Growing gains
BC QB Jurkovec maturing into the position
Quarterback Phil Jurkovec began his career at Boston College executing what coach Jeff Hafley described as a “vanilla” game plan in the 2020 opener at Duke.
Jurkovec aced his first audition by completing 17 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-6 victory that put tight end Hunter Long on an accelerated path to the NFL.
Over the course of the season in which BC went 6-5 and 5-5 in the ACC, Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti was able to expand the playbook. Jurkovec, a Pittsburgh product who transferred to BC from Notre Dame, was effectively able to accommodate Cignetti’s growth spurts.
“You have to remember when Phil came in here last year he was like the rest of the guys, everything was new to him,” said Cignetti.
“The terminology, the actual schemes and the fundaments and the techniques.
“The process was great, the players responded to the coaches and the coaches did a great job teaching the system. The players took it from the classroom to practice.
“But it being our first time together, we had to kind of figure out who we were in terms of personnel. As the season went on, we learned more about ourselves and how we would call the game.”
Jurkovec started 10 games and played the latter half of the season managing a left shoulder injury. Jurkovec completed 205 of 336 passes for 2,558 yards with 17 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 138.8 quarterback rating. That is an amazing stat line for a guy who started at square one in a new system with limited college experience to draw from.
BC is in its first week of spring practice and Jurkovec is light years beyond where his journey began. Jurkovec has a sellable play-action game with tailbacks Travis Levy and Pat Garwo, an intact offensive line and a large stable of wide receivers and tight ends.
The receivers room got an upgrade with the return of Kobay White, a legitimate deep threat who missed the 2020 season with a knee injury. Jurkovec’s other deep threat is Zay Flowers, who caught 56 passes for 892 yards and nine touchdowns. Spencer Witter has the inside track to replace Long, an AllACC first-team performer who had a team-high 57 catches for 685 yards and five touchdowns.
“It is definitely a different feel going into the spring ball this year,” said Jurkovec. “We have our whole offense installed and we’ve got a lot of veterans at it.
“We have some wrinkles in the offense but the system is the same one so there is a lot more of a comfort level with it.”
Back for more
Left offensive tackle Zion Johnson and right guard Ben Petrula, both of whom garnered All-ACC honors, were in the perfect position to jump to the NFL after the 2020 season.
They both started 11 games and enjoyed greater exposure to NFL scouts than their counterparts from conferences that started late and played an abbreviated schedule like the Big 10 and Pac 12.
But Petrula, who started 48 games at three different positions, and Johnson elected to remain moving mountains with Tyler Vrabel, Alec Lindstrom and Christian Mahogany.
“I was back home when they officially said they were coming back,” said Jurkovec. “We were talking about it before we left and it’s a big relief because those guys are so experienced and really good up front.
“Having them back and knowing you are protected is huge for a quarterback.”
The Bosco boys
The BC defensive backs room got bigger and deeper with the arrival of safety Jaiden Lars-Woodbey , a 6-foot-1, 223-pound redshirt junior transfer from Florida State.
Lars-Woodbey was a bluechip recruit at both receiver and defensive back at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif. LarsWoodbey enjoyed additional exposure when SJB’s quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei was featured on Netflix’s QB1: Beyond the Lights.
“He was my high school quarterback my senior year and little bit of my junior year,” said Lars-Woodbey. “There is a show on Netflix called QB1 and I’m on there and you see him and me interacting a little bit and it was definitely a fun experience.
“Once I watched the show, I didn’t know how much I would be on it and I just laughed at myself. A lot of times I didn’t know the camera was on me and I was just being myself and I had a couple of select words.”
BC got an unexpected look at Uiagalelei when the Eagles took on No. 1-ranked Clemson at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 31. Uiagalelei was a true freshman when he started in place of Trevor Lawrence, who was in the ACC’s COVID protocol. Uiagalelei completed 30 of 41 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers come-from-behind 34-28 win.