Reflecting on Clemson: What Did Hafley Say During His Sunday Presser?
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Throughout the fourth quarter of Saturday night's game against No. 5 Clemson, Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley was visibly frustrated. It showed up again when Hafley and longtime Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney shook hands at midfield once the clock hit triple zeros.
Hafley was asked Sunday if that frustration was because of Clemson throwing late while up three touchdowns, or if it was directed at his own team amid its 31-3 loss.
"I was frustrated because we weren't stopping them," Hafley said. "I was frustrated at a lot of things. We played such good defense that whole day, and I just didn't think we finished it. Up until that last drive, I think they had about 270-something yards of total offense. And I think that's a team that's been up near the 500s.
"So, just frustrated that we weren't able to finish it off, frustrated with myself on a couple of things."
For the most part, BC's defense played well enough to give the Eagles—now 2-4—a shot at a program-defining upset. BC lagged behind in the other two phases of the game, though. Despite outgaining Clemson, 168-131, in the first half and reaching at least the Clemson 36-yard line four times in the opening two quarters, the Eagles entered intermission with just three points.
BC's defense held the Tigers—who entered averaging 41 points per game—to just 10 points in the first half. Clemson's lone touchdown was the byproduct of impeccable field position, thanks to a defensive stand and a 20-yard Antonio Williams punt return.
The Eagles moved the ball relatively well in the first and second quarter, recording just as many first downs (eight) as the Tigers in that span. Once BC got into Tigers territory, though, it stumbled. Repeatedly.
Still, Hafley sees progress—at least when examining the first half.
"We're getting better, and I know the 31-3 doesn't show that," Hafley said. "Nobody wants to hear that right now. But when you turn on the tape and you watch it, you watch how they came out and played against the No. 5 team in the country—we've got work to do, but there's there's improvement there.
"Second half, different deal. They kind of overwhelmed us a little bit."
Quarterback Phil Jurkovec did a decent job of handling the Clemson pressure in the first half. At times, he even made the kind of backyard football plays outside the pocket that helped him break onto the scene in 2020.
In the latter portion of action, he regressed with a slew of errant passes. Granted Jurkovec was pressured on 27 of his 45 dropbacks Saturday, per Pro Football Focus, but he made a handful of poor throws that easily could have been intercepted.
Jurkovec's PFF turnover-worthy play rate percentage was 6.7% against Clemson, the second highest it's been this season.
Hafley explained that the uptick in pressure in the second half was simply a result of BC going down two scores and becoming one dimensional. While missing three running backs, the Eagles rushed for a mere 34 yards on 30 attempts.
Plus, Clemson has incredible depth in its front seven, so defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin was rotating guys in with fresh legs. Xavier Thomas is a great example of that. The defensive end, who had been working his way back from a foot injury that cost him the first five games, logged a pair of sacks in six snaps at BC.
So how does Hafley evaluate Jurkovec's tape when he's pressured so often? After all, Jurkovec's completion percentage was 61.1% when he had a clean pocket versus the Tigers. That's 24.7 percentage points higher than when he was under pressure, per PFF.
"You gotta go through every play," Hafley explained. "You look at the guys up front, you look at the running backs and then you gotta watch the wide receivers, too. Did they run the right route, did they run it fast enough, were they where they were supposed to be?
Hafley continued: "It's certainly not just on Phil. Did he hit his first read? Was his first read open? How's his footwork? So it's everyone. Getting pressure on the quarterback—you gotta look at, was it scheme, was it player, was it execution? You gotta look at all three. And clearly we need to do better. So we'll coach 'em up on all that, but it's definitely not all on Phil. I don't think anybody should see it that way."
Hafley noted that, since the first game of the season, "everybody's answer against us has been to pressure." He mentioned how BC's injury concerns on the offensive line and subsequent lack of continuity has played a significant role in that trend.
Against Louisville, the Eagles didn't face as much pressure because they stayed on track and nurtured a real run game for the first time all season. Achieving that kind of balance again will be a focus in the bye week, Hafley said.
Special teams have been a thorn in BC's side this season as well.
Place kicker Connor Lytton has had quite the sophomore slump. His first season as an Eagle started with him kicking a 49-yard field goal against Missouri, and it ended with him boasting the highest field goal percentage (91.7%) of any BC kicker with 10-plus attemps since Nate Freese was a perfect 20-of-20 in 2013.
Except in 2021, Lytton has already missed five field goals. He's 5-of-10 with four misses inside 40 yards. While Lytton drilled a game-winning, 26-yard field goal against Louisville the previous week, he was 1-of-3 versus Clemson. His two misses were from 35 yards and 39 yards, the latter of which was blocked.
"It's something we gotta talk about this week," Hafley said, when asked about an open competition at place kicker. "I think during the bye week this will give us a good time to—I think the first thing is, how can we help him more? How can we help him get back to where he was? And we've been trying. I think that's the first step.
"But certainly we have to execute there at a higher level than we have because those [missed field goals] are going to cost you."
Additionally, Hafley discussed how BC's punt returners need to do a better job of catching more punts rather than letting them roll deep into Eagles territory.
In games like this past weekend's, BC's margin for error is slim. Those types of special teams mistakes can't happen. And the Eagles have to capitalize on their opponent's mishaps, like when Clemson muffed a pair of punts, and BC didn't recover either of them.
There's a lot of work to do for BC in the bye week. And a lot of injured players the Eagles need to get back on the field.
