Bowl Prep Notes: With More ‘Good on Good,’ Intensity Increases
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
By the time the Military Bowl rolls around, it will have been 30 days since Boston College’s regular season finale. More than four weeks.
As much as bowl prep is about recovery and development, it also culminates in a game. A game that, for BC, has recruiting implications and determines a winning or losing season.
With so much time in between contests, Jeff Hafley made sure to ramp up the intensity before the Eagles make the trip to Annapolis, Maryland. The second-year head coach is having his team simulate game week before the group reaches the bowl site.
“It’s really important that we have this intensity,” redshirt junior linebacker Vinny DePalma said Monday. “You don’t want to be lulled to sleep during bowl prep.”
He continued: “It’s really commendable how hard we’ve practiced, and everyone’s showed up every day and is really focused on competing and just trying to get better every day.”
Hafley noted that he believes Sunday and Monday have “been probably our most competitive practices” while preparing for a game this season. He explained that the Eagles have opted for more “good on good,” or, in other words, first teamers versus first teamers. As a result, energy has been high, Hafley said.
“Maybe even make some changes like this going forward to next year,” Hafley said. “Guys are locked in. They’re competitive, really competitive. We’re getting really good looks.”
Hafley discussed how, last week, the younger Eagles got more reps while the veterans were able to rest a bit. That meant mixing up ones and twos and trying out new combinations.
What’s more, the last month has afforded the staff the opportunity to get creative with scheme and play-calling. That said, Hafley conceded that it’s imperative to not deviate too far from the team’s in-season identity.
“Whether that’s moving guys’ positions around, whether it’s implementing some new touches on schemes: offense, defense and special teams,” Hafley said. “You have some time to sit back and digest a couple things and say, ‘Ah, let’s try this guy here. Let’s run this blitz, let’s tweak this coverage. Let’s run this play.’”
The Military Bowl will be a chance for BC’s offense, which took a hefty step back in 2021—largely because of quarterback Phil Jurkovec’s season-threatening hand injury—to make a statement.
Running back Pat Garwo III is an integral part of that unit. He went from being the fourth Eagles running back on the depth chart to becoming the 19th player in program history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season. He isn’t worried about carrying that momentum to Annapolis.
“All the running backs,” Garwo said Monday, “we all compete every day, like I always say. So whenever we have time off, it’s competing. When we’re out here going against the defense and in ‘indy,’ [we're] just staying together and pushing each other to keep going.”
Hafley and the staff will pump the brakes a bit on intrasquad competition Tuesday, though. He said the Eagles will slow things down before flying out to the bowl site.
Once they’ve arrived, they’ll get going again with a similar week to this one prior to a Sunday walkthrough, the day before the Dec. 27 event.
Jurkovec is taking all his reps: Jurkovec didn’t speak to the media Monday because he had a final to take, but, last week, Hafley said that the redshirt junior gunslinger was throwing the ball well in practice. When asked about Jurkovec’s grip strength, Hafley responded by saying he hadn’t inquired in a while but that Jurkovec is taking all his reps and has had a lot of energy in bowl prep practices.
Grosel is still “one of the best leaders on the team”: Backup quarterback Dennis Grosel had a rough go of it in 2021. Once again, the longtime former preferred walk-on-turned-QB2 was thrust into the spotlight. He helped the Eagles to their first 4-0 start since 2007 but then, starting with a heartbreaking defeat at Clemson, lost four in a row. During that skid, the Eagles averaged 10 points per game. It appeared as if true freshman Emmett Morehead was going to take over for Grosel under center, but then Jurkovec returned, rescuing BC’s season and piloting the team to bowl eligibility. Grosel, the ultimate team player who could have transferred last offseason yet stayed to remain BC’s backup, has handled the situation with grace. And he’s continued to do so in bowl prep, Hafley said.
“He’s still out there every day practicing,” Hafley said. “He gave us some great look reps today. … One of the best leaders on the team and just glad we have him. He’s handled it unbelievably, just like he always does.”
Hafley is tight-lipped about potential bowl opt outs: The last few weeks, Hafley has discussed how much college football has changed, whether that be with the transfer portal or players opting out of bowls. A lot happened when he was an NFL assistant for seven years. He admitted that the idea of players sitting out bowl games is still relatively new to him, especially because none of his Ohio State players declined to play in the 2019 College Football Playoff. But he acknowledged why certain players make the decision to turn their attention to the next level, and he stressed the importance of listening to his guys.
But he hasn’t revealed which players are opting out. This is what he said when asked about left guard Zion Johnson and center Alec Lindstrom last week:
“There’s a chance they’ll play in the bowl game,” Hafley said. “I’m going to kind of keep you on edge for who’s playing and who’s not. … They deserve to play in those all-star games. And they deserve to play in the NFL.”
Johnson is set to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, and Lindstrom accepted an invite to participate in the East-West Shrine Bowl, along with four-year starting cornerback Brandon Sebastian.
BC could be without most of its O-Line in Annapolis if Tyler Vrabel and Ben Petrula sit out, too.
Zay Flowers hasn’t decided his future yet: Last week, Hafley said that he’s had “a lot of great discussions” with Flowers about his next steps. He added that the star wideout has practiced every day of bowl prep and is working really hard. Flowers is fifth in BC history in career touchdown receptions (17), 10th in school history in receiving yards (1,979) and 12th in receptions (122).
“We’ll let him get out whatever decision he makes whenever he’s ready to, and we’ll respect that,” Hafley said.
