With Boston College skipping a bowl game the season is officially in the books and the offseason is here.

To put a wrap on things Eagle Action will be breaking down the performance of the team by position.

We'll start with the quarterbacks.

Overview

Sophomore transfer Phil Jurkovec beat out junior Dennis Grosel before the season and held onto the starting job for the entire season save for the season finale when the former was out. Jurkovec rediscovered himself under a first-year coaching staff and was one of the surprise breakout players in the ACC. His success had a lot to do with BC exceeding expectations on the field for much of the year.

Season Stats

Jurkovec was 205/336 (61%) for 2,558 yards and 17 touchdowns with only five interceptions. His college passer rating was 138.68.

Backup Grosel was 37/54 (68.5%) for 568 yards, six touchdowns and three picks for a rating of 182.44.

PFF Review

Grosel's season PFF grade was a very solid 71.8, well above average for an offensive player. That was the product of a 66.7 passing mark and a 74.1 run score.

His top scores were against Georgia Tech (87.8), Pittsburgh (80.2), and Duke (74.4).

PFF did charge Jurkovec with responsibility for four sacks against Pittsburgh.

One of the most impressive things about Jurkovec's performance was his ability to throw when under pressure. He was probably one of the nation's best passers in that respect.

Under pressure Jurkovec was 70/125 (56%) with eight touchdowns and remarkably zero interceptions. When blitzed he was 54% with eight touchdowns and two picks.

The Good

The 17-5 TD-INT ratio against a strong schedule was impressive. Jurkovec never threw more than two interceptions in a game all season. He was exceptionally efficient in some games, such as when he completed 79% of his passes against Louisville or 74% in the season opener against Duke. He threw three touchdowns without a pick in a one-point win against Pittsburgh. There were clutch plays and drives late in high leverage situations.

Jurkovec spread the ball around to receivers, tight ends, and backs, so he was seeing the field and not locking in on any one player too much for the whole season. He showed an ability to do a little bit of everything including run and hit all the spots on the field when at his best.

Jurkovec was not always an effective runner but he showed promise such as when he had 94 yards on seven attempts against Georgia Tech.

Grosel threw two touchdown passes in relief duty for Jurkovec against Louisville.

The Bad

There weren't a lot of awful moments for the quarterbacks this year. Jurkovec averaged only 5.5 yards per attempt in early season games against Texas State and North Carolina. That improved as the season went on. He completed only 45% of his passes in a 45-31 loss to Notre Dame and its stout defense. There were a couple of interceptions against Virginia Tech even though Jurkovec still passed for 345 yards in a blowout loss. There were some ball security issues beyond the small number of interceptions and that can be cleaned up with experience.

While Grosel did throw four touchdown passes and for 520 yards against Virginia he also tossed three interceptions in the loss.

Biggest Surprise

Just the fact that Jurkovec not only won the job after nearly forgetting how to throw the ball at Notre Dame, but he had so much success. For such a young quarterback he was able to shake off struggles and bounce back to play consistently well throughout much of the season. He wasn't perfect but for a young quarterback during a COVID season, with a new staff facing a tough schedule, Jurkovec proved remarkably resilient.

It was also a big surprise to learn that Jurkovec separated his shoulder against Clemson and still persisted for the next couple of games in spite of being far less than 100%.

Looking Ahead

Because of Jurkovec's play as a first-year starter the expectations bar has been raised for the future. While the roster has some weak spots to be addressed going into next year, pundits will point to BC's quarterback position as being strong and able to make a difference in games and on the record sheet moving forward.