Reflecting on Virginia Tech: What Did Hafley Say During His Sunday Presser?
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Boston College's offense is in serious trouble. After hitting the reset button this offseason and hiring four new coaches on that side of the ball—most notably, offensive coordinator John McNulty—head coach Jeff Hafley hasn't seen the improvement he wanted or expected.
Through two games, the Eagles are tied with Notre Dame for 117th nationally in scoring offense (15.5 points per contest). What's more, BC is tied for 123rd in sacks allowed (nine) and is dead last in rushing offense (16.5 rushing yards per contest).
BC's new-look offensive line, which is replacing five starters from last year, has been abysmal. Running back Pat Garwo III looks hardly like the 1,000-yard back he was in 2021, in large part because he has barely any room to run. What's more, quarterback Phil Jurkovec has the fourth-most pressure dropbacks (38) of any FBS signal caller this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
In other words, 44.2% of the time he drops back, he's under pressure. And, although Jurkovec led the country in passing yards under pressure in 2020, his percentage of pressures that have turned into sacks has increased from 15.5% that season to 21.1% in 2022, per PFF.
Jurkovec's frustration was visible Saturday night at Virginia Tech. At one point, after slipping on the run and sacking himself in the fourth quarter, he even chucked his helmet toward the benches as soon as he reached the sideline.
"I mean, you'd like to have him reel it back," Hafley said Sunday, when asked about Jurkovec's exasperation. "But sometimes it's pretty hard when you're getting hit. Just being honest with you. He's a competitor, and he wants to win."
Hafley continued: "He keeps getting up, and he keeps getting back in there and competing. I'd love for everyone to keep a smile on their face and keep moving forward. But I don't think, at times, that's that's the way the world works."
Jurkovec's 55.5 PFF passing grade—down from 71.0 in 2020, his only season with 10-plus games—would likely be much higher if BC had any semblance of a run game. Every team in the ACC is averaging north of 100 yards on the ground except BC, which hasn't even combined to reach the century mark in its first two games.
The Eagles also struggled to run the ball in 2020. That season, the first of Frank Cignetti Jr.'s two years as offensive coordinator, BC was 118th nationally in rushing offense. Last season, however, the Eagles climbed to 61st in that department.
"We have to get creative," Hafley said. "We have to find ways to run the ball, whether it's on the perimeter, whether it's gap schemes, zone schemes, spreading it out. We have to run the football."
Hafley mentioned how he and his offensive staff need to do a better job of simplifying things for BC's O-Line. Catering to their strengths is the priority.
Of course, the Eagles are razor thin there. Left tackle Ozzy Trapilo missed the Virginia Tech game with an injury, and right tackle Kevin Cline left in the second half with an undisclosed injury, too.
"Schematically, we gotta figure out what they can do and handle, so they can execute at a high level," Hafley said. "And then there's some things we talked about this morning that you'll see next week, where we just don't ask them to do so much."
Hafley added: "I don't want to get into too much detail there for obvious reasons, but there's things we can do. And we must do."
BC's best series against the Hokies was a six-play, 86-yard touchdown drive that took only two minutes and 11 seconds. Hafley thinks the Eagles were most effective when they went up-tempo.
After all, that scoring drive featured a 49-yard connection between Jurkovec and wide receiver Zay Flowers and a 17-yard back shoulder touchdown to fellow wideout Jaden Williams.
The problem was, that drive was an anomaly Saturday night. The Eagles' lone scoring series in the first half was lifted by two Virginia Tech defensive pass interference penalties and required 14 plays to go just 65 yards.
BC's offense needs fixing. Fast.
At this year's ACC Kickoff, Hafley said that he wanted to be more involved with the Eagles' offense than he had been in his first two years at the helm.
He was asked about what that involvement exactly looks like, two weeks into the 2022 season.
"Obviously, my expertise is on the defensive side of the ball," Hafley explained. "I'm trying to be down there [with the offense] and be supportive and helping any way that I can during practice. I try to go down there more often than I did in the previous years during periods.
"But I hired those guys. And I've been allowing them to coach. I watch the film with them, and I'm trying to give my two cents from a defensive perspective. I'm just doing the best I can to help them out right now."
