bubbled physical battles to the surface and inflicted more than just standard bumps and bruises. The emotional toll, though, is often unseen as teams prepare week-after-week for opponents, and it's hard to quantify both on game day and during the week. Stepping aside for a day or two is critical, and it will offer the Eagles a chance to reboot before returning to the field against the Cavaliers in December.
"We're going to do therapy and yoga," Hafley said before the reschedule. "We're going to do treatment and train, but I want them to get away from football, physically and mentally. I don't want to burn out. I want to finish strong in these last two games, and if we grind it all week, given what they've gone through, it wouldn't be fair to them. I think the team needs it more than me, just because they're playing (the game)."
Time and television information for the final two games have not yet been released.
He was more relieved than excited to have 12 hours off, time to spend with his family. On Tuesday, though, those 12 hours likely extended as the result of a late-season ACC schedule shuffle to accommodate a COVID-19 outbreak at Miami.
"Mentally, the staff and I need to get away for a day or a day and a half," he said. "We need to reset, sleep and see our families. We haven't had a day off since July, which I know is what we do, but normally we would have had a bye week somewhere earlier than it is now. We need to be fresh because you coach better when you're fresh, and you treat people better when you're fresh."
The reorganization marked COVID-19's third impact on Hafley's first season. The initial schedule released in January slated four non-conference games amidst eight league games in the more-recognizable two-division format, but it was shattered by March's initial pandemic outbreak. The conference temporarily expanded to 15 teams by adding Notre Dame and shifted its season to a single-division, "10+1" format.
It insulated the ACC, and the Eagles received an overhauled schedule in late August. Games against Purdue, Kansas and Holy Cross were gone, and a season-opening game against Ohio preceded 10 ACC games. Duke, Pitt, Georgia Tech and Virginia replaced traditional matchups against NC State, Wake Forest and Florida State, though Clemson remained and the Notre Dame addition added rivalry star power to the reconfigured setup.
BC expected two bye dates on September 26 and November 21 with seven consecutive games in between, but that underwent a further shift when the Mid-American Conference opted out of the Fall, 2020 season. It removed Ohio from the schedule and eventually replaced the date with a bye when the Eagles added Texas State.
The game against the Bobcats, though, kicked off after Duke on September 26, meaning it shifted the first bye week to Week One instead of Week Three. It gave the Eagles nine consecutive weeks in a row with rivalry games against Syracuse and Notre Dame on the back end, additionally closing with consecutive road games against both Clemson and the Orange before the home game against the Irish.
It ultimately meant BC closed nine consecutive weeks of games against the No. 1 team in the nation, its oldest active continuous rival and the No. 2 team in the nation after Notre Dame beat Clemson. The Eagles ultimately lost two of those three games but did so by a combined 20 points after leading both the Tigers and Fighting Irish.
"I'm proud of how we fought," Hafley said. "It wasn't for lack of effort or lack of preparation. We're fighters, and I'm proud of (this team). We're going to get better. The sign of a good team is how, after you lose a game, you fix it and go out and win a game. Just looking back over these last three (weeks), we played the No. 1 and No. 2 teams, and it's disappointing that we couldn't knock one off, but we lost by a combined 20 points. You look around college football, and there are (blowout) scores. We're not where we want to be, but at the end of the day, I'm proud of this team."
Now the Eagles face two consecutive bye weeks after positive COVID-19 tests and quarantine procedures within the Miami program forced the Hurricanes to reschedule games against both Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. Instead, Miami will play Wake Forest on December 5 and potentially play the Yellow Jackets on December 19 if the Hurricanes do not play for a conference title and if the result of the game would not directly impact which two teams participate in the ACC Championship.
In order to accommodate, the ACC moved BC's game against Louisville to December 12 in order to reschedule the Cardinals' game against Wake Forest to November 28 and open December 5 for the Miami-Wake Forest postponement. Wake Forest, though, will also need a new date for this weekend's game against Duke after positive tests forced quarantine procedures in Winston-Salem.
Ultimately, the impact on Boston College included consecutive bye weeks across this weekend and next weekend before a return to play on December 5 against Virginia. The Eagles will then end their season at home against Louisville on December 12.
"We're looking at what we do well and sticking with that," Hafley said. "We'll look during the bye, a little bit closer, without the pressure of getting ready for a game on Saturday. Sometimes it's fun just to watch film on your own time rather than having something done (by a certain time). We'll look and see if we're giving anything away and what we're doing well and not doing well."
The unexpected, consecutive bye weeks will have unintended consequences on the 2020 season. They are the first regular season games in December since the Eagles defeated Holy Cross, 27-26, on December 1, 1979 and the first time BC will play two regular season games in December since losses to Holy Cross and Temple in 1978. The Louisville game will additionally be the latest BC regular season game ever played.
They are, though, vital to the team's recovery, both physically and mentally. The nine-game streak bubbled physical battles to the surface and inflicted more than just standard bumps and bruises. The emotional toll, though, is often unseen as teams prepare week-after-week for opponents, and it's hard to quantify both on game day and during the week. Stepping aside for a day or two is critical, and it will offer the Eagles a chance to reboot before returning to the field against the Cavaliers in December.
"We're going to do therapy and yoga," Hafley said before the reschedule. "We're going to do treatment and train, but I want them to get away from football, physically and mentally. I don't want to burn out. I want to finish strong in these last two games, and if we grind it all week, given what they've gone through, it wouldn't be fair to them. I think the team needs it more than me, just because they're playing (the game)."
Time and television information for the final two games have not yet been released.
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