BC-Louisville Rescheduled Leaving Eagles with Double-Bye
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College played nine straight weeks without a bye. Now, the Eagles are getting two in a row because of a COVID-19 outbreak at Miami that’s shuffled the ACC schedule.
The Eagles’ Nov. 27 home game against Louisville was rescheduled for Dec. 12 on Monday, extending BC’s regular season by a week. The program was originally supposed to wrap up the 11-game slate at Virginia on Dec. 5. As a result, BC will go 21 days between Saturday’s loss to No. 2 Notre Dame and its trip to Charlottesville, Virginia.
No. 12 Miami came into last weekend’s game at Virginia Tech missing 13 players. After the program experienced additional positive COVID-19 tests and contract trace quarantines from Sunday’s results, the Hurricanes’ next three games were rescheduled.
Here’s how it all shook out:
● Georgia Tech at Miami (originally scheduled for Nov. 21, moved to Dec. 19)
● Miami at Wake Forest (originally scheduled for Nov. 28, moved to Dec. 5)
● Wake Forest at Louisville (originally scheduled for Dec. 5, moved to Nov. 28)
● Louisville at BC (originally scheduled for Nov. 27, moved to Dec. 12)
● UNC at Miami (originally scheduled for Dec. 5, moved to Dec. 12)
● Western Carolina at UNC (originally scheduled for Dec. 11, moved to Dec. 5)
What it boils down to is that Louisville’s game against Wake Forest was pushed to Thanksgiving weekend, which is when BC was scheduled to play the Cardinals.
All of a sudden, BC finds itself with a double bye.
During Saturday’s postgame press conference, first-year Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley told reporters that, mentally, his team was where it needed to be for the Notre Dame matchup. Physically, BC needs a break, he said. The Eagles will get that and more.
The three-week gap in play is somewhat similar to what BC experienced near the start of the season when its scheduled opener against Ohio was canceled, leaving the Eagles an abundance of time between the end of training camp and their road game at Duke.
On Sunday, Hafley said he planned to rest his veterans until midweek, explaining that his staff would mix in training, therapy, and yoga to help players recover.
“I want them to get away from football, physically and mentally,” he said. “I don’t want them to burn out. I want them finishing these last two games excited.”
Notably, the schedule change gives quarterback Phil Jurkovec an extra week to get back to 100%. Hafley revealed in Saturday’s postgame press conference that Jurkovec separated his throwing shoulder at Clemson and had trouble lifting his right arm leading up to the Syracuse game.
The redshirt sophomore told reporters Saturday that he had to alter his throwing mechanics a bit because of the injury. He completed a season-low 45% of his attempts against Notre Dame yet still extended plays and connected on passes downfield, including a 40-yard deep ball to Jaelen Gill, in addition to running for 34 yards on the ground while often embracing contact.
Hafley mentioned Sunday that it’s atypical for a team to go without a true midseason bye. A late November double bye is even weirder, although perhaps fittingly irregular for 2020.
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College played nine straight weeks without a bye. Now, the Eagles are getting two in a row because of a COVID-19 outbreak at Miami that’s shuffled the ACC schedule.
The Eagles’ Nov. 27 home game against Louisville was rescheduled for Dec. 12 on Monday, extending BC’s regular season by a week. The program was originally supposed to wrap up the 11-game slate at Virginia on Dec. 5. As a result, BC will go 21 days between Saturday’s loss to No. 2 Notre Dame and its trip to Charlottesville, Virginia.
No. 12 Miami came into last weekend’s game at Virginia Tech missing 13 players. After the program experienced additional positive COVID-19 tests and contract trace quarantines from Sunday’s results, the Hurricanes’ next three games were rescheduled.
Here’s how it all shook out:
● Georgia Tech at Miami (originally scheduled for Nov. 21, moved to Dec. 19)
● Miami at Wake Forest (originally scheduled for Nov. 28, moved to Dec. 5)
● Wake Forest at Louisville (originally scheduled for Dec. 5, moved to Nov. 28)
● Louisville at BC (originally scheduled for Nov. 27, moved to Dec. 12)
● UNC at Miami (originally scheduled for Dec. 5, moved to Dec. 12)
● Western Carolina at UNC (originally scheduled for Dec. 11, moved to Dec. 5)
What it boils down to is that Louisville’s game against Wake Forest was pushed to Thanksgiving weekend, which is when BC was scheduled to play the Cardinals.
All of a sudden, BC finds itself with a double bye.
During Saturday’s postgame press conference, first-year Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley told reporters that, mentally, his team was where it needed to be for the Notre Dame matchup. Physically, BC needs a break, he said. The Eagles will get that and more.
The three-week gap in play is somewhat similar to what BC experienced near the start of the season when its scheduled opener against Ohio was canceled, leaving the Eagles an abundance of time between the end of training camp and their road game at Duke.
On Sunday, Hafley said he planned to rest his veterans until midweek, explaining that his staff would mix in training, therapy, and yoga to help players recover.
“I want them to get away from football, physically and mentally,” he said. “I don’t want them to burn out. I want them finishing these last two games excited.”
Notably, the schedule change gives quarterback Phil Jurkovec an extra week to get back to 100%. Hafley revealed in Saturday’s postgame press conference that Jurkovec separated his throwing shoulder at Clemson and had trouble lifting his right arm leading up to the Syracuse game.
The redshirt sophomore told reporters Saturday that he had to alter his throwing mechanics a bit because of the injury. He completed a season-low 45% of his attempts against Notre Dame yet still extended plays and connected on passes downfield, including a 40-yard deep ball to Jaelen Gill, in addition to running for 34 yards on the ground while often embracing contact.
Hafley mentioned Sunday that it’s atypical for a team to go without a true midseason bye. A late November double bye is even weirder, although perhaps fittingly irregular for 2020.
