Photo by: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
The Replay: No. 13 Wake Forest
October 23, 2022 | Football, #ForBoston Files
A tight, surreal game got away from BC in the second half.
Truist Field is one of the smallest football venues in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but the surreality of the first half of Boston College's game against Wake Forest on Saturday made it feel like it was home to a larger-than-life sporting event. The Eagles' leading rusher was punter Danny Longman. Offensive lineman Jack Conley had forced a defensive fumble. And quarterbacks Phil Jurkovec and Sam Hartman were on pace for more than 100 pass attempts.
Wake Forest led 21-9, but the weird tension hanging in the air signaled an altogether different vibe to the players and coaches heading into their respective locker rooms. BC was fighting, and though the highly-powered, No. 13-ranked Demon Deacons rallied from an early deficit to grab that two-score lead, the Eagles weren't going away.
They also weren't coming all the way back, and after Hartman accounted for all six Wake Forest touchdowns, the Demon Deacons walked off their home field with a lopsided, 43-15 win that felt, for the second straight BC game, like the Eagles deserved better than the final tally indicated.
"We're getting better and starting faster," said head coach Jeff Hafley. "We went back and forth for a while, [but] I just feel like we're wearing down because the game gets on and there's a lack of depth right now. Some inexperienced players are playing [different] positions…I feel like we're wearing down and get a bit overwhelmed in the second half, [but] hopefully with the experience, that will get better."
Saturday featured a series of rare combinations, but Wake Forest used its ability and experience in those situations to tip the scales and break out in the third quarter. Hartman in particular was ineffective in the first quarter, and after BC forced the Deacs to punt on their first drive, the Eagles marched the length of the field with a 12-play, 68-yard scoring drive that ended in a field goal. Preventing the touchdown then buoyed the Deacs, and Hartman completed 7-of-8 attempts on his ensuing drive to respond with a touchdown.
By itself, that response didn't damage BC's chances, but after a three-and-out spanned the end of the first quarter, a poor punt gave Hartman a short field from which he led a five-play drive for a touchdown to increase the lead to 14-3 at what amounted to the start of the second quarter.
"That offensive line is really good," Hafley said. "They're strong up front, and they really hold the pocket, and [Hartman] threw some balls lined up one yard away from them. Those wide receivers are giants, and they're really good players. On the first couple of series, we were all over them, and they made back shoulder catches. They're going up and catching the ball, not to take anything away from their plan. They're coached really well, and that system is [strong], but ultimately in football the players make the system go."
It was a measured, seasoned performance by an experienced football team, and it anchored Wake Forest as the game navigated turbulent waters. After BC moved to its 40-yard after starting from its own 10, Eagles punter Danny Longman made up for his earlier, errored kick by sprinting 24 yards on a fourth down fake. Three plays later, Jurkovec was sacked and lost the football, but offensive lineman Jack Conley dislodged the football from defensive lineman Jasheen Davis. Jackson Ness, a converted defensive lineman forced to start at center for the injury-depleted offensive line, dove on the football and recovered to give BC a fresh first down 13 yards behind where the fourth down conversion started.
An 11-yard loss followed, but on 2nd-and-21 from the BC 39 - two plays after BC had 3rd-and-10 on Wake's 36 - Jurkovec dialed Zay Flowers for a 61-yard touchdown pass.
"It's a designed set up against what they were doing on defense," Hafley said. "You put guys in certain positions to try to get them the ball. They play with very aggressive safeties, and you have to take shots to try and have them deepen up. We were able to do it on that play, which was a really good throw and a really good catch. It gave us momentum and kind of put us back in the game."
"It was a one-on-one [matchup]," said Flowers, who outran three defenders to the pylon after making the grab. "I pride myself on winning one-on-one matchups, especially with the deep ball. It was just about winning my route and getting hands on [the ball] to help my team stay in the game."
The entire exchange brought BC back within one possession, but the score never totally closed from that deficit after Hartman again marched downfield with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. In what was a perfect example of the Wake Forest offense being run to perfection, his third touchdown pass in the first half came on a straight dropback, and wide receiver A.T. Perry, one of the best pass catchers in the ACC, got loose over the middle to make the grab against young defensive back Amari Jackson and fellow rookie safety Cole Batson, who had replaced Elijah Jones following an earlier injury.
"Amari Jackson played every snap," Hafley said, "and we put him onto the boundary to guard one of the best wide receivers in college football. Then you have to take out your free safety and move him to nickel, which bumped Josh DeBerry from his position to corner, and then you move a redshirt freshman, Cole Batson, into the free safety [spot]. You have young guys out there…and we'll do the coaching in those parts of the game."
Scoring relatively late in the second quarter allowed Wake Forest to pace itself past BC using the oft-mentioned "two-for-one" that exists before and after the halftime break. The Deacs did go three-and-out to start the half, but after BC punted on its own drive, the defense got the Wake offense into a 3rd-and-25 before a back-breaking, 33-yard completion moved possession into plus territory. Five plays later, an out route in blanketed coverage landed in Taylor Morin's hands to open up a 28-9 advantage from which the Eagles fought uphill to recover from.
"We stopped them coming out of half," Hafley said. "We were in the game in the third quarter. It's a two-possession game, and they hit a 3rd-and-25. They had a big one on us, which is very unlike us. Over the last 30 third downs against us, teams were 8-of-30, and I felt really good on third down. That's probably as good as anyone in the country, but to not get off the field on 3rd-and-25 was disappointing. If you stop them, all of a sudden, you get the ball back having stopped them two or three times in a row, and we're one drive away from a one-possession game. Instead they go down and score…Our margins are so small right now, and that was kind of it."
Faced with the ashes of another lopsided score, BC now enters its penultimate non-conference game searching for answers in several different areas. The Eagles fought Wake Forest and battled one of the best teams in the conference for the better part of four quarters, but the one gentle lapse at the start of the third, the margin of two or three players, forced the game into an unwinnable combination.Â
Even by the numbers, it wasn't necessarily a bad game. Jurkovec finished 20-for-38 for 221 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and only two sacks taken, but he did miss a couple of throws to Flowers that could have led to big plays. Longman technically finished as the team's leading rusher, but the statistical anomaly includes the 20 yards lost on sacks for a quarterback who rushed nine times for 41 yards and a score while becoming the seventh passer in school history to record 5,000 career passing yards.
Flowers had 17 targets and caught 10 passes for 135 yards to mark the eighth 100-yard game of his career, and he moved into sole possession of fourth place with 174 career receptions.
Hartman threw for five touchdowns and accounted for six in total, but even his day wasn't perfect after going 25-for-40 with an interception. That pick, the first career takeaway for Batson, was a pass that bounced off of a receiver and into the hands of a young safety who led the team in tackles with a career-best eight takedowns and an additional broken-up pass.
"I walked into the locker room," said Hafley, "and [Jason Maitre] was talking as positive as can be about keeping the team together. I almost didn't have to address the team. That's impressive. No one wants to hear that because we're losing, and I know that's important, but in the grand scheme of life, we have guys on this team who are impressive. I love coaching them, and we'll get better, and I'll do a better job. We'll look at this, move on, and try to get a win [next week]."
Wake Forest led 21-9, but the weird tension hanging in the air signaled an altogether different vibe to the players and coaches heading into their respective locker rooms. BC was fighting, and though the highly-powered, No. 13-ranked Demon Deacons rallied from an early deficit to grab that two-score lead, the Eagles weren't going away.
They also weren't coming all the way back, and after Hartman accounted for all six Wake Forest touchdowns, the Demon Deacons walked off their home field with a lopsided, 43-15 win that felt, for the second straight BC game, like the Eagles deserved better than the final tally indicated.
"We're getting better and starting faster," said head coach Jeff Hafley. "We went back and forth for a while, [but] I just feel like we're wearing down because the game gets on and there's a lack of depth right now. Some inexperienced players are playing [different] positions…I feel like we're wearing down and get a bit overwhelmed in the second half, [but] hopefully with the experience, that will get better."
Saturday featured a series of rare combinations, but Wake Forest used its ability and experience in those situations to tip the scales and break out in the third quarter. Hartman in particular was ineffective in the first quarter, and after BC forced the Deacs to punt on their first drive, the Eagles marched the length of the field with a 12-play, 68-yard scoring drive that ended in a field goal. Preventing the touchdown then buoyed the Deacs, and Hartman completed 7-of-8 attempts on his ensuing drive to respond with a touchdown.
By itself, that response didn't damage BC's chances, but after a three-and-out spanned the end of the first quarter, a poor punt gave Hartman a short field from which he led a five-play drive for a touchdown to increase the lead to 14-3 at what amounted to the start of the second quarter.
"That offensive line is really good," Hafley said. "They're strong up front, and they really hold the pocket, and [Hartman] threw some balls lined up one yard away from them. Those wide receivers are giants, and they're really good players. On the first couple of series, we were all over them, and they made back shoulder catches. They're going up and catching the ball, not to take anything away from their plan. They're coached really well, and that system is [strong], but ultimately in football the players make the system go."
It was a measured, seasoned performance by an experienced football team, and it anchored Wake Forest as the game navigated turbulent waters. After BC moved to its 40-yard after starting from its own 10, Eagles punter Danny Longman made up for his earlier, errored kick by sprinting 24 yards on a fourth down fake. Three plays later, Jurkovec was sacked and lost the football, but offensive lineman Jack Conley dislodged the football from defensive lineman Jasheen Davis. Jackson Ness, a converted defensive lineman forced to start at center for the injury-depleted offensive line, dove on the football and recovered to give BC a fresh first down 13 yards behind where the fourth down conversion started.
An 11-yard loss followed, but on 2nd-and-21 from the BC 39 - two plays after BC had 3rd-and-10 on Wake's 36 - Jurkovec dialed Zay Flowers for a 61-yard touchdown pass.
"It's a designed set up against what they were doing on defense," Hafley said. "You put guys in certain positions to try to get them the ball. They play with very aggressive safeties, and you have to take shots to try and have them deepen up. We were able to do it on that play, which was a really good throw and a really good catch. It gave us momentum and kind of put us back in the game."
"It was a one-on-one [matchup]," said Flowers, who outran three defenders to the pylon after making the grab. "I pride myself on winning one-on-one matchups, especially with the deep ball. It was just about winning my route and getting hands on [the ball] to help my team stay in the game."
The entire exchange brought BC back within one possession, but the score never totally closed from that deficit after Hartman again marched downfield with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. In what was a perfect example of the Wake Forest offense being run to perfection, his third touchdown pass in the first half came on a straight dropback, and wide receiver A.T. Perry, one of the best pass catchers in the ACC, got loose over the middle to make the grab against young defensive back Amari Jackson and fellow rookie safety Cole Batson, who had replaced Elijah Jones following an earlier injury.
"Amari Jackson played every snap," Hafley said, "and we put him onto the boundary to guard one of the best wide receivers in college football. Then you have to take out your free safety and move him to nickel, which bumped Josh DeBerry from his position to corner, and then you move a redshirt freshman, Cole Batson, into the free safety [spot]. You have young guys out there…and we'll do the coaching in those parts of the game."
Scoring relatively late in the second quarter allowed Wake Forest to pace itself past BC using the oft-mentioned "two-for-one" that exists before and after the halftime break. The Deacs did go three-and-out to start the half, but after BC punted on its own drive, the defense got the Wake offense into a 3rd-and-25 before a back-breaking, 33-yard completion moved possession into plus territory. Five plays later, an out route in blanketed coverage landed in Taylor Morin's hands to open up a 28-9 advantage from which the Eagles fought uphill to recover from.
"We stopped them coming out of half," Hafley said. "We were in the game in the third quarter. It's a two-possession game, and they hit a 3rd-and-25. They had a big one on us, which is very unlike us. Over the last 30 third downs against us, teams were 8-of-30, and I felt really good on third down. That's probably as good as anyone in the country, but to not get off the field on 3rd-and-25 was disappointing. If you stop them, all of a sudden, you get the ball back having stopped them two or three times in a row, and we're one drive away from a one-possession game. Instead they go down and score…Our margins are so small right now, and that was kind of it."
Faced with the ashes of another lopsided score, BC now enters its penultimate non-conference game searching for answers in several different areas. The Eagles fought Wake Forest and battled one of the best teams in the conference for the better part of four quarters, but the one gentle lapse at the start of the third, the margin of two or three players, forced the game into an unwinnable combination.Â
Even by the numbers, it wasn't necessarily a bad game. Jurkovec finished 20-for-38 for 221 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and only two sacks taken, but he did miss a couple of throws to Flowers that could have led to big plays. Longman technically finished as the team's leading rusher, but the statistical anomaly includes the 20 yards lost on sacks for a quarterback who rushed nine times for 41 yards and a score while becoming the seventh passer in school history to record 5,000 career passing yards.
Flowers had 17 targets and caught 10 passes for 135 yards to mark the eighth 100-yard game of his career, and he moved into sole possession of fourth place with 174 career receptions.
Hartman threw for five touchdowns and accounted for six in total, but even his day wasn't perfect after going 25-for-40 with an interception. That pick, the first career takeaway for Batson, was a pass that bounced off of a receiver and into the hands of a young safety who led the team in tackles with a career-best eight takedowns and an additional broken-up pass.
"I walked into the locker room," said Hafley, "and [Jason Maitre] was talking as positive as can be about keeping the team together. I almost didn't have to address the team. That's impressive. No one wants to hear that because we're losing, and I know that's important, but in the grand scheme of life, we have guys on this team who are impressive. I love coaching them, and we'll get better, and I'll do a better job. We'll look at this, move on, and try to get a win [next week]."
Players Mentioned
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DB
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DE
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