Vol. 3: 2022 Fall Camp Notebook

Boston College held its fifth practice of training camp Tuesday morning in Fish Field House. Nearing the completion of the NCAA's acclimatization period, players wore helmets and shoulder pads.

The offensive line was the focus of the post-practice media session, as the Eagles continue to move guys around up front to find the best combination without right guard Christian Mahogany, who tore his ACL this spring.

Let's get into it.

It's not as simple as plugging in a new right guard. Before he went down, Mahogany was ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s No. 2 guard in the 2023 class. Losing Mahogany, BC's only returning starter, has forced BC offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo to revisit a position competition that appeared settled in the spring.

The first few practices, redshirt freshman Otto Hess was working in at right guard with the ones. Tuesday, however, O-Linemen were everywhere. At one point, toward the end of the 30-minute media viewing period, this is what the first and second-team O-Line looked like.

First team:

LT - Jack Conley

LG - Dwayne Allick

C - Jackson Ness

RG - Jude Bowry

RT - Ozzy Trapilo

Second team:

LT - Kevin Cline

LG - Otto Hess

C - Blerim Rustemi

RG - Jack Funke

RT - Ilija Krajnovic

Now, you might be wondering about Drew Kendall and Finn Dirstine, who have been lining up at center and left guard, respectively, since spring ball. They were off today and instead participated in weight room workouts.

"You look at who you have," head coach Jeff Hafley said. "We have certain guys we can move inside. A guy like Ozzy [Trapilo]'s played inside last year against Virginia Tech. But Ozzy's a good tackle. Kevin Cline can play tackle, Kevin Cline can play guard. There's some freshmen who can do both."

Hafley continued: "We have to find the right mix. And that's what training camp's gonna be for the O-Line."

Jack Conley, who filled in for Tyler Vrabel at left tackle last season, noted that it's difficult yet beneficial practicing with all these different combinations.

"It's something that is only going to grow us as a unit," Conley said. "Plugging different people in here and there and just seeing what works best has been really beneficial for us, especially seeing defenses from all different angles."

I mentioned Hess getting reps with the first-team earlier in fall camp. But what about Kevin Cline? If you recognize the name, it's because it frequented BC's two-deep last season. Cline, however, has flown under the radar his first two years with the Eagles. He was a late addition to BC's 2020 signing class. The 6-foot-6 Florida native was the MVP of Boca Raton Christian School's football team as a senior. He redshirted his first season on the Heights. Last year, he played only 14 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, but he was called upon during the Eagles' Homecoming game versus North Carolina State.

"Kevin's a really good player," Conley said. "Kevin's probably one of our most athletic linemen. He's a big boy. He's like 6-foot-6, probably almost 6-foot-7, 315, and he can move. He's strong as an ox. Smart guy."

Jude Bowry is even less experienced than Cline. That said, he's been getting some looks as well. Bowry was one of the Eagles' six mid-year enrollees, and he made the most of the opportunity. The 6-foot-5, 282-pound Germantown, Maryland, native played his high school ball at St. Frances Academy—also the alma mater of cornerback CJ Burton.

"Jude's great," Conley said. "In the locker room, he fits right in. Jude is a great dude. He's hilarious. Really funny. And, on the field, I mean, he's a great player. He's really athletic, really strong, really quick. I think he's gonna do great things for us."

The Eagles might not be in full pads just yet, but they can still run the ball. And, according to Hafley, they're excelling in that department.

"Guge (Dave GeGuglielmo) is doing a really good job,' Hafley said. "I just said that out there today. I'm really proud of the O-Line. We ran the ball today about as well as we have. So, from a head coach's standpoint, that was really encouraging."

Pat Garwo III became the 19th Eagle all-time to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season last year. He's BC's lead back, and the 5-foot-8, 208-pounder looks the part in camp. During the first team period, Garwo cracked an explosive run through the second level.

Earlier in practice, I got a look at true freshmen running backs Cam Barfield (Bishop Gorman) and Alex Broome (Lipscomb Academy). They have similar builds, both standing 5-foot-8. Broome checked in this summer at 185 pounds, while Barfield is listed at 180 pounds. That puts into perspective just how much mass Garwo has, considering he, too, is 5-foot-8.

Since the AJ Dillon-David Bailey days, BC has gravitated toward smaller backs. RB2 Alec Sinkfield is 5-foot-9, 193 pounds, and playmaker Xavier Coleman is 5-foot-7, 179 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Andre Hines towers over the position group at 6-foot-1, 229 pounds.

Sinkfield and Coleman should complement Garwo in 2022. But Barfield and Broome could be next in line.

Emmett Morehead had really played just two years of football before last season, Hafley reminded reporters Tuesday. Morehead grew up as a baseball player in Woodside, California. His football career began to take off at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, but COVID-19 threw a wrench in his senior season. The school wouldn't let him mid-year at BC, so he had to return home to California, where he was able to finish up and prepare for a January 2021 start at BC.

When he arrived in Chestnut Hill, there were five quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart. Seven games into the season, though, he was gearing up for his first action: on the road, at Syracuse. Morehead split snaps with then-starter Dennis Grosel—who was Phil Jurkovec's backup—and completed 6-of-15 passes for 87 yards, most notably hitting on a 44-yard pass downfield to wide receiver Zay Flowers. That game gave Morehead an unexpected first taste of college football, and it's accelerated his development.

"From where he is today versus where he was last training camp, it's night and day," Hafley said of Morehead. "The confidence, the understanding of the offense, the understanding of the position. ... It's not even close."

Morehead is QB2. That was true at the end of last season, and it's been evident in fall camp.

There are a bunch of parallels between Flowers and sophomore wideout Jaden Williams. Both are from the South—Flowers is from Florida, and Williams is from Texas—both were under-recruited—Flowers was a three star, Williams was a two star—and both made an impact right away as true freshmen yet saw a decline in production in the back half of their first season.

Williams had touchdown grabs in three of his first four games with the Eagles in 2021. He didn't have another the rest of the year, and, at times, he struggled with drops.

"I was a freshman, and I was really down in my head a lot, but Zay always was picking me up," Williams said. "Every time I drop a ball, I have a bad assignment, he's right there in my ear: 'Jaden you're good. Jaden, we're on the next play.'"

Flowers has been a mentor to Williams, just as Kobay White was a mentor to Flowers.

There's another parallel: Both Flowers and Williams were also basketball players in high school. They haven't played 1-on-1, but Williams knows who'd win.

"Me," he said with a smile.

True freshman Sam Candotti and graduate Danny Longman are still in a battle for the starting punter spot. This spring, they were competing for the holder job, too.

Hafley praised the strength of Longman's leg Tuesday. Longman has been BC's kickoff specialist since 2018, but he's also been the team's backup place kicker. Longman is 5-of-5 on field goals in his career, although each of those was within 29 yards.

Candotti, meanwhile, was a mid-year. He's from Niddre Victoria, Australia.

"I think it was a little new for him, hadn't really played our style of football," Hafley said of Candotti. "Now, he's got his confidence. And he's really talented."

Hafley continued: "The other day, I showed on the TV a ridiculous hang time by Danny, followed by an even better hang time by Sam. So I'm definitely getting juiced up."

Hafley said the job won't be decided until later in preseason. That said, he pointed out that it's nice to have two options.

"Regardless, Danny—if he's not the starting punter, which he could be—he can do a bunch of other stuff, too," Hafley added.

BC's defense was sneaky good last season. But the Eagles were far from perfect. While they ranked third nationally against the pass, they were 92nd against the run. Hafley doesn't care about that as much as he does about points per game allowed. Scoring defense, to him, trumps all.

Still, he acknowledges that BC must be better at stopping the run. He's confident defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu's unit will follow through.

"Last year, Tem called the game a certain way with our emphasis on getting teams into third down, playing great red zone [defense] and not giving up explosives," Hafley said. "So are we going to be a little bit more aggressive? In certain situations."

He went on: "It depends how you call the game. Do you want to be really aggressive to stop the run? Then you try to cut stuff up and blitz. Then, all of a sudden, a guy gets out of his gap and what happens? You give up an explosive, right. That's how you score touchdowns, with explosives."

Hafley believes that, with players like Chibueze Onwuka and Cam Horsley—plus a handful of younger interior D-Linemen—BC will be set up well to defend the run in 2022.

As for rushing the passer, which the Eagles haven't been able to do particularly well the last three years, harnessing that craft is more difficult in fall camp. After all, you can't hit the quarterback.

"So, with a guy like Phil for example," Hafley said. "Today, half the D-Line is yelling at me because I'm not blowing sacks when they're close to sacks. But I have to make that quick decision. Are they gonna get him down right there? Are they gonna get [Louisville quarterback] Malik [Cunningham] down right there? So let's make them strain, make it as hard as we can. We gotta fire them up a little bit by not calling sacks."

It makes sense Cunningham is on Hafley's mind. The Louisville dual threat has rushed for 266 yards and three touchdowns in his two games against Hafley's Eagles.

Containing mobile quarterbacks is once again a priority this season, and so is bringing any signal caller down behind the line of scrimmage.