Stymied by Seminoles

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WR Zay Flowers celebrates scoring touchdown, BC’s first yesterday.

The Eagles dug themselves a 26-3 hole against Florida State yesterday with disjointed, sluggish play in the first 38 minutes of the game. Somehow the switch was flipped after the Seminoles scored their final points on the opening drive of the second half, but BC’s 20 straight points within 20 minutes were not enough. Final: Florida State 26, BC 23.

Statistics for the first half were not available in the post-game packet, but the Eagles were bad. Total offense for the half was fewer than 100 yards. The Seminoles scored every way possible — touchdown, point after, field goal, and safety — to go up 19-3. Receiving the second half kickoff, Florida State took seven plays to cover 75 yards and to score.

“We started off slow and flat,” BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec said in the Boston Globe. “I’m not sure exactly why. We just didn’t have energy.” The Globe also quoted BC coach Jeff Hafley: “Trust me, I’m definitely still very angry about losing this game, but our guys fought back. We just need to start faster.”

Following the Florida State score to open the second half, BC’s next three possessions were drives of 46, 90, and 50 yards to score three touchdowns. A two-point point-after failed on the last score.

The Eagles even got the ball back with eight minutes remaining, down by three. A 14-play drive brought them to the FSU 37, but a pass interception gave the ball back to the Seminoles, who were able to run out the final 1:42.

BC ended with 318 yards total offense, 170 rushing and 148 through the air. Jurkovec was 10 of 24 passing with one touchdown and one interception. WR Zay Flowers had three catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. RB Patrick Garwo gained 71 yards on 24 carries, while Jurkovec added 59 yards on the ground.

Florida State had 365 yards total offense, 251 of them passing.

Highlights:

The Eagles fell to 6-5 for the season, 2-5 in conference play. They meet Wake Forest (9-2) (6-1) in the regular season finale Saturday, November 27, in Alumni Stadium at 9 am PT.

Jurkovec vexes Jackets

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QB Phil Jurkovec led Eagles to another ACC win yesterday. Atlanta Journal/Constitution

Previous win by the Eagles wasn’t a fluke!

Quarterback Phil Jurkovec continued BC’s comeback from a tepid start in conference play by accounting for five touchdowns (two passing, three running) in yesterday’s 41-30 comeback win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga. Jurkovec, who had missed six games and most of a seventh this year with a hand injury, had returned to lead the Eagles to its first ACC victory over Virginia Tech, 17-3, on Friday, October 5. BC had gone 0-4 in conference play before his return.

The Eagles remain low in the ACC Atlantic Division, tied with Syracuse at the bottom with 2-4 conference records. But BC is 6-4 overall and thereby qualifies for a post-season bowl game. The final two games of the season, against Florida State and #12/13 Wake Forest, both in Alumni Stadium, will determine which bowl.

The game against Georgia Tech started off gangbusters. Receiving the opening kickoff, the Eagles went 75 yards in five plays, capped off by a 48-yard touchdown pass from Jurkovec to WR Zay Flowers. The Yellow Jackets didn’t even need a drive to respond. Tech’s Jahmyr Gibbs returned the BC kickoff 98 yards to tie the score. Two touchdowns in the first 2:14.

Georgia Tech scored two touchdowns after long drives to take a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. BC’s offensive explosiveness (so absent in the first five ACC games) then made its appearance, as the Eagles scored three touchdowns in brief drives (four, four, and five plays) to go into halftime ahead 28-21. The first score came on a 38-yard pass to Flowers, and Jurkovec scored the other two on eight- and four-yard runs.

The third quarter, which so often before had been BC’s time of despair, was quiet this time. Georgia Tech had the only score, a field goal to cut the lead to 28-24. BC started the fourth quarter scoring with a field goal, but the Yellow Jackets countered with a touchdown. Tech then missed the extra point to stay behind, 31-30.

Jurkovec added his final touchdown with a 31-yard run to make the score 38-30. On the ensuring Georgia Tech drive, with the Yellow Jackets facing fourth-down and 14 yards to gain, BC’s Marcus Valdez sacked the Tech quarterback, who fumbled. The ball was recovered by BC’s J.T. Thompson, who advanced it to the GT 18. A 27-yard field goal by Connor Lytton closed out the scoring at 41-30.

The Eagles gained 505 yards in total offense, exceeding 500 yards for the first time in conference play this year. Jurkovec was particularly efficient passing, going 13 of 20 for 310 yards, averaging 28.3 yards per completion. Five BC receivers had longer pass receptions than any Georgia Tech player.

Jurkovec was also BC’s second leadng rusher, averaging 8.9 yards per carry in gaining 71 yards. RB Patrick Garwo was the workhouse on the ground, carrying the ball 20 times for 104 yards. Overall, the Eagles ran for 195 yards.

Georgia Tech gained a total of 213 yards on the ground, but only 130 yards passing, despite completing 18 passes.

Here are highlights.

BC (6-4) (2-4) meets the Florida State Seminoles (4-6) (3-4) in Alumni Stadium on Saturday, November 20, at 9 am PT.

Jurkovec juice

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QB Phil Jurkovec returned to lead Eagles to first ACC win. Barry Chin/Boston Globe

Friday night game against Virginia Tech. National television game in Alumni Stadium. Red bandana game. Four straight games lost in the ACC. Game BC needed to win.

Cue the return of starting Eagle quarterback Phil Jurkovec, injured in the second game of the season against UMass and not expected to come back this year. In a combination of grit, determination, and good fortune, Jurkovec led BC to a 17-3 win over the Hokies last night to garner its first conference victory.

BC coach Jeff Hafley said Jurkovec had been medically cleared to play the previous Friday. Rumors that the Eagles’ top quarterback would return to play appeared earlier yesterday and were confirmed just before game time. The coach noticed things were different with Jurkovec back.

“It’s probably the most confident, fearless, and the best leadership I’ve seen from him since we’ve been here,” Hafley said in the post-game press conference. “Not his best performance, but he threw some good balls. He had a different way about him today and we all felt it.”

Statistically, it was a mediocre performance by Jurkovec. He was 7 of 13 passing for 112 yards. Two passes accounted for 81 of those passing yards. And he threw an interception.

It was that interception, however, that offered a sense of how Jurkovec’s presence might be a special factor.

On BC’s first possession, the Eagles had reached the VaTech 35. Jurkovec’s throw on second-and-12 was intercepted at the six-yard line. On the return, BC’s Jaelen Gill forced a fumble that was recovered on the 13 by . . . Jurkovec.

On the subsequent third down, Jurkovec ran for an eight-yard touchdown, vaulting into the end zone.

If BC’s offense was “adequate,” Virginia Tech’s was lethargic, as the score would indicate. VaTech’s total offense was 235 yards, 162 of them on the ground.

The Hokies’ starting quarterback, who played at La Jolla Country Day, was injured early in the game and did not return. VaTech overall was 7 of 17 for 73 yards.

The Eagles totaled 346 yards in offense, 234 on the ground. They ran 67 plays in the game, compared to 51 for Virginia Tech.

Patrick Garwo ran for 116 yards.

For the game, Jurkovec ran nine times, for 65 yards. He was not sacked. Leading rusher for BC was Patrick Garwo, who gained 116 yards on 30 carries.

Here are highlights.

(Special thanks to Lori Mahler, who brought red bandanas to the San Diego Eagle game watch for those of us who did not have one. The photo below shows the group at The Corner Drafthouse.

The red bandana, of course, is symbolic of 1999 graduate Welles Crowther, who saved the lives of numerous people during the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, but perished. People noted that the young man who had guided them to safety amid the dust and debris wore a red bandana over his nose and mouth. That covering was the accessory Crowther carried since boyhood. The Eagles wear a special uniform and fans wear the red bandana in his honor at the annual game.)

The Eagles’ record improved to 5-4, 1-4 in the ACC. Three games remain for BC to get a sixth win and bowl game eligibility.

Syracuse 21, BC 6
I was too bummed by the result of the BC-Syracuse game on Saturday, October 30, to post a game story. I apologize for shirking that duty.

The Eagles had led in that game, 3-0, at halftime and they added another field goal to go up 6-0 in the third quarter. In a five-minute span, however, the Orange scored three touchdowns on runs of 51 and 48 yards and a 68-yard punt return.

You can watch if you want. :)

The Eagles meet Georgia Tech in Atlanta next Saturday, November 13. Game time 12:30 pm PT.