Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Anthony Garro
October 24, 2023 | Football, #ForBoston Files
Georgia Tech didn't know what hit it.
Jeff Hafley knew his defense had better potential than the numbers implied. The head coach of the Boston College football program prided his team on its fundamental ability to finish tackles with a trademark, violent ferociousness. The numbers started to trend in the Eagles as BC started what has reached a three-game win streak. Yet there was still room for growth and a chance to turn strong defensive play into offensive opportunity. So he issued a challenge to the players and position coaches ahead of BC's bye week return against Georgia Tech.
He wanted his defense to win the takeaway battle, and he openly talked about how producing more turnovers would shorten the Yellow Jackets' game by extending the Eagles' time of possession. The offense had begun breaking out and controlling the clock with more regularity, so he knew that the defense could tilt the field even further if it grounded Georgia Tech's overall success.
The defense responded in kind, and BC shut Georgia Tech down to the tune of a 38-23 win and a 21-0 scoring difference in the fourth quarter. The 15-point win included the most points and largest margin of victory over a bowl subdivision opponent since early 2021, and the final score was arguably the best October-based result since the 48-27 win over the Yellow Jackets during the 2020 season played in front of an empty stadium due COVID-19 protocols.
"What I learned with this team is that we won the last game," Hafley said. "We got to 1-0 this week, and it's such a coaching cliche that [everyone] has all heard, but it's the truth. You can't look too far ahead, and you can't look behind. That's the world we live in. Win or lose, you have to figure it out and give everything you have [because] you have a week to prepare and go play. We've done that for three weeks in a row, and if we continue to do that and stack them up and keep working, we'll look up at the end and see where it puts us."
The defensive pressure on quarterback Haynes King put the Texas A&M transfer under the most pressure he's faced all season. It was the third consecutive game in which he threw multiple picks, but he threw three interceptions for the first time since the Aggies' 2021 win over Kent State - his only meaningful action of his first two years in College Station. It was the fourth straight game with a pick since he's become the starter at Georgia Tech, and he barely avoided throwing less than 200 yards for the second consecutive game.
He ran for a career-best 150 yards, but grounding King, even without an official hurry, limited his chunk plays to six completions for 134 yards and the one busted 70-yard run for a third quarter touchdown. He was 1-for-8 passing on third downs for 37 yards as part of a larger, anemic 3-for-11 situational day, but the completion to Trey Cooley in the third quarter was completely negated by Amari Jackson's acrobatic interception in the first quarter.
"It's all about the position that you're in," Hafley said of the pick. "On that one, Amari was in a cut-off angle with his left hand in position to swipe at the ball. For him to intercept that pass, he did not have his right available. Usually, you'd [swipe] and backhand-glove the ball out, and you're not going to catch it unless you can catch it with one hand. He essentially band-handed it and pinned it to his hip and caught it. That was the perfect [play] for a [pass breakup] and not an interception, so it was No. 1 on Sportscenter for a reason. I'm not sure you could replicate that in a drill or teach it. It was just an amazing play."
Turnovers in general are impossible to teach, but BC added two more interceptions by using better vision and premier fundamentals against the Georgia Tech receivers. Elijah Jones produced the first game with multiple interceptions by a BC defender since Lukas Denis recorded two picks against Central Michigan in 2017, and the 3-0 turnover advantage could have been greater if BC's forced fumble by Donovan Ezeiruaku didn't bounce directly back into Cooley's body.
"Since the Louisville game, we've played much better pass defense," Hafley said. "We've given up about 180 yards per game and had four interceptions, so we just put an emphasis on guys playing the ball more and 'becoming the offense' more when they're in a position to do so. I felt like earlier in the year, guys were a little tentative in getting their heads and turning around to play the ball when the ball's in the air, but that's when you turn [receivers] and become the offense by going to make a play."
"We'd gone through self scouting on the bye week," added linebacker Vinny DePalma, "and we looked at what we had done and what we had been hurt by. Trying to build it from there, I don't know exactly what Georgia Tech thought our game plan would be, but we planned on a little bit of a chess game. There was a cat-and-mouse to what we did and what they thought, and we just tried to marry those things to stay one step ahead of the offense."
That included, as Hafley mentioned, 'becoming the offense,' a theory that transitions defenders when either the ball is in the air or the play is in motion. The idea stems from the fact that turnovers happen when a defensive back knows how to react to a ball that's thrown, and when he beats the receiver to the spot, he can win the 50-50 play by essentially making the move that the offensive player should be making. The route is then flipped away from the receiver and into the defender's mind, to which a second player can enter the play to force a fumble with instinct over play design.
"It's almost a mindset when you're out there," DePalma said. "When you're the second or third man-in, you start punching the ball or ripping it out. It's cliche, but those are the things that create fumbles, and you really have to emphasize it. When you're playing, you have to attack the ball and get the ball back to the offense, and when you're in coverage, when the ball is thrown, you're covering a guy and you turn into the offense. You turn into the receiver, and it's about attacking it efficiently."
"The whole plan against Georgia Tech was that we knew they were an explosive pass team with one of the most explosive passing teams in the ACC," Hafley said. "We wanted to eliminate their explosive pass plays in that game, and we did. They threw for [about] 200 yards, and he [completed] 44 percent of his throws with three picks. We gave up some runs and some light boxes, but that was the game plan. We had a lot of defensive backs and put pressure on the quarterback that was effective in winning the game."
The win improved the Eagles to 4-3 on the season. They return home on Saturday for their Homecoming game against Connecticut with a 12 p.m. kickoff at Alumni Stadium.
He wanted his defense to win the takeaway battle, and he openly talked about how producing more turnovers would shorten the Yellow Jackets' game by extending the Eagles' time of possession. The offense had begun breaking out and controlling the clock with more regularity, so he knew that the defense could tilt the field even further if it grounded Georgia Tech's overall success.
The defense responded in kind, and BC shut Georgia Tech down to the tune of a 38-23 win and a 21-0 scoring difference in the fourth quarter. The 15-point win included the most points and largest margin of victory over a bowl subdivision opponent since early 2021, and the final score was arguably the best October-based result since the 48-27 win over the Yellow Jackets during the 2020 season played in front of an empty stadium due COVID-19 protocols.
"What I learned with this team is that we won the last game," Hafley said. "We got to 1-0 this week, and it's such a coaching cliche that [everyone] has all heard, but it's the truth. You can't look too far ahead, and you can't look behind. That's the world we live in. Win or lose, you have to figure it out and give everything you have [because] you have a week to prepare and go play. We've done that for three weeks in a row, and if we continue to do that and stack them up and keep working, we'll look up at the end and see where it puts us."
The defensive pressure on quarterback Haynes King put the Texas A&M transfer under the most pressure he's faced all season. It was the third consecutive game in which he threw multiple picks, but he threw three interceptions for the first time since the Aggies' 2021 win over Kent State - his only meaningful action of his first two years in College Station. It was the fourth straight game with a pick since he's become the starter at Georgia Tech, and he barely avoided throwing less than 200 yards for the second consecutive game.
He ran for a career-best 150 yards, but grounding King, even without an official hurry, limited his chunk plays to six completions for 134 yards and the one busted 70-yard run for a third quarter touchdown. He was 1-for-8 passing on third downs for 37 yards as part of a larger, anemic 3-for-11 situational day, but the completion to Trey Cooley in the third quarter was completely negated by Amari Jackson's acrobatic interception in the first quarter.
"It's all about the position that you're in," Hafley said of the pick. "On that one, Amari was in a cut-off angle with his left hand in position to swipe at the ball. For him to intercept that pass, he did not have his right available. Usually, you'd [swipe] and backhand-glove the ball out, and you're not going to catch it unless you can catch it with one hand. He essentially band-handed it and pinned it to his hip and caught it. That was the perfect [play] for a [pass breakup] and not an interception, so it was No. 1 on Sportscenter for a reason. I'm not sure you could replicate that in a drill or teach it. It was just an amazing play."
Turnovers in general are impossible to teach, but BC added two more interceptions by using better vision and premier fundamentals against the Georgia Tech receivers. Elijah Jones produced the first game with multiple interceptions by a BC defender since Lukas Denis recorded two picks against Central Michigan in 2017, and the 3-0 turnover advantage could have been greater if BC's forced fumble by Donovan Ezeiruaku didn't bounce directly back into Cooley's body.
"Since the Louisville game, we've played much better pass defense," Hafley said. "We've given up about 180 yards per game and had four interceptions, so we just put an emphasis on guys playing the ball more and 'becoming the offense' more when they're in a position to do so. I felt like earlier in the year, guys were a little tentative in getting their heads and turning around to play the ball when the ball's in the air, but that's when you turn [receivers] and become the offense by going to make a play."
"We'd gone through self scouting on the bye week," added linebacker Vinny DePalma, "and we looked at what we had done and what we had been hurt by. Trying to build it from there, I don't know exactly what Georgia Tech thought our game plan would be, but we planned on a little bit of a chess game. There was a cat-and-mouse to what we did and what they thought, and we just tried to marry those things to stay one step ahead of the offense."
That included, as Hafley mentioned, 'becoming the offense,' a theory that transitions defenders when either the ball is in the air or the play is in motion. The idea stems from the fact that turnovers happen when a defensive back knows how to react to a ball that's thrown, and when he beats the receiver to the spot, he can win the 50-50 play by essentially making the move that the offensive player should be making. The route is then flipped away from the receiver and into the defender's mind, to which a second player can enter the play to force a fumble with instinct over play design.
"It's almost a mindset when you're out there," DePalma said. "When you're the second or third man-in, you start punching the ball or ripping it out. It's cliche, but those are the things that create fumbles, and you really have to emphasize it. When you're playing, you have to attack the ball and get the ball back to the offense, and when you're in coverage, when the ball is thrown, you're covering a guy and you turn into the offense. You turn into the receiver, and it's about attacking it efficiently."
"The whole plan against Georgia Tech was that we knew they were an explosive pass team with one of the most explosive passing teams in the ACC," Hafley said. "We wanted to eliminate their explosive pass plays in that game, and we did. They threw for [about] 200 yards, and he [completed] 44 percent of his throws with three picks. We gave up some runs and some light boxes, but that was the game plan. We had a lot of defensive backs and put pressure on the quarterback that was effective in winning the game."
The win improved the Eagles to 4-3 on the season. They return home on Saturday for their Homecoming game against Connecticut with a 12 p.m. kickoff at Alumni Stadium.
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