Flowers Believes He and Jurkovec Could Become 'Best Duo in the ACC'
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Boston College head strength and conditioning coach Phil Matusz helped the Eagles simulate the NFL Combine last week. Vertical jumps, broad jumps, cone drills—you name it.
Everything but the 40-yard dash. Instead, they kept it a 10-yard sprint.
But star wide receiver Zay Flowers already knows what he wants to run in the 40.
“I’m trying to run a 4.3,” the senior said after Saturday’s spring ball practice. “When I get there.
“When it’s that time.”
Flowers won’t be officially clocked for another year as he decided to return to the Heights to get his degree and make a statement in 2022. A statement he and redshirt senior quarterback Phil Jurkovec can co-sign.
“I feel like we could be the best duo in the ACC and one of the best in the country,” Flowers said.
Flowers entered the 2021 campaign on the Biletnikoff Award watch list. He even had Heisman Trophy odds at one point last offseason. Flowers piled up the 18th-most receiving yards (892) in 2020, in addition to leading the ACC in touchdown receptions (nine) while ranking eighth in the league in catches (56). It was a breakthrough season for the then-sophomore.
Jurkovec made it possible. The Notre Dame transfer tossed for 300 or more yards in three of his first four games in a pass-friendly Frank Cignetti Jr. offense. He finished with 2,558 passing yards and a 17:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 10 starts. Jurkovec instantly established a rapport with the speedy Flowers, finding him five times for 162 yards and a score in the opener at Duke. That set the tone for the rest of the year.
Flowers wrapped up his second year at BC with seven catches of 40-plus yards. That was tied for the fifth most in the FBS.
He could have doubled that number this past season. Flowers, who averaged 2.27 yards per route run according to Pro Football Focus, routinely had at least a half step on ACC defensive backs. More often than not, however, the home run ball resulted in Flowers diving for an overthrown pass, somersaulting and putting his hands on his helmet.
While Jurkovec was out six games with a season-threatening fracture to his throwing hand, longtime backup Dennis Grosel couldn’t connect with Flowers downfield. Even though the pairing had hooked up in 2019 and again in the 2020 regular season finale, Grosel could never quite get the timing down last season. First, he was underthrowing the deep ball. Then he overcompensated, leading Flowers too much.
Grosel finished 4-of-25 on passes traveling 20 or more yards, per PFF. When Jurkovec came back, though, so did the elusive Flowers deep shots. In the Georgia Tech game alone, Flowers doubled his season touchdown total with scores of 48 and 39 yards as Jurkovec completed 6-of-10 passes traveling 20-plus yards.
Flowers closed the 12-game slate with a team-leading 44 catches—six of which went for 40 or more yards—746 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Jurkovec wasn’t 100% when he came back. There were highs and lows of his four-game return. On one end of the spectrum was his five-touchdown performance at GT. On the other was his regular season finale against Wake Forest, during which he posted just one more completion (three) than his interception total (two). His grip strength was a concern, he was holding onto the ball too long, and his offensive line was far from exceptional.
Even so, Jurkovec could have left for the NFL, given the weak class of quarterbacks this year. Rather than making the jump after an injury-riddled year, however, he announced his return to BC on Dec. 6 and declared that he was “on a mission” to break the Eagles free from the shackles of ACC mediocrity.
“Having this time now and the little time last year just motivated him to get better and have our connection grow even stronger,” Flowers said.
From that point forward, Flowers said that Jurkovec was on his case for a joint return.
“He was in my ear every day,” Flowers recounted. “Telling me that we’re gonna be one of the best connections, we’re gonna be great. We can be one of the best in BC history.”
Flowers continued: “So I definitely listened to him. It was definitely a big part of why I came back.”
The duo will press the reset button ahead of the 2022 season. Jurkovec and Flowers will be working with a new offense. Cignetti is off to call plays at Pitt. Now, former Notre Dame tight ends coach and longtime NFL assistant John McNulty is BC's offensive coordinator.
And wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt is one of three new positional coaches on staff. Flowers said he loves Wyatt, who has been coaching wideouts for more than three decades and spent the last four years at UCF with the likes of Gabriel Davis and Marlon Williams. Flowers pointed out that Wyatt is demanding and “old school,” yet he said he can relate to him because of his Florida ties.
It’s a lot of change, but it’s the kind Flowers is excited about.
“I get to learn something new,” Flowers said. “Coach McNulty bringing in something that I wasn’t used to and just learning those plays and learning something new is gonna help me get ready for the next level.”
So will having Jurkovec behind center.
Flowers is set to become BC's first wide receiver drafted since 1987. Jurkovec is the Eagles' best pro quarterback prospect since Matt Ryan. The tandem could make each other good money in 2022. And deliver BC long-awaited success.
