Four Downs: Duke
September 20, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
BC's opening act resulted in a 26-6 victory over the Blue Devils.
A slight sense of urgency hung over the Boston College offense as the third quarter wound down. The Eagles led, 10-6, but Duke missed a gap-narrowing field goal attempt and handed possession back to the Eagles after a 12-play, five-minute drive. The air was leaving Wallace Wade Stadium, and it threatened to take the intensity from the Duke sideline with it.
Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti understood that feeling and went to work with his offense on producing a touchdown. He handed the reigns back to quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who promptly hit receiver Zay Flowers for a 27-yard pass to midfield. Hunter Long then caught a 17-yard ball, while a Duke defender held his arm down in pass interference. The two balls pushed BC into Blue Devil territory and set the defense back into a reeling motion.
That's when Jurkovec turned to Flowers for a knockout punch. The receiver stuttered past defender Leonard Johnson off the next snap and juked the two-year starter with a big, seasoned body. He turned inside as Johnson fell back and created separation, enough so that Jurkovec hit him in stride. Johnson saw what was happening and hit his afterburners before he lunged at the receiver to stop the play at the first down sticks.
He missed.
Flowers had stopped on a dime, and Johnson tumbled out of bounds with a flail. The receiver scooted forward for another 10 yards before being tackled to give his team a first down in a goal line situation, and Jurkovec seized the opportunity to once again hit Long, this time in the end zone. It flipped a potential one-point game into a two-possession difference, and the Eagles never looked back en route to a 26-6 victory.
"I think (Flowers's) going to be a problem for defenses," Jurkovec said afterwards with a laugh. "He's quick and when he gets loose, with the ball in his hands, he makes guys miss. He's so elusive. I missed him a few times, but need to get him the ball as much as possible. On the first possession, he went downfield and guys started keying on him. He got loose (again) later."
Flowers produced a number of highlight-reel moments, but the catch-and-run past Leonard trumped two other significant moments. Earlier in the game, he caught a slant in the first quarter and turned up field with moves and jukes until he effortlessly covered 40 yards. It set up David Bailey's charge into the end zone and gave BC a touchdown on its first possession of the 2020 season.
Later, he caught the first deep ball of the season. He found himself all alone without a player within 20 yards of him and caught a 61-yard touchdown pass. Flowers eventually finished with 162 yards on five receptions, the sixth-most receiving yards by a BC pass catcher since 1996.
"I get to actually run routes now," Flowers said, "and I can show everyone that I'm not just a jet sweep guy. I get physical with my hands. Last year, I was using speed and wasn't using my hands or technique. This year, I learned that using my hands and moves at the line, moves at the top. I learned all of that this year, and it showed (on Saturday)."
It was only the first game, but it sure made for a fun afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium. Here's some more on what to take away from the Eagles' opening day win:
*****
First Down: I think this is what they were looking for!
It speaks volumes that the offense's highlights might not top some of the plays made by the defense in its own season debut. On Duke's first drive of the second half, defensive back Josh DeBerry outright stole the ball from receiver Damond Philyaw-Johnson and ripped the ball out of his hands on the seven yard line.
It was a full technique move indicating a larger piece of the five-turnover performance. Mike Palmer and Chibueze Onwuka stripped fumbles of their own, and two interceptions helped realize practice and drill instructions implemented by new head coach Jeff Hafley and defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu.
"We talk about it as a defensive staff every day," Hafley said. "Tackling the ball and limiting explosive plays are the two things we talk about. We drill it and stress it every day. We have winners and losers in training camp and in practice, based on who gets the most rip attempts and strip attempts - and who tries to knock the ball out."
It turned the defense into a stingy, nasty unit, and it limited quarterback Chase Brice's effectiveness. BC surged the line and closed coverage by using speed on gaps. It opened and shut doors at will against the offensive line and forced ball carriers and receivers into locations. It further funneled Brice's vision and based everything on where the defensive players wanted him to look, not the other way around.
It led directly to the interceptions by Isaiah McDuffie and Jahmin Muse by ghosting receivers with tight coverage. The primary option disappeared on both plays, and Brice checked off to receivers that only looked open. It was the only place he could see, so he threw to spots covered in space by BC's defensive players. The coverage stayed soft enough to open the deck, but the hole disappeared as soon as Brice stepped forward. Coverage then totally swarmed the ball to create the picks.
*****
Second Down: Blue With Envy
That's not to say Brice wasn't effective at all. Duke found success in the second quarter by adjusting to BC's defense, and the first quarter ended with a heady move by head coach David Cutcliffe. He forced respect by the BC defense by spreading the offense out past the box, and the offensive line double teamed the interior defensvie line to create holes for a running back. That, in particular, enabled Mataeo Durant to break free for a long gain, and he rumbled 49 yards for a game-tying touchdown - until Duke missed the extra point.
In total, Brice played efficiently in the first half and mirrored his first quarter against Notre Dame. He missed his first two throws, but rallied to hit 6-of-7 throws for 41 yards at one point. The ploys opened up the BC defense for another 40 yards over his next two completions even though he tossed an interception into the mix.
"As an offense, I thought we did good, moving the ball," Brice said. "We pushed the ball. We were throwing and catching and got down to the red zone, and we just didn't finish. We turned the ball over in key situations where we needed points."
Beyond that, BC left opportunities on the field by not converting turnovers into points. DeBerry's fumble recovery/strip gift-wrapped an offensive opportunity deep inside the Duke red zone, but the Eagles failed to punch in a touchdown from seven yards out, settling for a 24-yard field goal.Â
"You have to score if you get the ball back," Jeff Hafley said. "You have to do everything you can to score. At the same time, we got points. It wasn't the 14 (points) we hoped for, but it was still six points that we needed. When we get that chance to really end it, we have to score touchdowns."
*****
HAF-time Hits
-Social media can have its highs and lows, but it was great to see Martin Jarmond weigh in and wish Jeff Hafley well. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.
-Quick shoutout to my wife, ever the master compromiser. I told her I was taking a television out to the porch to watch the game outside, to which she casually informed me that we needed to clean a dozen cobwebs from the screens and chairs. Ever the lazy one, I told her that I would instead set up indoors with my projector on the wall. The television in our living room became a live stats machine until I opted to put the US Open on as a side broadcast.
-She did, however, make a killer lunch for the "home press box." Salad with some hummus and black bean salad topped with shredded mozzarella? Well played, Mrs. Rubin.
-Next week, we're going outside if the weather permits. And I'm smoking ribs. More on that another time.
-Television coverage timed it perfectly to come back during the middle of Mr. Brightside. I'm sure that was by design.
-ESPN's David Hale coined "The Jurky Boys" for BC fans during the Jurkovec era. I like it, but now I'm going to go back and replay all of those prank calls from the 1990s.
*****
Third Down: The Long and...well...Phil of it?
The Flowers catches stole center stage for their acrobatics, but the alternating throws between Phil Jurkovec and Hunter Long established a security blanket tight end for the quarterback. Long finished with a team-high seven catches and just missed the century mark at 93 yards, but his catch through a pass interference stamped an exclamation point on Flowers' two catches in the third quarter. Jurkovec likewise created the touchdown with his feet by buying time for Long to get open at the end of that drive.
"(Long's performance) is what I saw in practice,"Â Hafley said. "He blocked well and caught the ball when it was thrown to him. He turned it upfield. The catch with one guy draped on him was awesome."
Long likewise converted distance catches and stretched out to make a grab along the stadium's turf, but his blocking made him a true dual-threat in the offense. On one play, BC ran motion to the strong, left side, but ran the ball back towards the weak, right side. Long lined up off the line and sprinted from left to right, even though he wasn't in motion, to make a pull block on a linebacker on the edge.Â
"We game plan all week and knew what we were going to see," Long said. "We knew what was coming. We game planned for it, and (Cignetti) did a great job calling plays."
As for Jurkovec, his first start since the 2017 Pennsylvania Class 6A state title game went about as well as it did that day for Pine-Richland High School. He finished 17-for-23 for 300 yards and two touchdowns and executed the first 300-yard game since a 2018 day against Wake Forest (erroneously missed by yours truly at one point). In the third quarter, his 61-yard bomb to Flowers came as he stood in and took a hit from a would-be tackler, continuing a trend he set by taking punishment in key spots.
"It didn't matter what angle to put him at," Jukovec said. "Just get it to him as quick as possible. We made a ton of great plays. It's a lot of what we can do in the offense. The message was to run the offense and not do anything crazy, just to have fun out there."
"We didn't know what our expectations were for him," Hafley said. "We didn't have any expectations (beyond) enjoying the moment. That's truthfully all that I talk about. I didn't talk much about playing Duke or playing a great game. I told them to go out there, and I told the team that they couldn't fail. Based on what they went through, I told them to let it rip, and they did."
*****
Fourth Down: No Regrets, No Mistakes
Towards the end of the game, Mike Palmer grabbed a bucket of orange sports drink and lifted it high to the sky. He rained it down over the head of head coach Jeff Hafley, and the new Boston College coach smiled in the moment. He turned and hugged Palmer, and the celebration exploded with several other Eagles joining in. The first victory for the head coach was in the books, and the appreciation of the moment wasn't lost on his players.
That's not to say the game was perfect because it wasn't. Jurkovec missed a throw to Flowers in the first quarter and wound up with an interception in double coverage, and he later admitted that he made mistakes on throws. The offensive line jostled positioning before the game and didn't showcase itself in pass protection in the second quarter when its quarterback took a few sacks. The busted coverage on the long play is an explosive play that the coaching staff preaches against allowing.
Those mistakes are correctable, and they can't overshadow the feeling from the locker room after the game as the Eagles sang their fight song and danced in victory. Even getting on the field was an accomplishment, and the release of the success sustained through the empty stadium game. Everything, as expected, melted away in order to focus on the field, and playing the game mattered more than anything else from the previous few weeks.
"I hadn't played football in so long," Jurkovec said, "so to be out there taking hits was so much fun. In the first half, I was skittish, especially in the pocket. I was going up in the rush when I didn't need to. In the second half, I stayed in there and delivered the ball a little bit (better)."
"You look out for one another and bring juice with each other," Jeff Hafley said. "The game isn't about anyone else. It's not even about me. It's about the players, and they went out and played. They had a blast on the sidelines. They never looked down. We're going to have our ups and downs, but as long as the process is right, we'll stick together and do things the right way."
*****
Point After: Don't call them the Armadillos
Boston College has never played Texas State, but next week's opponent occupies a weird space in the pop culture section of my heart for two very different reasons.
The first is the joke I made when the game was announced a few weeks back. A fictional Texas State University was the centerpiece of Necessary Roughness, a 1991 movie starring Scott Bakula, Robert Loggia, and Sinbad. It's an awful, goofy movie, but I own the DVD and can probably recite most of the lines. It's the reason I refer to every older college quarterback as a "Paul Blake" in conversation.
The movie centers on the Texas State Armadillos and their host of coaches and players trying out for a team after the old team is banned for violations. At the time, the "real" Texas State was actually Southwest Texas State University, but the San Marcos school didn't change its name to Texas State until 2003. I naturally joked in a lovable, respectful manner that I would call this team the Armadillos out of sheer habit.
The second example involves Friday Night Lights, arguably the greatest show ever made (that's not hyperbole if you read critics and reviews). In the fifth season, quarterback Vince Howard takes a visit to a fictional Texas Methodist University, or TMU. The stadium is very clearly the home of the Bobcats, and then-head coach Brad Wright plays a character in the episode. I love the show, and it's incredibly rewatchable, so when I saw Texas State on the schedule, I got very excited.
The real Bobcats, meanwhile, are a surprisingly fun team to watch this year. They battled SMU for four quarters before falling short, 31-24, and later took UTSA to overtime before losing, 51-48. The offense has been on fire, and the head coach, Jake Spavital, is a former offensive coordinator under Dana Holgorson.Â
It is BC's first meeting with a current member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti understood that feeling and went to work with his offense on producing a touchdown. He handed the reigns back to quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who promptly hit receiver Zay Flowers for a 27-yard pass to midfield. Hunter Long then caught a 17-yard ball, while a Duke defender held his arm down in pass interference. The two balls pushed BC into Blue Devil territory and set the defense back into a reeling motion.
That's when Jurkovec turned to Flowers for a knockout punch. The receiver stuttered past defender Leonard Johnson off the next snap and juked the two-year starter with a big, seasoned body. He turned inside as Johnson fell back and created separation, enough so that Jurkovec hit him in stride. Johnson saw what was happening and hit his afterburners before he lunged at the receiver to stop the play at the first down sticks.
He missed.
Flowers had stopped on a dime, and Johnson tumbled out of bounds with a flail. The receiver scooted forward for another 10 yards before being tackled to give his team a first down in a goal line situation, and Jurkovec seized the opportunity to once again hit Long, this time in the end zone. It flipped a potential one-point game into a two-possession difference, and the Eagles never looked back en route to a 26-6 victory.
"I think (Flowers's) going to be a problem for defenses," Jurkovec said afterwards with a laugh. "He's quick and when he gets loose, with the ball in his hands, he makes guys miss. He's so elusive. I missed him a few times, but need to get him the ball as much as possible. On the first possession, he went downfield and guys started keying on him. He got loose (again) later."
Flowers produced a number of highlight-reel moments, but the catch-and-run past Leonard trumped two other significant moments. Earlier in the game, he caught a slant in the first quarter and turned up field with moves and jukes until he effortlessly covered 40 yards. It set up David Bailey's charge into the end zone and gave BC a touchdown on its first possession of the 2020 season.
Later, he caught the first deep ball of the season. He found himself all alone without a player within 20 yards of him and caught a 61-yard touchdown pass. Flowers eventually finished with 162 yards on five receptions, the sixth-most receiving yards by a BC pass catcher since 1996.
"I get to actually run routes now," Flowers said, "and I can show everyone that I'm not just a jet sweep guy. I get physical with my hands. Last year, I was using speed and wasn't using my hands or technique. This year, I learned that using my hands and moves at the line, moves at the top. I learned all of that this year, and it showed (on Saturday)."
It was only the first game, but it sure made for a fun afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium. Here's some more on what to take away from the Eagles' opening day win:
*****
First Down: I think this is what they were looking for!
It speaks volumes that the offense's highlights might not top some of the plays made by the defense in its own season debut. On Duke's first drive of the second half, defensive back Josh DeBerry outright stole the ball from receiver Damond Philyaw-Johnson and ripped the ball out of his hands on the seven yard line.
It was a full technique move indicating a larger piece of the five-turnover performance. Mike Palmer and Chibueze Onwuka stripped fumbles of their own, and two interceptions helped realize practice and drill instructions implemented by new head coach Jeff Hafley and defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu.
"We talk about it as a defensive staff every day," Hafley said. "Tackling the ball and limiting explosive plays are the two things we talk about. We drill it and stress it every day. We have winners and losers in training camp and in practice, based on who gets the most rip attempts and strip attempts - and who tries to knock the ball out."
It turned the defense into a stingy, nasty unit, and it limited quarterback Chase Brice's effectiveness. BC surged the line and closed coverage by using speed on gaps. It opened and shut doors at will against the offensive line and forced ball carriers and receivers into locations. It further funneled Brice's vision and based everything on where the defensive players wanted him to look, not the other way around.
It led directly to the interceptions by Isaiah McDuffie and Jahmin Muse by ghosting receivers with tight coverage. The primary option disappeared on both plays, and Brice checked off to receivers that only looked open. It was the only place he could see, so he threw to spots covered in space by BC's defensive players. The coverage stayed soft enough to open the deck, but the hole disappeared as soon as Brice stepped forward. Coverage then totally swarmed the ball to create the picks.
*****
Second Down: Blue With Envy
That's not to say Brice wasn't effective at all. Duke found success in the second quarter by adjusting to BC's defense, and the first quarter ended with a heady move by head coach David Cutcliffe. He forced respect by the BC defense by spreading the offense out past the box, and the offensive line double teamed the interior defensvie line to create holes for a running back. That, in particular, enabled Mataeo Durant to break free for a long gain, and he rumbled 49 yards for a game-tying touchdown - until Duke missed the extra point.
In total, Brice played efficiently in the first half and mirrored his first quarter against Notre Dame. He missed his first two throws, but rallied to hit 6-of-7 throws for 41 yards at one point. The ploys opened up the BC defense for another 40 yards over his next two completions even though he tossed an interception into the mix.
"As an offense, I thought we did good, moving the ball," Brice said. "We pushed the ball. We were throwing and catching and got down to the red zone, and we just didn't finish. We turned the ball over in key situations where we needed points."
Beyond that, BC left opportunities on the field by not converting turnovers into points. DeBerry's fumble recovery/strip gift-wrapped an offensive opportunity deep inside the Duke red zone, but the Eagles failed to punch in a touchdown from seven yards out, settling for a 24-yard field goal.Â
"You have to score if you get the ball back," Jeff Hafley said. "You have to do everything you can to score. At the same time, we got points. It wasn't the 14 (points) we hoped for, but it was still six points that we needed. When we get that chance to really end it, we have to score touchdowns."
*****
HAF-time Hits
-Social media can have its highs and lows, but it was great to see Martin Jarmond weigh in and wish Jeff Hafley well. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.
-Quick shoutout to my wife, ever the master compromiser. I told her I was taking a television out to the porch to watch the game outside, to which she casually informed me that we needed to clean a dozen cobwebs from the screens and chairs. Ever the lazy one, I told her that I would instead set up indoors with my projector on the wall. The television in our living room became a live stats machine until I opted to put the US Open on as a side broadcast.
-She did, however, make a killer lunch for the "home press box." Salad with some hummus and black bean salad topped with shredded mozzarella? Well played, Mrs. Rubin.
-Next week, we're going outside if the weather permits. And I'm smoking ribs. More on that another time.
-Television coverage timed it perfectly to come back during the middle of Mr. Brightside. I'm sure that was by design.
-ESPN's David Hale coined "The Jurky Boys" for BC fans during the Jurkovec era. I like it, but now I'm going to go back and replay all of those prank calls from the 1990s.
*****
Third Down: The Long and...well...Phil of it?
The Flowers catches stole center stage for their acrobatics, but the alternating throws between Phil Jurkovec and Hunter Long established a security blanket tight end for the quarterback. Long finished with a team-high seven catches and just missed the century mark at 93 yards, but his catch through a pass interference stamped an exclamation point on Flowers' two catches in the third quarter. Jurkovec likewise created the touchdown with his feet by buying time for Long to get open at the end of that drive.
"(Long's performance) is what I saw in practice,"Â Hafley said. "He blocked well and caught the ball when it was thrown to him. He turned it upfield. The catch with one guy draped on him was awesome."
Long likewise converted distance catches and stretched out to make a grab along the stadium's turf, but his blocking made him a true dual-threat in the offense. On one play, BC ran motion to the strong, left side, but ran the ball back towards the weak, right side. Long lined up off the line and sprinted from left to right, even though he wasn't in motion, to make a pull block on a linebacker on the edge.Â
"We game plan all week and knew what we were going to see," Long said. "We knew what was coming. We game planned for it, and (Cignetti) did a great job calling plays."
As for Jurkovec, his first start since the 2017 Pennsylvania Class 6A state title game went about as well as it did that day for Pine-Richland High School. He finished 17-for-23 for 300 yards and two touchdowns and executed the first 300-yard game since a 2018 day against Wake Forest (erroneously missed by yours truly at one point). In the third quarter, his 61-yard bomb to Flowers came as he stood in and took a hit from a would-be tackler, continuing a trend he set by taking punishment in key spots.
"It didn't matter what angle to put him at," Jukovec said. "Just get it to him as quick as possible. We made a ton of great plays. It's a lot of what we can do in the offense. The message was to run the offense and not do anything crazy, just to have fun out there."
"We didn't know what our expectations were for him," Hafley said. "We didn't have any expectations (beyond) enjoying the moment. That's truthfully all that I talk about. I didn't talk much about playing Duke or playing a great game. I told them to go out there, and I told the team that they couldn't fail. Based on what they went through, I told them to let it rip, and they did."
*****
Fourth Down: No Regrets, No Mistakes
Towards the end of the game, Mike Palmer grabbed a bucket of orange sports drink and lifted it high to the sky. He rained it down over the head of head coach Jeff Hafley, and the new Boston College coach smiled in the moment. He turned and hugged Palmer, and the celebration exploded with several other Eagles joining in. The first victory for the head coach was in the books, and the appreciation of the moment wasn't lost on his players.
That's not to say the game was perfect because it wasn't. Jurkovec missed a throw to Flowers in the first quarter and wound up with an interception in double coverage, and he later admitted that he made mistakes on throws. The offensive line jostled positioning before the game and didn't showcase itself in pass protection in the second quarter when its quarterback took a few sacks. The busted coverage on the long play is an explosive play that the coaching staff preaches against allowing.
Those mistakes are correctable, and they can't overshadow the feeling from the locker room after the game as the Eagles sang their fight song and danced in victory. Even getting on the field was an accomplishment, and the release of the success sustained through the empty stadium game. Everything, as expected, melted away in order to focus on the field, and playing the game mattered more than anything else from the previous few weeks.
"I hadn't played football in so long," Jurkovec said, "so to be out there taking hits was so much fun. In the first half, I was skittish, especially in the pocket. I was going up in the rush when I didn't need to. In the second half, I stayed in there and delivered the ball a little bit (better)."
"You look out for one another and bring juice with each other," Jeff Hafley said. "The game isn't about anyone else. It's not even about me. It's about the players, and they went out and played. They had a blast on the sidelines. They never looked down. We're going to have our ups and downs, but as long as the process is right, we'll stick together and do things the right way."
*****
Point After: Don't call them the Armadillos
Boston College has never played Texas State, but next week's opponent occupies a weird space in the pop culture section of my heart for two very different reasons.
The first is the joke I made when the game was announced a few weeks back. A fictional Texas State University was the centerpiece of Necessary Roughness, a 1991 movie starring Scott Bakula, Robert Loggia, and Sinbad. It's an awful, goofy movie, but I own the DVD and can probably recite most of the lines. It's the reason I refer to every older college quarterback as a "Paul Blake" in conversation.
The movie centers on the Texas State Armadillos and their host of coaches and players trying out for a team after the old team is banned for violations. At the time, the "real" Texas State was actually Southwest Texas State University, but the San Marcos school didn't change its name to Texas State until 2003. I naturally joked in a lovable, respectful manner that I would call this team the Armadillos out of sheer habit.
The second example involves Friday Night Lights, arguably the greatest show ever made (that's not hyperbole if you read critics and reviews). In the fifth season, quarterback Vince Howard takes a visit to a fictional Texas Methodist University, or TMU. The stadium is very clearly the home of the Bobcats, and then-head coach Brad Wright plays a character in the episode. I love the show, and it's incredibly rewatchable, so when I saw Texas State on the schedule, I got very excited.
The real Bobcats, meanwhile, are a surprisingly fun team to watch this year. They battled SMU for four quarters before falling short, 31-24, and later took UTSA to overtime before losing, 51-48. The offense has been on fire, and the head coach, Jake Spavital, is a former offensive coordinator under Dana Holgorson.Â
It is BC's first meeting with a current member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Players Mentioned
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DB
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WR
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QB
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TE
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LB
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DB
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DT
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DB
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