Boston College vs. North Carolina Preview

Boston College vs. North Carolina Preview

October 2, 2020 · by · in Football

By Patrick Mormile,

As Jeff Hafley’s crew finishes preparations and adjustments after a far-from-flawless outing against Texas State, one lurking question remains to be answered: Is BC able to turn on the offensive switch against a formidable ACC defense?

The 2-0 Eagles welcome the 12th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels (1-0) on Saturday for a pivotal early-season ACC matchup in Chestnut Hill. Boston College is coming off of a tight battle with the the Sun Belt’s Texas State, one which saw the Eagles down by two touchdowns late in the third quarter before some game-saving heroics on the ground and through the air from redshirt sophomore Phil Jurkovec. With the performance, Jurkovec became the first BC quarterback since Matt Ryan in 2007 to lead a double-digit comeback.

The turning point in the Eagles’ second win of the year may have come on a crucial 22-yard completion to Spencer Witter on a 3rd & 13 late in the third quarter. If this play had not been made, Texas State would have been given the ball back with a 14 point lead after a six minute touchdown drive on their last possession.

North Carolina hopes to get BC’s quarterback out of sync early and often after giving up six points, earning seven sacks, and allowing only 203 total yards, the fewest by their defense in nearly 11 years, against Syracuse in early September. 

Legendary Head Coach Mack Brown comes up north with over 250 wins, two national championship appearances, and one BCS National Title for the Texas Longhorns under his belt, a resume matched by few in college football. The merit of the Eagles will be tested in Alumni Stadium as the highly-respected Brown will also come in after having three weeks to prepare. 

That will likely be plenty of time for the Tar Heels to clean up over 90 yards worth of penalties and three turnovers that they ceded against the Orange.

Boston College’s defense, which had issues covering the deep ball at times last year, will have no easy task as they face a team that was 12th in the country in total yards last year and 2nd in the ACC in offensive efficiency. Spearheaded by the versatile two-headed monster in the backfield of Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, North Carolina also returned their top 6 pass catchers, led by sure-handed Dazz Newsome (72 catches in 2019) and the electrifying Dyami Brown (over 20 yards per catch last year).

BC must take advantage of UNC’s weak pass-blocking unit in pressuring QB Sam Howell, who was sacked over three times a game last season. The Eagles were able to muster up seven sacks over the last two weeks. 

On the other side of the ball, the Eagles hope to improve their ACC-worst 86 rushing yards per game against a Tar Heel Unit that lost their top two defensive tackles, Jason Strowbridge and Aaron Crawford, to the NFL. If BC can avoid playing from behind, expect to see a heavy dose of David Bailey on Saturday. 

Zay Flowers will aim to get back in the mix after coming back down to earth against the Bobcats with a two catch, 20 yard performance. If Flowers can return to his ACC Wide Receiver of the Week form which saw him go for 160 yards and a touchdown, things may be a little bit easier for Jurkovec’s favorite target, Hunter Long, who is currently averaging eight catches and over 90 yards a game this year. 

With a free flowing offense from the get-go, the Eagles offense can assume some form of consistency and avoid having to fight with their back against the wall yet again. As a two touchdown underdog, it is up to Frank Cignetti’s offense to learn from their early-season mistakes and mature on the fly to keep the Eagles in this game.