Eagles to face E. Carolina in Military Bowl
Will be played at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium on Dec. 27
Boston College has an opportunity to amend its season of unfulfilled expectations with a winning record.
The Eagles (6-6, 2-4) will face the Pirates of East Carolina (7-5, 5-3) when the ACC meets the AAC in the 2021 Military Bowl on Monday, Dec. 27. The first meeting of the two programs will take place at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium at 2:30 p.m. in Annapolis, Md.
“I feel like we kind of hit the reset from our last game and whether it is the start of next year or the end of this year we can look at it either way,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley. “But I want to end it on a good note and start next season on a high note.
“I want to go into the offseason with momentum and I think our players are excited. I feel like we are refreshed and I feel like we are starting another chapter of a different season.”
BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec is the centerpiece of the Eagles’ unrealized ambitions through no fault of his own. The 6-foot-5, 226-pound, redshirt junior was projected to be the lynchpin of the Eagles multiple threat offense after a stellar debut season in 2020.
But Jurkovec broke his right hand in the opening drive at UMass on Sept. 11 and missed the next six games. Jurkovec was the caretaker in BC’s win over Virginia Tech and enjoyed a career day at Georgia Tech the following weekend. BC had a chance to secure an upper-tier ACC bowl at a warm weather venue with eight wins, but the Eagles closed the season with home losses to Florida State and Wake Forest.
“We weren’t pleased by the way we played the last two weeks and Phil came back strong,” said Hafley. “Phil got banged up in the (Florida State) game and played the last game with the flu so he is motivated right now.
“This is the most excited I’ve seen him. He had a great practice (Saturday) and the guys are excited to to get better and have the opportunity to end the season on a high note and go into the offseason with momentum. He now has time to rest and regain that hand strength because when he came back he was 50%. He’s a big time player with the right attitude and see what he can do in the last game.”
BC was bowl eligible after the 2020 season but declined to participate after playing 11 straight ACC games under pandemic restrictions.
BC is 14-13 in bowl games that began with a 6-3 loss to Clemson in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1940. The Eagles first postseason win was a 1913 victory over Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1941.
The Eagles last postseason win was a 36-30 victory over Maryland in the Quick Lane Bowl on Dec. 26, 2016, at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
BC’s last two bowl games were weather-related disasters. BC was up 7-0 on Boise State in the first quarter of the First Responders Bowl at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 26, 2018, in Dallas. But the game was canceled due to an apocalyptic lightning storm.
BC was smacked 38-6 by Cincinnati in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 2, 2020, in a game that was delayed two hours by lightning. BC coach Steve Addazio was fired at the end of the 2019 season and Rich Gunnell served as interim head coach against the Bearcats.
In a related bowl announcement, Virginia will play Southern Methodist in the inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park on Dec. 29 at 11 a.m.
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