Week 11 Notes: The Virginia Game

November 30, 2020 | Football

Check out the complete game notes and depth chart ahead of the Eagles' regular season finale at UVA.

By: Athletic Communications

Boston College finishes up the regular season looking for its seventh win of the season Saturday at Virginia. The game will be broadcast on ACC regional sports networks across the country, including NESN in Boston. Tom Werme, James Bates and Abby Labar, have the call of the game. Coverage on the Boston College Learfield IMG Sports Network begins at 3 p.m. with Jon Meterparel, Pete Cronan and Scott Mutryn. Fans can listen to the game locally on WEEI 93.7 FM.

BC (6-4, 5-4 ACC) clinched a winning record in the first season under head coach Jeff Hafley with a 34-27 victory over Louisville last week at Alumni Stadium. Virginia (4-4, 3-4 ACC) had its game last week at Florida State postponed due to COVID-19 cases within the Florida State program. The Cavaliers have won three in a row, including a 55-15 win over Abilene Christian on Nov. 21.

The Series
• Boston College and Virginia meet for just the seventh time in series history Saturday.
• The Eagles are a perfect 6-0 all-time against the Cavaliers, including a 4-0 mark in ACC play.
• The two schools first met in 1963 at Boston College as the Eagles came away with a 30-21 victory.
• Before the two schools were conference members, Boston College earned a 31-13 victory over Virginia in the 1994 Carquest Bowl in Miami. Quarterback Glenn Foley threw for 391 yards en route to earning bowl MVP honors as the Eagles rolled up 557 yards of total offense.
• In the last meeting between the two schools in 2017, Boston College won its second consecutive ACC game for the first time since 2014 as the Eagles won, 41-10, at Virginia. It was the first ACC loss of the year for UVA.
• The Eagles scored 40-plus in consecutive ACC games for the first time in school history. The last time BC scored 40 or more points in back-to-back games was against Rutgers (44-14) and Toledo (51-25) in the final two games of the 2002 season.
• The 2017 meeting between BC and UVA was the first career start for former All-America running back AJ Dillon. The Green Bay Packers second-round pick rushed for 91 yards in his first career start vs. UVA.
• Boston College is just one of five Power Five teams nationally to play 10 games in 2020. The Eagles have not had any positive COVID-19 cases within the football program since the team returned to campus in late June.
• BC won its fifth ACC game of the year for the first time since 2009 last Saturday against Louisville.
• The Eagles played eight ACC games annually since joining the league in 2005, but are playing 10 this season.
• With a win Saturday, BC would secure its best single-season winning percentage since 2009. The Eagles high water mark since 2009 was 7-5 in the regular season. The 2009 squad finished the regular season 8-4.
• Saturday's game marks the first time BC closes out the regular season in December since a Dec. 1 game against Holy Cross in 1979 (W, 27-26).

Scouting Virginia
• Virginia is 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the ACC entering Saturday's game against Boston College. The Cavaliers own victories over Duke (38-20), North Carolina (44-41), Louisville (31-17) and Abilene Christian (55-15). UVA lost this season to Clemson (41-23), NC State (38-21), Wake Forest (40-23) and Miami (19-14).
• Since arriving at Virginia for the 2016 season, head coach Bronco Mendenhall's impact on the Cavalier program has been immense. From a two-win season, to the ACC's Coastal Division Championship and a New Year's Six bowl invitation, Virginia football's ascent has both remarkable and historic.
• Mendenhall came to Charlottesville after a highly successful 11-year career at BYU with a vision and a plan of execution for the daunting renovation project he faced. He has masterfully crafted principles and culture, and instilled pride and purpose, leading to a standard of unbroken growth in just four seasons.
• Virginia ranks 46th nationally in total offense (420.2 yards per game), 51st in scoring offense (31.1 points per game), 45th in passing offense (256.5 yards per game) and 66th in rushing offense (163.8 yards per game).
• On defense, the Cavaliers rank 86th in total defense (431.5 yards per game), 63rd in scoring defense (28.9 points per game), 115th in passing yards allowed (289.0 yards per game) and 45th in rushing defense (142.5 yards per game).

Finishing with a Winning Record in ACC Play
• Boston College has a chance to do something it has not done since 2009 with a win at 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.

Thrill Jurkovec
• Phil Jurkovec has burst onto the scene as the starting quarterback for the Eagles. Jurkovec's 2,558 yards over his first 10 starts are the most by any BC quarterback in school history. Shawn Halloran owned the previous best start 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 205 completions are the most of any BC sophomore quarterback, passing the previous record held by Chase Rettig in 2011 (170).
• Jurkovec needs 192 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 2,558 passing yards. He is 11th in Boston College single-season history in passing yards after just 10 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 third nationally in completions (205) and his 17 touchdowns passing rank 16th nationally.
• Jurkovec is second among all BC quarterbacks since 1996 with 260.4 passing yards per game in a season.

Saving His Best for Last
• Phil Jurkovec is fifth nationally among all quarterbacks with 1,198 yards passing in the second half and overtime in 2020. The Pittsburgh native is completing 60.1 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns in the second half and overtime in 2020.
• Jurkovec's eight touchdowns in the second half/OT are tied for 15th in the country. His 101 completions in the second half/OT of games rank second among all quarterbacks in the nation.

Haf Effect
• Jeff Hafley made an immediate impact on Ohio State's defense in 2019 and he is doing the same thing at Boston College in 2020.
• The year prior to Hafley's arrival at Ohio State, the Buckeyes ranked 71st nationally in total defense an 50th in scoring defense. In 2019, Hafley guided the nation's best defense allowing just 259.7 yards per game, an improvement of 143.7 yards per game from 2018. Ohio State yielded just 13.7 points per game in 2019, fourth-best in the nation.
• Hafley and the BC defensive coaching staff have turned things in the right direction on the Eagles' defense in 2020. BC is allowing 75 yards less per game than 2019, going from 125th nationally to 60th.

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 48 catches for 712 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020.
• Flowers is 18th nationally with 712 yards receiving and tied for 16th with seven receiving touchdowns.
• Flowers' 48 catches on the season are tied for 18th all-time at BC with Darren Flutie (1987).
• Flowers went over the 1,000-yard mark for his career in the Louisville win. He has 1,053 for his career and 712 for the season, which is 22nd all-time at BC.
• 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 49. He is 18th among all players nationally in receptions in 2020 as well.
• Long has totaled 49 receptions for 576 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.
• He is eighth all-time in receptions by a BC tight end with 81 and his 49 receptions on the season are the fourth most in a single-season by a BC tight end.
• 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 third and fifth respectively nationally in tackles. McDuffie's 94 stops trail only Grant Morgan of Arkansas and Payton Wilson of NC State.
• 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 10 games in 2020, Lewis has totaled 25 receptions for 406 yards and five touchdowns.

O-Line U
• Known for having a rich history of offensive linemen, the 2020 Boston College Eagles will again be led by a strong unit up front. Rated by some analysts as having one of the top offensive line units in the country, BC returns four starters from a group last season that ranked eighth nationally in rushing offense (253.2 yards per game) and allowed the fourth fewest sacks per game in college football (1.00 per game).
• Preseason All-ACC selections Zion Johnson and Ben Petrula spearhead the talented group. Junior center Alec Lindstrom and redshirt sophomore Tyler Vrabel also return as starters. All four players earned All-ACC honors in 2019. In addition, Vrabel was named a Freshman All-American as one of the top freshmen in the country at his position.

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 41st nationally in passing offense, averaging 260.6 yards per game, after ranking 113th in the country a year ago (176.0 yards per game).