Second “Haf” Collapse Ends Eagles Upset Bid

Second “Haf” Collapse Ends Eagles Upset Bid

November 2, 2020 · by · in Uncategorized

By Andrew Kynes

If football games were only two quarters long, Boston College would have pulled off one of the most exceptional upsets in school history and would most likely be ranked in the AP poll right now. Unfortunately, football games are, in fact, four quarters.

As a result of a second half collapse, the Eagles sit 4-3 and are the latest victims of a Clemson team that hasn’t lost an ACC game since 2017. The scoreless second half coupled with the 21 unanswered points will surely haunt Jeff Hafley for years to come.

BC played a near flawless first half. Phil Jurkovec was 8-12 with two incredible touchdowns and seemingly could not miss. The offense was averaging around seven yards a play, and the Clemson secondary did not appear to have an answer for anything Frank Cignetti dialed up. Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables appeared to be physically distraught on the sideline having to watch Jurkovec sling the ball all over the field. The running game was not flashy, but it did what it had to do. Travis Levy and David Bailey protected the football and seemed to convert every short-yardage 3rd down. The offensive line finally looked like a real unit, capable of protecting the QB vs. elite competition.

Defensively, The Eagles prevented big plays, as the Tigers freshman QB DJ Uiagalelei was limited to short to intermediate passes. The Eagles D-Line was able to contain Travis Etienne on the ground, forcing him to make a rare mistake as he fumbled on the goal line and let DB Brandon Sebastian scamper 97 yards for a scoop n’ score. This was the most complete half of football that BC has played all year, and if the second half was half as good, surely the Eags could pull off the upset.

From the first drive of the second half, things were different. The story of this half was Venables completely out-scheming the Eagles and forcing them to execute perfectly in order to score. The BC offense looked out-of-sync, as Clemson was often able to get pressure on the QB with three men. This forced Jurkovec to get the ball out quick, often to receivers that weren’t open. And when they were open, the throws were either errant or dropped. The lack of an efficient passing attack paired with an already struggling ground game led to the first scoreless half of the Jeff Hafley era. As a result of this struggling offense, the Eagles defense was forced to stay on the field for the majority of the second half. This led to some bad reads and a tired defense that was doing their best to bend not break. As the game wore on, Clemson was able to open up holes for Etienne to explode through on his way to breaking the all-time ACC rushing yards record. Down by four late, the Eagles had one last shot to drive 96 yards to win the game. This did not happen, as Jurkovec was sacked, resulting in a safety.

Final: Clemson 34 Boston College 28

Game Notes:

-This is the second time Jeff Hafley has blown a double-digit lead vs Clemson in a year. (16-0 lead in the CFB playoff semifinal while at Ohio State)

-Clemson now holds a 10-game win streak vs BC

What’s next?

-BC (4-3) plays ‘Cuse (1-5) Saturday at 2pm on NESN

-#1 Clemson (5-0) plays #4 Notre Dame Saturday at 7:30 pm on NBC