The Tailgate: Duke

Game Storylines (Pearl Jam Edition)

Once upon a time,
I could control myself.
Once upon a time,
I could lose myself.
-Once

The offensive line hasn't had the same combination for more than one game this year, but the ongoing battle against the injury report somehow found a way to reach a new level last week when Jude Bowry and Nick Thomas went down against UConn. The resulting shuffle finally gobbled up Phil Jurkovec, and after the quarterback went down hurt against the Huskies, an honest question remains about how much is left for a BC offense that's now lost nearly every offensive lineman, a quarterback, and multiple receivers to the medical tent.

"We started Jude at tackle, and he got injured, I think, on the ninth play of the game," Jeff Hafley said. "Then we brought in Nick Thomas, and he got injured during the game. He battled through it, which I have a ton of respect for, but I'm not sure what his status will be [for Duke]. It's a really quick turnaround; Monday is usually the recovery day and not a practice day, so hopefully we get some of those guys back because that's an eighth different offensive line grouping."

Hafley refuses to use the injury report as a crutch for the team's struggles, but the lack of consistency forces it into the weekly conversation on a regular basis. It feels like every other team in the country is hitting its stride because the players are able to string several weeks together, but BC gets stuck in neutral or is forced to reset whenever there's any momentum. It's battle-testing the players, but it sure would be nice if the Eagles didn't have to compensate for another injury to another key position.

Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies.
Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away.
Oh, someday yet, he'll begin his life again.
Life again, life again.
-Even Flow

The ongoing injury issues, coupled with the UConn loss, gave this week a real nihilistic feel on the outside, but the internal excitement didn't dim for the young players who are now earning valuable reps and in-game experience. Even amidst the shuffle, the two dozen players with two or less years' experience dotting the offensive and defensive depth chart means the Eagles are setting themselves up for future success.

"I think we have 22 freshmen or redshirt freshmen on our two-deep," Jeff Hafley said. "We have some starting. Jude Bowry started on offense as a true freshman. Jeremiah Franklin started on offense as a true freshman. Joe Griffin started on offense as a true freshman. Amari Jackson started on defense as a true freshman. Kwan Williams is playing a ton, and he's a true freshman. That's not to take away from the older guys that are playing well…[but] I think it's a good look into the future."

In 2015, BC went 3-9 and had a couple of infamously bad performances on offense to the degree that almost everyone talks about that year in hushed tones, but the injuries and gaps that forced young players into games laid a foundation for the team's success three years later. Three starting linemen were either freshmen or sophomores that year, and Chris Lindstrom played right guard as a 260-pound offensive player while Aaron Monteiro started at left tackle with a 336-pound frame.

Three years later, Lindstrom was a 310-pound first round draft pick, and Monteiro had trimmed 15 pounds off his frame. Both were about the same size and protected the quarterback position on a team that started the season with a 7-2 record before key injuries robbed the Eagles of their starting quarterback. Even Jon Baker, a sophomore in 2015, had significantly changed at the center position by his graduate season, and he became the stalwart mentor to Alec Lindstrom.

Oh, I, oh I'm still alive.
Hey, I, oh I'm still alive.
Hey, I, oh, I'm still alive.
-Alive

I'm never going to mention Pearl Jam without mentioning Alive, and I'm never going to mention the song Alive without mentioning Pete Frates.

Someone casually pointed out to me that we were coming up on the third anniversary of Pete's passing next month, and I still can't believe it's been that long. In my mind, anyways, I'm still partially convinced that he was going to live forever, and I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that attending an ALS Awareness Game doesn't include some form of appearance.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was eight years ago, but its impact is still being felt around the world. In September, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Relyvrio, an oral medication shown to slow progression of ALS, and a new treatment funded in part by the summer phenomenon spearheaded by Pete Frates and Pat Quinn. Per reports, a larger study is still underway, but the FDA acknowledged that the level of uncertainty is acceptable "given the serious and life-threatening nature of ALS."

ALS remains an insidious part of the lives of people who are diagnosed with it, and the battle to defeat it is an ongoing, continuous process. That said, the clock is ticking before it's sent into the history books, and any effort to defeat it remains our year-round fight without any interruption.

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History Lesson
Kicker Nate Freese is in the Boston College record books as the all-time leading scorer in program history. He's the only player with 300 points or more, and his 70 field goals make him the only kicker to record 60 or 70 successful kicks over an entire career. He twice kicked 20 field goals in a season, and his three games with four successful field goals are tied with individual performances by Aaron Boumerhi, Steve Aponavicius and Brian Lowe for most against a single opponent.

No. 85 was virtually automatic, and in 2013, he handled occasional punt duties while converting a perfect 20-for-20 field goals and 40-of-41 extra points. Even as a freshman, his 22-for-25 field goal conversion rate stood next to 24-for-25 extra points made, and he bookended his career output with 90 points as a freshman and one of BC's six 100-point seasons, the second by a kicker.

But on September 17, 2011, it's the kick that Freese didn't make that rattled Boston College's season after he missed a 23-yard field goal in the last minute of a 20-19 loss to Duke.

"I was trying to get the ball up," Freese was quoted in The Boston Globe after the game. "I did that, but it caught the inside of my toe a little bit, it hooked left, and ended up hitting the upright."

Freese's missed kick came on the tail end of a drive that started on the BC 21-yard line with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had led twice by double-digits, but after the Blue Devils cut into a 19-7 second quarter lead before halftime, a Sean Renfree run from the goal line capped a 14-play, 70-yard drive to stake Duke to a 20-19 lead.

He earlier kicked a 43-yard field goal to give BC a 10-0 lead, but the short chip shot echoed throughout Alumni Stadium as it clanged off the upright. The year before, during his freshman year, Freese kicked 22 successful field goals to come within one of Sandro Sciortino's single season program record, and his career finished as one of the most storied football players at BC before the Detroit Lions drafted him in the fifth round in a slot reserved for only the most elite specialists.

"I'll trust Nate on any kick," said linebacker Luke Kuechly after the game. "He's one of my best friends and I trust that on every kick, no matter what the situation, he'll put it through. If it's out there again, I'm going to let him kick it again."

That loss to Duke, though, felt a bit emblematic of a season that slipped away from the Eagles. It was a conference game, but BC rarely saw the Blue Devils as crossover opponents from the Coastal Division. They met in 2010 and 2011 as part of a home-and-home but hadn't played in the four years prior to BC's 21-16 win in Durham. They wouldn't play again until 2015 and went on hiatus for another five years before Jeff Hafley's tenure as head coach started at Duke when COVID-19 forced the ACC to adopt an 11-game league schedule.

It failed to remind everyone of the previous year in 2010 when BC's leadership rallied a 2-5 team with five straight victories. A 21-16 win over the Blue Devils was the third game of that group and pulled the Eagles back to .500, but even then, BC had to overcome adversity after Montel Harris fumbled a game-sealing touchdown at the Blue Devils' five yard line that linebacker August Campbell ran back 95 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown.

In each game, a result against Duke dictated energy for the rest of the season, and after a disheartening loss to Connecticut in last week's game, Boston College's 2022 season now rests on a Friday night, nationally-televised game against the Blue Devils. It's a very different feeling from a decade ago, but the contrasting feelings of release and disappointment may very well rank the same once Friday night's game is complete.

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The Podcast For Boston: For The Podcast '22 Ep. 09 -- Donovan Ezeiruaku
Where is the dividing line between North Jersey and South Jersey? What's it like being a part of Philly sports fandom? How does it feel to hit the quarterback? That and more Boston College football with guest Donovan Ezeiruaku on For The Podcast with Mute & Dan. Plus a review of week eight and what to look for in Friday night's game vs. Duke.

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Question Box

What does BC's offense look like?

BC ran 335 yards of total offense up the flagpole last week but committed five turnovers in the loss. The three interceptions by Phil Jurkovec and Emmett Morehead were the most thrown this season, and the Eagles regressed by failing to throw a touchdown pass for the second time in three games. Zay Flowers was bottled up to the tune of 35 yards on two catches, and the running game failed to crack 100 yards for the third straight week.

Avoiding an extension of those issues requires BC to play with balance and synergy, but it's fair to ask if the Eagles will change their approach against a Duke defense prone to the occasional explosive running attack. Kansas gained 213 yards on the ground against the Blue Devils, and in the two weeks prior to the Miami game, Georgia Tech and North Carolina gained 180 and 156 yards rushing, respectively. Including the game against North Carolina A&T, Duke allowed 150 yards in four of the five games before its win over the Hurricanes with the first two of those games going over 200 yards and was seven yards against Virginia from allowing five straight games of 100 yards rushing.

That said, it's unclear how the Eagles will appear on Friday night since Jurkovec didn't return to last Saturday's game after he was injured. He's listed on the depth chart, but Emmett Morehead would step in if needed. With all the combinations along the offensive line, a change at quarterback necessitated by an injury could translate to new packages and a preview of a future offense, or it could mean nothing and BC comes out and runs the offense as designed over the first eight games. Both are in play, and both are equally possible with equally-positive results available.

Can the defense regain solid footing from the start?

BC's defense played really well last week after its slow start, but surrendering an explosive touchdown on the first drive forced the Eagles to chase the Huskies for the better part of four quarters. Regardless of the performance over the remaining three-plus quarters, avoiding that similar letdown at any point is critical against an offense that rolled 542 yards against North Carolina and 336 yards against Miami over the last two games.

Riley Leonard aside, Duke has weapons on its offense, and both Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore are averaging at least five yards per carry. Jaylen Coleman is likewise over five yards per carry, and Jalon Calhoun, Jordan Moore, and Eli Pancol are each averaging more than 10 yards per catch for an offense with 10 touchdown receptions.

Can BC shake off last week?

I love boxing for a number of reasons, but I believe the sport has analogous characteristics applicable to virtually any situation across every sport. To me, last week felt like the kind of technical knockout or unanimous decision capable of shaking a fighter's confidence to its core.

It was the quintessential case of a fighter executing a strategy, and I compared it to Tommy Morrison's championship fight against George Foreman in 1993 when Morrison, the challenger, never intended to stand in the ring punching against the powerful, chugging champion. He instead strategically threw punches before running away, and he won the title after walking Foreman around the ring. It wasn't pretty, but even fighting the boring fight won Morrison the championship.

BC took a left hook to the liver, as Jim Lampley once called Micky Ward's "money punch" against Arturo Gatti, last week before UConn marched around the ring and executed a game plan centered around keeping the Eagles on their heels. The Huskies didn't stand in the middle of the ring punching because getting into a track meet against BC's athletes would have been a recipe for a second or third round knockout loss.

It hurt, but having the short week to prepare for Duke means the conversation about the UConn game had to end pretty quickly. It's still present, but the Blue Devils had a bye last week after beating Miami on the road. They're going to be well-rested, so there's an imperative need to put last week to bed even faster.

*****
Meteorology 101

I mentioned earlier this season how the last weeks of October and the early part of November occasionally receive the last gasps of summer. It occasionally leaks into Thanksgiving, and I vaguely remember a Christmas where I wore a short sleeve shirt, though that might've been from my blood pressure after smothering my ham in mashed potatoes and gravy (my plate ran out of space, so don't judge me). Either way, this time of year usually gets a few final days of 70-degree weather and shorts before we dial into a blistering cold that lasts until April.

That's this weekend in a nutshell. Saturday and Sunday are both headed straight for 75 degrees during the day, and the cooler nights are affectionately known in these parts as hoodie weather because they require little more than a sweatshirt and jeans. The rain from Monday night and Tuesday morning is long gone, and Friday's kickoff between BC and Duke is expected under mostly clear skies with temperatures dipping into the 50s.

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BC-Duke X Factor

Duke Offensive Line

Offensive line talk is popular fodder around these parts, but a big reason for Duke's success, like nearly every BC opponent this year, comes from the continuity along an offensive line with three graduate students, a senior, and a junior in its starting lineup.

"Their offensive line is a really experienced group," said Jeff Hafley, "and they have a bunch of fifth year [players]. I think they have 169 total starts on their line, which is huge. The experience playing together, they're big, they're nasty, and they're strong."

Of the five regular starters, three run larger than 300 pounds, and tackles Graham Barton and Andre Harris are around six feet, four inches and 310-plus pounds. Interior guard Chance Lytle is six feet, seven inches and 329 pounds, and senior Jacob Monk is just under 300 pounds on the right side with Jack Burns manning a 300-pound center position for a unit that's allowed more than one sack in two of its games this year.

Miami was one of those games, but the Hurricanes gave Riley Leonard every opportunity to convert with the sheer volume of turnovers. Leonard, to his credit, is plowing through well-documented numbers, but it all starts along the line…a common refrain given the issues facing BC's injury-depleted unit.

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Around College Football

The first College Football Playoff rankings were released this week with Tennessee ascending to the No. 1 spot for the first time since Tee Martin, one of the six quarterbacks chosen ahead of Tom Brady in the 2000 NFL Draft, won the 1998 national championship, but the Volunteers, who positively destroyed Kentucky last week, now have to deal with No. 3 Georgia in a game where the winner should probably receive promotion to the AFC South.

It's hard to judge if the team that loses that game will fall out of the CFP, and a lot of that rides on the games featuring No. 7 TCU, which hosts Texas Tech, and No. 6 Alabama, which is at No. 10 LSU. No. 5 Michigan is lurking as well, but the Wolverines are at Rutgers to play a team coming off of a 31-0 loss to Minnesota and are heavy favorites despite the Scarlet Knights always having upset potential against an opponent.

Other games around the country include No. 24 Texas' trip to No. 13 Kansas State to play the Wildcats, who redeemed their season by shutting out Oklahoma State, 48-0, and No. 2 Ohio State's game at Northwestern, but this is actually a really big week for the college football undercard. Air Force plays Army in the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series among service academies in a game scheduled for Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas (the former home of baseball's Texas Rangers), and BYU heads to Boise State's smurf turf later on in the night. Houston is at Southern Methodist, and Florida State plays Miami in an ACC clash.

*****
Dan's Non-Sports Observation of the Week

I'm pretty notorious for keeping weird hours of the morning and night. My family was a bunch of early risers out of a time crunch when I was a kid, but I grew up with an innate ability to stay up late or get up early depending on the need. I've always been able to adjust to working overnight shifts where I can or cannot sleep, and I long developed an ability to put my head back and fall asleep wherever I'm sitting.

It came in handy last year when our older daughter arrived in April, but tapping back into that mentality for our newer daughter has been more difficult than I remember. Maybe it's because I'm chasing an 18-month old for most of the day, but I don't ever recall getting this tired at 8 p.m. when I'm waking up at 4 a.m. I'm exhausted lately, and there doesn't seem to be enough coffee capable of getting me to the end of the day.

I'm still good with wake-ups, and I'm getting way more work done before sunrise than an average human being considers normal. I actually really enjoy writing in the darkness of those early morning hours, and I do my best thinking while sipping that first iced coffee leftover from yesterday's batch. It makes it easy to watch DVR, at least, when you have nothing more than a quiet house. It's just those sunsets that are killing me and how I'm ready to fall asleep standing up once I'm done with dinner.

I will say this about our younger daughter, though: she's a champion sleeper. We're still waking up to feed her during the night, but her sleep patterns have allowed my wife and me to get four hours at a stretch. I usually only sleep six hours anyways, but the other night, I fell asleep in bed and, with my wife handling the overnight bottles, I slept clear through seven hours for the first time in years.

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Pregame Quote and Prediction

If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you are already dead! - Maximus, "Gladiator"

Roman and Norse mythologized the concept of battlefield valor thanks to their belief in the afterlife. They separated the highest honors for those anointed as heroes, and the greatest warriors found the warmest realms if they were felled during a great battle. That's not to say that battles or wars are the same as a football game, but both cultures were onto something because they removed fear from their soldiers by installing the belief of these places.

The distinctive glory associated with Elysium or Valhalla added prestige to the fearlessness of fighters, and if we're drawing even the flimsiest parallel, that's the mindset BC needs on Friday night. The Eagles usually play with a fearlessness, but they need to fly all over the field for the full 60 minutes without fear of failure. There has to be this ever-present belief that every play washes away the disbelief that last week's loss dredged to the surface, and every hit, every tackle, every catch, every block must carry catharsis during a season that hasn't produced the desired results to this point.

Duke is a very good football team with plenty of respect and honor, but once the ball is kicked for the first quarter, the Blue Devils are the enemy, attempting to take what BC wants. What happens from there will determine what happens for this week and nothing more.

Boston College and Duke kick off on Friday at 7 p.m. from Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The game can be seen on national television via ESPN2 with streaming available through ESPN's online website and mobile device apps. Radio broadcast is also available through the BC Learfield IMG Sports Network, which is on local radio in Boston via WEEI 93.7 FM with satellite options on channel 83 on both the SiriusXM radio and app options.

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