Ahead of tomorrow's matchup with Boston College, we caught up with Andy Backstrom of EagleAction on the Rivals network.
CardinalSports: How has the offense played since losing starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec? Has the play calling changed at all?
EagleAction: The play-calling really hasn’t changed, and maybe it should at this point because BC has scored a combined 20 points in its last two games, and quarterback Dennis Grosel is just 3-of-19 on passes traveling 20 or more yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. is still using layered passing routes and pre-snap motion to get his play makers in space. The Eagles are definitely making more of a concerted effort to establish a run game than they did last year, however, I think they were trending that way even with Phil Jurkovec under center. The biggest difference between Grosel and Jurkovec is that Grosel can’t seem to connect with his receivers on deep shots, something that Jurkovec did consistently in 2020, even under pressure. Creating those explosives through the air has been much tougher without the Notre Dame transfer at the helm.
CardinalSports: What makes Zay Flowers such a tough matchup for opposing defenses?
EagleAction: Zay Flowers is an NFL wide receiver. There’s no doubt. He’s 5-foot-10 but he plays big vertically. If you play off him, he’ll make you miss in space. If you play tight, he’ll blow right by you. Double coverage? Doesn’t matter. The last two games, against the two best defensive teams in the ACC (Clemson and N.C.State), Flowers has routinely had a step on the secondary. The problem is, Grosel keeps missing him deep. Every time, the redshirt senior quarterback overshoots the speedy Flowers. Look for Cignetti to try to get Flowers more involved horizontally this weekend because the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native is totally capable of doing that, too. BC already frequently uses him in jet motion. A few more jet sweeps, pop passes or swing passes on Saturday wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
CardinalSports: How has the buy-in among the team and fanbase been with Jeff Hafley?
EagleAction: Jeff Hafley is a player’s coach, and it shows. He seems to always know what the right thing is to do,whether that was canceling practice and holding a team meeting to discuss racial injustice in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in the summer of 2020 or pulling his team out from bowl season last year so that players could spend time with families after the rigor of a COVID-19-affected slate of games. His players have bought in, and so has the fan base. That said, the last couple weeks have raised some questions among Eagles faithful: not about Hafley’s potential but about this year’s team and if it can even bounce back to become bowl eligible. I think it will, however, there’s something to be said about the missed opportunity 2021 could end up being for this program. If Jurkovec doesn’t go down, BC could be looking at a legit shot to win the ACC. That’s a tough pill fans are trying to swallow.
CardinalSports: What does Boston College like to do defensively?
EagleAction: BC likes to play a 4-2-5 defense. The Eagles are deepest on the back end, and that’s noticeable considering how much they rotate in safeties and corners. Josh DeBerry is probably the most consistent performer of the bunch, and he’s BC’s nickel. Brandon Sebastian is the team’s most experienced corner.At Clemson, the Eagles played a ton of press-man coverage. They didn’t rely on that tactic as much against N.C. State. BC typically uses two linebackers on the field, but sometimes the Eagles will sneak in a third in favor of an extra defensive back. The Eagles’ pass rush is the weak point of the defense. They rank last in the ACC in sacks per game (1.3) and 113th nationally in pass rushing grade (66.3), per PFF.Another thing to note: BC struggled mightily against the quarterback run in 2020. Opposing signal callers rushed for an average of 83.4 yards per outing in the Eagles’ final seven games of the season. Malik Cunningham racked up 133 yards on the ground in the teams’ November matchup. That Achilles’ heel is part of the reason why the Eagles tried to add more speed this year: moving Kam Arnold from safety to linebacker, adding FSU transfer Jaiden Woodbey and shifting Jason Maitre from corner to safety.
CardinalSports: What is your game prediction?
EagleAction: Louisville 33, BC 27. I think the Eagles cover the spread, but their losing streak continues. BC has turned its offense around at Louisville before—the 2017 game when AJ Dillon broke out for 275 rushing yards and four touchdowns—but the only player the current Eagles have like that is Flowers, who they’ve been having a hard time getting touches. And even if BC does enjoy success offensively against Louisville’s pedestrian defense, it will have to keep pace with Cunningham and Co. BC’s best chance is to force a handful of turnovers, exploit a porous Cardinals pass defense by finally connecting on some explosives downfield and control the clock with its run game. That’s totally possible. But not if the Eagles get behind like they did against N.C. State. This game is a tossup, honestly. That’s most of the ACC this year, though.
