Boston College had only 34 scrimmage plays of 20 or more yards coming into this past weekend. Now the Eagles have 42.

“It’s a hard day on the defense when you can hit that many explosives,” second-year head coach Jeff Hafley said Sunday. “You’re almost getting a first down a play. Credit to Coach Cignetti and the offensive staff and the execution of the players. That’s one of the most explosive days I’ve been a part of.”

Quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who collected a handful of weekly honors Monday, starred in Atlanta. He was 6-of-10 on passes traveling at least 20 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus.

Jurkovec connected with Zay Flowers for a pair of touchdowns: the first went for 48 yards and the second was good for 39 yards. He also hooked up with tight end Trae Barry and wide receiver Jaden Williams for pickups of 38 yards.

But what made his performance show stopping was his dual-threat ability, which was on display for the second week in a row. The 6-foot-5 redshirt junior rushed for 71 yards and a trio of scores. Flowers joked after the game that Jurkovec looked like he was running faster than the former first-team All-ACC wideout.

“He does look faster,” Hafley said. “And I’m not sure exactly how much weight he lost. He does look leaner. I also believe he’s more confident, and I think it shows. I think it shows in the pocket. I think his feet look quicker. I think he’s setting up faster.”

Jurkovec’s game-opening touchdown pass to Flowers was quickly answered by Georgia Tech. On a play that should have never happened, Hafley explained postgame.

Hafley said that BC went in with the game plan of not kicking to Yellow Jackets running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Stephen Ruiz mishit the kickoff, and Gibbs went 98 yards for six. Then it appeared as if the Eagles went with a series of onside kicks in the first half while erasing their 21-7 deficit. In reality, though, those were botched squib kicks, Hafley said.

Hafley noted that Ruiz earned the starting job during the week. He said Sunday that Ruiz had really been “booting the ball” in practice and that Hafley, along with special teams coordinator Matt Thurin, felt good about the redshirt junior kicker shouldering kickoff duties, something Danny Longman had done since 2018. But things didn’t go to plan, and Longman had to take over in the second quarter.

“Clearly we need to coach better, and we need to execute better because that wasn’t good enough yesterday,” Hafley said Sunday.

Gibbs’ kickoff return touchdown gave the Yellow Jackets a boost, and the momentum carried over to their offense, which stitched together scoring drives of 70 and 85 yards to help GT stake itself to a two-touchdown lead early on.

BC was getting pressure on Yellow Jackets quarterback Jordan Yates, however, they couldn’t trap him in the pocket. Yates was flushing outside, making off-balanced throws and complementing GT’s rushing attack. At times in the first half, the Eagles’ defense looked lost.

Eventually, though, BC’s defense made some changes, notably using pressure packages to disrupt Yates and Co.

“I think we did start a little bit off, and we had to adjust,” Hafley said. “We had to play a little faster. Stopping them when they got the ball on the plus-44 and the plus-48, those were two crucial defensive stops. … But I’m really proud of the way the guys responded.”

The unit, which had already lost several key playmakers to injury this season, saw two more exit early: defensive end Shitta Sillah and nickelback Josh DeBerry.

DeBerry’s absence was a tough pill to swallow for the Eagles, who didn’t even list a backup nickel on the Week 11 depth chart. Hafley said that true freshman Shawn Asbury II, who broke his arm at Louisville, was originally the next man up inside. But, without him, BC had to go with another true freshman, CJ Burton.

“I thought he did a pretty admirable job of going in there,” Hafley said. “When you watch him play on the outside and cover and just play man, that’s where you see his quickness, his instincts, his ability to cover people.”

Burton held his own, making two solo tackles and allowing just 7.3 yards per reception.

The Eagles slowed things down offensively in the second half to help their defense and to manage the game. After churning out three touchdown drives that spanned less than two minutes in the first half, BC turned more to its run game during the final two quarters of play.

“The number of possessions is always going to be in my mind,” Hafley said. “If that starts to get really high, you try to cut it back by controlling the game. … And we felt like we could eat up some of the clock with the runs and still mix in the passes.”

It was a balanced effort from BC, which finished with 310 passing yards and 195 rushing yards. The Eagles moved to 6-4 and 2-4 in league play with the victory.

Hafley talked about how, in year two, he has an even better understanding of and respect for the ACC. When illustrating the level of competition across the board, he cited GT blowing out North Carolina earlier this season and Virginia Tech, BC’s previous opponent, trouncing Duke this past weekend.

“I have a lot of appreciation not only for the players in this league but for the coaches,” he said. “I think the league’s gonna get better and better. And I’m just grateful to be part of it.”