Three weeks ago, it appeared as if the 2020 college football season was a ticking-time bomb. That’s why Saturday night’s Central Arkansas-Austin Peay FCS opener was a bit surreal. As was the ESPN commercial for BYU-Navy, a primetime Labor Day matchup scheduled to kick off the FBS season.
Just like that, the 2020 campaign is right in front of our eyes.
It sure won’t be the same, not with only six FBS conferences and 15 total FCS teams.
Countless questions remain. If the FBS season does in fact begin on time, how many games will actually be played? What happens if a program has a midseason COVID-19 outbreak? Will the sport have the same appeal without student sections and marching bands?
While incredibly important, those queries and many more logistical scenarios are being presented across the country, so this piece won’t touch on them. Instead, it will focus on another set of questions—those facing Boston College, first-year head coach Jeff Hafley, and his staff.
1. Can Phil Jurkovec live up to the hype in 2020?
There’s been excitement surrounding Notre Dame transfer quarterback Phil Jurkovec ever since he made the move to Chestnut Hill in January. The buzz only got louder during his seven-month wait for an NCAA immediate eligibility waiver. For weeks, #FreeJurk was all the talk in the BC Twittersphere. Now that he’s finally eligible, he has a chance to make his mark after sitting behind Ian Book for two years in South Bend—assuming he wins the quarterback battle.
Jurkovec is 6-foot-5, 250 pounds in a uniform (according to Hafley), and is a dual-threat gunslinger who came out of Pine-Richland High School (Pa.) as the 87th-best Class of 2018 recruit. But he’s only thrown 18 passes in his college career, he’s huddling up for the first time since middle school football, and he’s spent the summer getting comfortable with taking snaps under center. He has all the tangibles, however, the redshirt sophomore is short on experience.
2. Will Jeff Hafley have an immediate imprint on the Eagles’ secondary?
Hafley is 41 years old, and he already has seven years of NFL experience under his belt. Last year, he helped take Ohio State’s defense from the bottom half of the Big Ten to the top of the FBS. In doing so, he mentored a pair of future first-round defensive backs: Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette. Hafley, who has spent most of his career working with DBs, has drawn praise for his knowledge of the back end. This summer, Eagles corners and safeties have lauded their head coach for his defensive vision and technical expertise. BC ranked 122nd in the nation last year in pass defense (285.5 yards per game). Hafley’s success in year one will partially be measured by the growth of the Eagles’ secondary.
3. Is there enough firepower on the D-Line to generate a legitimate pass rush?
The defensive backs’ job will be a lot easier if BC can get to the quarterback this year. The Eagles are coming off a season in which they recorded just 19 sacks—the second-fewest in the ACC. Max Richardson led the team with 3.5 quarterback takedowns, while defensive end Brandon Barlow headlined the struggling position group with a meager 2.5 sacks. It was a steep decline from the days of Zach Allen, Wyatt Ray, and Harold Landry.
New D-Line coach Vince Oghobaase is preaching technique and leverage. And, according to Barlow, the energetic Oghobaase doesn’t accept mediocrity. In the offseason, Shittah Sillah beefed up, and fellow DE Marcus Valdez trimmed down. Defensive tackles TJ Rayam and Kyiev Bennermon cut weight, too. Factor in the addition of Buffalo graduate transfer Chibueze Onwuka, true freshman Cam Horsley, who made a lot of noise during training camp, and the reported transfer of versatile Cal D-Lineman Luc Bequette, and the Eagles have a much better chance at winning the battle in the trenches this season and creating havoc in the backfield.
4. Will Frank Cignetti Jr.’s offense be as dynamic as advertised?
Motion, tight ends and running backs lining up on the outside, plays catered toward particular weapons’ skill sets—Frank Cignetti Jr.’s offense is supposed to include bits and pieces of all three levels of the game. Gone is the predictable 12-personnel, run-run-pass BC offense of the Steve Addazio era. Cignetti did mention, though, he doesn’t want to lose the ability to play power football. With a running back like David Bailey, who has a rare combination of size and athleticism (like his predecessor), it’s hard not to pound the rock. That said, judging by the program-produced video clips and practice reports, it’s clear that the Eagles are committed to taking shots downfield in the passing game this year, especially with a QB like Jurkovec.
5. Is an Eagles wideout going to break the 600-yard receiving mark?
No BC wideout has topped the 600-yard receiving mark since Alex Amidon turned in back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2012 and 2013. Kobay White came closest a couple years ago when he recorded a couple 100-yard games and rounded out the 2018 campaign with a team-leading 33 catches and 526 receiving yards. Cignetti’s offensive scheme is designed to squeeze the most talent out of his playmakers, so it’s logical to think that BC’s deepest wideout room in years would produce a 600+ yard receiver. It really depends on Jurkovec's rapport with individual perimeter players and how much he distributes the ball. Unlike year’s past, though, the wide receivers won’t be overshadowed by an arsenal of tight ends.
6. Who’s going to be TE2 behind Hunter Long?
Hunter Long is primed to be the Eagles’ second tight end selected in the NFL Draft in the past three years. With size (6-foot-5, 253 pounds) and speed, Long is a serious threat in the passing game, especially after the catch—he averaged 18.2 yards per reception last year. Under Addazio, BC almost always operated out of a two-tight end set. That’s likely to change this fall, but a second player at the position will surely get playing time. Besides, it’s hard to imagine the Eagles completely abandoning 12-personnel packages, given their strong running game.
As for who the TE2 will be, there are a few options. First off, there’s two capable young guys: true freshman Charlie Gordinier and redshirt freshman Spencer Witter. Gordinier, a three-star product of Red Bank Catholic (N.J.) is one of BC’s better known 2020 recruits, and Witter—a former preferred walk-on—turned some heads in camp. Joey Luchetti, who was recruited out of Lawrence Academy as a tight end but switched to defensive end for most of the 2019 season, also surfaced in the team’s training camp practice reports. Although graduate student and former Penn State transfer Danny Dalton was primarily a special teamer last year, he’s another name to keep an eye on, in addition to redshirt junior Drew McQuarrie.
7. Will David Bailey be RB 1A or a traditional bell cow?
Bailey first popped up on BC fans’ radar in October 2018 when he rumbled to 112 yards and his second career touchdown, thanks to a hefty 28 carries against Louisville. His bruising running style was a change of pace from the shifty Ben Glines (remember, AJ Dillon was out with an ankle injury at the time). That’s the role Bailey has served since joining the team. He’s been a complementary runner, and a great one at that. After all, he led the team with 5.7 yards per carry last year while exploding for a pair of 170+ yard, two-touchdown performances. Cignetti could divvy up a handful of carries this fall to, say, Travis Levy and Pat Garwo III. But he could just as well let Bailey run with the show and see how he fares as the lead back.
8. Will BC finally be better in the kicking game?
This feels like a broken record, but it’s a significant question. Last year, Aaron Boumerhi was an upgrade at the place kicker position, and he only converted on 12 of his 18 field goal attempts, in other words a 66.7% clip (ninth among ACC teams). That’s saying something. He was automatic from 20-29 yards (5-of-5) and made all 45 extra points. The problem was, his accuracy wavered from 30-39 yards out (5-of-9). Boumerhi undoubtedly has a big leg. The former transfer hit two 40+ yard kicks last year and drilled a 52-yarder with Temple.
Consistency inside 40, however, is likely necessary for Boumerhi to earn the starting nod. He's competing against redshirt sophomore Stephen Ruiz. The New Mexico transfer has yet to make his collegiate debut but, notably, booted the longest field goal of the Eagles’ first scrimmage periods of camp, a 43-yarder down the middle. It’ll also be interesting to see who special teams coordinator Matt Thurin elects to shoulder the team’s kickoff duties. Last year, Danny Longman had 11 kicks sail out of bounds, two more than any other FBS kicker in the country.
9. Can Max Richardson play his way into the second day of the 2021 NFL Draft?
Taking after Lukas Denis, Zach Allen, and Harold Landry, Max Richardson is the latest defensive stalwart to return to BC for one final season before leaving for the NFL. Along with John Lamot, Richardson led a linebacking corps that was the saving grace of the 2019 Eagles defense. He ranked eighth in the country in solo tackles (72) and, when all was said and done, tied Ty Shwab (2017) for the most total tackles (107) by a BC player since Steele Devitto had 112 in 2013.
The Duluth, Ga. native made a home for himself in opponents’ backfields, piling up 14.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks—most on the team in both categories. If Richardson can produce another 100+ tackle season with five or more sacks and improve his pass coverage, he’ll have a shot to crack the second or third round of the draft. BC has had a long line of NFL linebackers, and Richardson could be next. He has a nose for the ball, and his leadership ability is unquestioned.
10. How will BC handle the 10-game ACC slate?
BC has about three weeks between the end of training camp and the beginning of its season. Classes started on Monday, practice is now restricted to 20 hours per week, and the campus is filled with students again. The Week 1 bye gives the Eagles more time to prepare for their season opener, but that prolonged gap after training camp is an anomaly in the football world. There’s no telling how, if it all, it will affect the team—one way or another.
Hafley’s crew will have to travel 3,224 total miles during the 10-game ACC schedule, the sixth-most of any team in the league, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman. That’s always been part of the deal with BC joining the ACC as one of the two northernmost members of the conference (the other being Syracuse). Of course, it’s all the more relevant this year, considering the COVID-19 risks that come with flying. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Eagles’ 2020 slate is that they are set to play six Coastal Division teams, double the amount the program has ever faced in a single season during its 15-year stay in the ACC.
