Week 10 Notes: The Louisville Game

Boston College looks to close out its 2020 home schedule with its fifth ACC win of the season Saturday versus Louisville. The game will be broadcast nationally on ACC Network. Chris Cotter, former BC standout Mark Herzlich and Eric Wood have the call of the game. Coverage on the Boston College Learfield IMG Sports Network begins at 3:30 p.m. with Jon Meterparel, Pete Cronan and Scott Mutryn. Fans can listen to the game locally on WEEI 93.7 FM, nationally on TuneIn and on Sirius channel 135, XM channel 193 and online via SiriusXM channel 955.

BC (5-4, 4-4 ACC) returns to action for the first time since a 45-31 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame on Nov. 14. Louisville (3-6, 2-6 ACC) rolled to an impressive 30-0 shutout victory over Syracuse last Friday. Malik Cunningham accounted for two touchdowns to offset three first-half turnovers, and Louisville held Syracuse to a season-low 137 yards with three takeaways.

Saturday's game will be the final game for BC's group of seniors at Alumni Stadium. The senior class will be honored prior to the game.

Finishing with a Winning Record in ACC Play
• Boston College has a chance to do something it has not done since 2009 with wins in its last two games against Louisville and Virginia - finish above .500 in the ACC.
• The Eagles have not finished over .500 in the ACC since 2009 during the traditional eight-game league schedule.
• With a win Saturday, BC would win its fifth ACC game in a season for the first time since 2009. BC played eight ACC games a year since joining the conference in 2005. This season, every team in the league will play 10 conference games.

The Series
Boston College and Louisville meet for the 13th time in series history Saturday. The Cardinals lead the all-time series 7-5 as the two teams have split the last four meetings. In the last meeting at Alumni Stadium, BC rolled to a 38-20 victory over the Cardinals in 2018.

BC's largest margin of victory in the series was a 41-7 victory over Louisville in 1986. The longest win streak for BC in the series is two games. Louisville's largest margin of victory was a 52-7 win 2016 that capped off a series-long four-game win streak in the series for the Cards.

Scouting Louisville
• Louisville is 3-6 overall and 2-6 in the ACC entering Saturday's game at Alumni Stadium. The Cards own victories over Western Kentucky (35-21), Florida State (48-16) and Syracuse (30-0) on the season while losing to Miami (47-34), Pitt (23-20), Georgia Tech (46-27), Notre Dame (12-7), Virginia Tech (42-35) and Virginia (31-17).
• Named the 23rd head football coach at Louisville on Dec. 4, 2018, Scott Satterfield not only changed the culture of the program instantly, but he also transformed the Cardinals into an immediate threat for years to come in the ACC race.
• Satterfield's six-game turnaround in his first season was tops among Power 5 programs and became only the second ACC coach to take a winless team in the league and win five games the following year. He was named the school's first ACC Coach of the Year for his efforts and became only the school's second first-year coach to win eight or more games.
• Taking over a team that won two games the previous year, Satterfield led the Cardinals to an 8-5 record that culminated with a win over Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl.
• Louisville ranks 38th nationally in total offense (437.6 yards per game), 69th in scoring offense (28.1 points per game), 55th in passing offense (243.4 yards per game) and 39th in rushing offense (194.1 yards per game).
• On defense, the Cards rank 37th in total defense (363.8 yards per game), 47th in scoring defense (26.4 points per game), ninth in passing yards allowed (178.9 yards per game) and 87th in rushing defense (184.9 yards per game).

vs. The Ranked
• Boston College has played two opponents ranked No. 1 or No. 2 three times in the same season, including this season against No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Notre Dame. In the span of three weeks, the Eagles played at No. 1 Clemson on Oct. 31 (L, 34-28) and hosted the No. 2 Irish on Nov. 14 (L, 45-31).
• The other two seasons where BC played two teams ranked in the top two in the same year was 1991 and 1981.
• BC lost to No. 1 Miami (19-14) and No. 2 Michigan (35-13) in 1991 while losing to No. 2 Penn State (38-7) and No. 2 Pitt (29-24) in 1981.
• The quarterback for Penn State in the 38-7 victory over BC in 1981 was Todd Blackledge. He finished the day 8-of-17 passing for 182 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
• Led by freshman QB Doug Flutie, the Eagles almost pulled off a Halloween upset against No. 2 and undefeated Pitt in 1981. Pitt survived a 349-yard passing day by Flutie and a nightmarish fourth quarter that included three straight turnovers, to pull out the five-point win at Alumni Stadium.

Thrill Jurkovec
• Phil Jurkovec has burst onto the scene as the starting quarterback for the Eagles. Jurkovec's 2,355 yards over his first nine starts are the most by any BC quarterback in school history. Shawn Halloran owned the previous best start through nine games in 1985.
• Jurkovec is the first player in BC history to total four, 300-yard passing games in his first five career starts at quarterback and the first BC quarterback with four or more 300-yard games in a season since Matt Ryan (2007).
• In the 31-30 overtime win against Pitt, he finished with 19-for-35 for 358 yards with three passing touchdowns plus one rushing score.
• Against No. 11 North Carolina on Oct. 3, Jurkovec was 37-for-56 for 313 yards and two touchdowns. The 37 completions were tied for second in BC single-game history with Frank Harris (37 versus Army in 1968). Matt Ryan's 40 completions are the most in BC history against Wake Forest on Nov. 4, 2006.
• Jurkovec's 37 completions were an Alumni Stadium record. The previous best belonged to Matt Ryan with 37 completions versus Army on Sept. 22, 2007.
• His 56 pass attempts were also the most by a BC quarterback at Alumni Stadium since at least 1996 and was the highest overall total number of attempts since Ryan passed 56 times on Nov. 10, 2007 at Maryland. Jurkovec is tied for fourth in BC single-game history with the 56 attempts. Matt Ryan, Shawn Halloran and Frank Harris own the school record with 57 attempts.
• Jurkovec opened the season becoming just the third BC quarterback since 2010 to throw for 300 yards in a game - and he did it in his first career game at BC against Duke.
• The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its "Stars of the Week." Jurkovec was one of the eight quarterbacks to be honored after his breakout performance at Duke and in the win against Pitt.
• The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced its Great 8 list of the top quarterback performances of the 2020 college football season and Jurkovec was honored for his efforts at Duke and against Pitt.
• The transfer from Notre Dame finished 17-of-23 passing for 300 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the Duke victory. He joined 10 other former BC signal callers to throw for 300 yards in a game since 1996 (Chase Rettig, Anthony Brown, Matt Ryan, Chris Crane, Matt Hasselbeck, Paul Peterson, Scott Mutryn, Tim Hasselbeck, Brian St. Pierre and Quinton Porter).
• Jurkovec became the first BC quarterback since Matt Ryan in 2007 to throw for 300 yards, multiple touchdowns and complete 70% of his throws in a game in leading BC to a 26-6 victory at Duke.
• Jurkovec made his first start at quarterback since Dec. 9, 2017 at HersheyPark Stadium in the Pennsylvania Class 6A state title game. Jurkovec led Pine-Richland to a 41-21 victory over St. Joseph's Prep.

Time to Update the Record Book
• Phil Jurkovec is closing in on the best sophomore season of any quarterback in Boston College history.
• Jurkovec's 190 completions are the most of any BC sophomore quarterback, passing the previous record held by Chase Rettig in 2011 (170).
• Jurkovec needs 395 yards passing to pass Doug Flutie's sophomore record of 2,749 yards set in 1981.
• Jurkovec has thrown 17 touchdown passes so far this season and needs five more to break the mark held by Glenn Foley in 1991 (21).

Among the Nation's Elite
• Phil Jurkovec is ninth nationally and second in the ACC with 2,355 passing yards. He is 11th in Boston College single-season history in passing yards after just nine games.
• He has thrown for more yards than any BC quarterback in a season since Chase Rettig's 3,065 yards in 2012.
• Jurkovec is fifth nationally in completions (190) and his 17 touchdowns passing rank 12th nationally.
• Jurkovec is second among all BC quarterbacks since 1996 with 260.4 passing yards per game in a season.

Zay All Day
• Sophomore Zay Flowers has blossomed in BC's new pro-style passing attack. After totaling just 22 receptions for 341 yards in 13 games in 2019, Flowers has 41 catches for 625 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020.
• Flowers is 20th nationally with 625 yards receiving and tied for 12th with seven receiving touchdowns.
• The speedster from Fort Lauderdale finished with his second 100-yard receiving game of the season with six receptions for 162 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in the 31-30 victory in overtime over Pitt.
• Flowers became the first BC player with three receiving touchdowns in a game since Kelvin Martin at Holy Cross (11/22/86).
• He tied the school record with five other players with three touchdown receptions.
• The 166 yards receiving by Flowers were the fifth-most by a BC player since 1996.
• Flowers' 77-yard score was the first of 70 or more by an Eagle since Hunter Long's 72-yard score at Louisville (10/5/19).
• Flowers is tied for 11th in BC single-season history with two 100-yard receiving games this season. He is the first Eagle with multiple 100-yard receiving games in the same season since Kobay White in 2018.
• Flowers totaled five receptions for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown in BC's 26-6 win at Duke. It was the first 100-yard receiving game for an Eagle since Kobay White's 121 yards at Florida State in 2018.
• Flowers was named the ACC Wide Receiver of the Week for the first time in his career following the Duke game. He became the only BC wide receiver to ever be named the ACC's WR of the Week for the second time in a season after his performance in the Pitt win.
• The 162 yards receiving by Flowers were the seventh-most by a BC player since 1996. Flowers averaged 32.4 yards per reception. No receiver in BC history had more receiving yards on fewer receptions than Flowers in a single game. He was the first BC receiver since 2012 (Alex Amidon) to have over 150 yards receiving in a game.
The Nation's Leader
• Junior tight end Hunter Long has been BC's top receiving target in 2020 and he leads the nation in receptions for a tight end with 47. He is 14th among all players nationally in receptions in 2020 as well.
• Long has totaled 47 receptions for 560 yards and four touchdowns. Prior to this season, Long had just 32 receptions total over his first two years on the field at Boston College.
• Long and Flowers are the first BC teammates each over 500 yards receiving in the same season since Rich Gunnell (880) and Colin Larmond (596) in 2009.
• He was named to the John Mackey Award watch list after earning All-ACC third-team honors last season. The John Mackey Award is given to the collegiate tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, academics, and community values of NFL Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey.
• Long led Boston College with 509 receiving yards and 18.2 yards per reception in 2019. He finished the season with 28 receptions and two receiving touchdowns. His 72-yard touchdown reception at Louisville was the longest reception of his career a year ago.

McDuffie and Richardson on the Tackle
• Boston College linebackers Isaiah McDuffie and Max Richardson rank second and seventh respectively nationally in tackles. McDuffie's 87 stops trail only Grant Morgan of Arkansas (104) in 2020.
• The last BC player to lead the country in tackles was Luke Kuechly with 191 stops in 2011. He led the country in tackles in 2010 as well (183) and was second in tackles in 2009 (158).

Coming Up Big
• Junior wide receiver CJ Lewis flashed so much potential over his first three seasons at Boston College. The Connecticut native has put it all together in 2020 to become one of the primary targets for QB Phil Jurkovec.
• Lewis caught 14 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown in 20 career games entering the season. Through nine games in 2020, Lewis has totaled 22 receptions for 382 yards and four touchdowns.

Give Me That
• Boston College is tied for third nationally with 17 turnovers gained in 2020. The Eagles' 10 fumble recoveries rank second in the nation while the team's seven interceptions are 32nd in the country.

Air it Out
• Boston College has picked up where it used to excel -passing the football. Known for having some of the nation's top quarterbacks from Doug Flutie, Glenn Foley, Matt Hasselbeck to Matt Ryan, BC was always known to have one of the top passing offenses in the country.
• After ranking in the 100s for the majority of the last 10 years, first-year offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has installed a pro-style passing attack with significant, improved results. BC is 42nd nationally in passing offense, averaging 262.1 yards per game, after ranking 113th in the country a year ago (176.0 yards per game).

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Brown

Zay Flowers

Phil Jurkovec

CJ Lewis

Hunter Long

Isaiah McDuffie

Max Richardson

Kobay White

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