Regular Season Tune-Up: Final Scrimmage, QB Battle, and COVID-19 Update
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College wasn’t part of Saturday’s much-anticipated FBS lineup, but that didn’t stop the Eagles from joining in on the fun. Two weeks out from its season opener at Duke, BC hosted its third and final scrimmage of the preseason, with a full officiating crew and half the coaching staff in the press box.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a while,” quarterback Dennis Grosel said, per BC Athletics. “We very well could be playing right now, running on the field together instead of against each other. That was the mindset going in. We could have played a game today, and that’s how we treated it.”
First-year head coach Jeff Hafley had the Eagles’ first-team offense run 60 plays against the first-team defense, in addition to simulating kickoff and punt coverage on special teams. The second and third units combined for 54 snaps.
Hafley told reporters afterwards that he wanted to see “execution” from both sides of the ball. As far as his defense was concerned, he emphasized the importance of having his players fly around the football and push the pedal to the metal for an extended period of time. The rookie head coach made the point that Saturday’s scrimmage marked the longest stretch of play that the unit has endured this preseason.
“I just said to them, ‘I don’t care if you have a missed assignment,’” Hafley said. “‘I don’t care if you bust. Just, I don’t want to see any lows. I want to see how hard you can play today.’ And they did. You could tell that there was a ton of energy and a ton of confidence.”
Redshirt freshman Bryce Sebastian—who joined his brother at cornerback this offseason after coming in as a wideout in 2019—headlined the defensive performance with a pick-six, according to the BCEagles.com practice notes. The West Haven, Conn. native took the interception 35 yards to the house. Isaiah McDuffie didn’t get quite that far, however, the redshirt junior linebacker did record a pick of his own, reading a pass over the middle for a crucial takeaway.
Perhaps most notably, BC’s defense stockpiled a trio of safeties. Last year, the Eagles struggled to wreak havoc in the backfield, ranking second-to-last in the ACC with 19 sacks and 100th nationally against the run after allowing 193.2 rushing yards per game. Defensive end Marcus Valdez accounted for one of those safeties, as well as a forced fumble.
Hafley explained that Saturday served as a great opportunity for Frank Cignetti Jr.’s offense to operate with procedural efficiency, using the play clock throughout the entire scrimmage. The highlight-reel play of the day, according to the team-issued practice report, was another one-handed snag from sophomore wide receiver Ethon Williams. Grosel threw the pass, except he didn’t want to take any credit for the deep ball, which traveled 50 yards in the air.
“I don’t know if it was so much the pass as it was the catch,” Grosel said chuckling. “That one hung up a little bit. But Ethon made a good catch coming back to the ball in his face. … I want to say he’s making more one-handed catches than two-handed catches these days.”
A couple weeks ago, Williams hauled in another Grosel pass down the opposite sideline, using one glove to corral a contested reception. The two seem to have developed a rapport, although Grosel mentioned on Saturday that Williams is just one of the Eagles’ several emerging playmakers on the outside.
The redshirt junior gunslinger also connected with Jehlani Galloway in the corner of the end zone. In traffic, the 5-foot-11 redshirt sophomore wideout went up and got it for six.
Grosel had a smile on his face as soon as he met with reporters. The former preferred walk-on kicked off his interview by stating that he was excited about how the scrimmage went. Minutes later, Notre Dame transfer Phil Jurkovec was asked what it’s been like battling for the QB1 position with Grosel, who started the final seven games under center for the Eagles last season.
“He brings it every day,” Jurkovec said of Grosel. “He’s the same guy. He’s consistent, a very good leader, so he’s awesome to go up against. Off the field, we’re close, we help each other out. On the field, he’s always pushing it, so it’s great competition.”
Jurkovec’s been pushing it, too—especially on the ground. The redshirt sophomore has drawn praise from Hafley this offseason for his ability to tuck the rock and pick up chunk yards with his legs. He did it again on Saturday, peeling away for a 40-yard run. He also engineered one of the Eagles’ two touchdown drives in the two-minute drill, ultimately finding Ohio State transfer Jaelen Gill in the end zone for a score.
Hafley didn’t provide a date for when he’ll name his starting quarterback, yet he did say that he and his staff will take a look at how the depth chart is shaping up on Monday.
Regardless of who’s dropping back to pass, the Eagles will have more perimeter weapons than in years past, particularly at the wide receiver position. Zay Flowers is probably the most explosive of them all: He got things going on Saturday with a 60-yard touchdown.
"Talking to the defensive guys, they’re like, ‘Man, I couldn’t imagine having to game plan us on a short week or on one week,’ because we’re so versatile and have so many playmakers on the outside and inside that are threats downfield and all over the field,” Grosel said.
As of now, there isn’t any tape on this iteration of BC football. On the other hand, the Eagles have another two weeks to watch things play out, in and out of conference.
Hafley told his players to go home after the weekend scrimmage, watch some football, and relax. They’re coming off yet another perfect round of COVID-19 testing. The program has now administered 1,766 tests to student-athletes, coaches, and staff members, with only one positive case, which occurred in late June. That player has since recovered and rejoined team activities.
College GameDay is back, college football is back, and, because of BC’s strict adherence to its COVID-19 protocol, the Eagles made up a lot of lost ground during training camp and now are in position to begin the 2020 season in 13 days.
“Give these guys a ton of credit,” Hafley said. With kids back on campus now, two straight negative tests, it sends a message. These kids love each other, they’ve bought into the staff, and the staff’s done a great job.
“These kids want to play football, and they’re now going to be rewarded for that, which is really, really awesome to see. I’m just excited for them.”
https://bostoncollege.rivals.com/ne...final-scrimmage-qb-battle-and-covid-19-update
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
Boston College wasn’t part of Saturday’s much-anticipated FBS lineup, but that didn’t stop the Eagles from joining in on the fun. Two weeks out from its season opener at Duke, BC hosted its third and final scrimmage of the preseason, with a full officiating crew and half the coaching staff in the press box.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a while,” quarterback Dennis Grosel said, per BC Athletics. “We very well could be playing right now, running on the field together instead of against each other. That was the mindset going in. We could have played a game today, and that’s how we treated it.”
First-year head coach Jeff Hafley had the Eagles’ first-team offense run 60 plays against the first-team defense, in addition to simulating kickoff and punt coverage on special teams. The second and third units combined for 54 snaps.
Hafley told reporters afterwards that he wanted to see “execution” from both sides of the ball. As far as his defense was concerned, he emphasized the importance of having his players fly around the football and push the pedal to the metal for an extended period of time. The rookie head coach made the point that Saturday’s scrimmage marked the longest stretch of play that the unit has endured this preseason.
“I just said to them, ‘I don’t care if you have a missed assignment,’” Hafley said. “‘I don’t care if you bust. Just, I don’t want to see any lows. I want to see how hard you can play today.’ And they did. You could tell that there was a ton of energy and a ton of confidence.”
Redshirt freshman Bryce Sebastian—who joined his brother at cornerback this offseason after coming in as a wideout in 2019—headlined the defensive performance with a pick-six, according to the BCEagles.com practice notes. The West Haven, Conn. native took the interception 35 yards to the house. Isaiah McDuffie didn’t get quite that far, however, the redshirt junior linebacker did record a pick of his own, reading a pass over the middle for a crucial takeaway.
Perhaps most notably, BC’s defense stockpiled a trio of safeties. Last year, the Eagles struggled to wreak havoc in the backfield, ranking second-to-last in the ACC with 19 sacks and 100th nationally against the run after allowing 193.2 rushing yards per game. Defensive end Marcus Valdez accounted for one of those safeties, as well as a forced fumble.
Hafley explained that Saturday served as a great opportunity for Frank Cignetti Jr.’s offense to operate with procedural efficiency, using the play clock throughout the entire scrimmage. The highlight-reel play of the day, according to the team-issued practice report, was another one-handed snag from sophomore wide receiver Ethon Williams. Grosel threw the pass, except he didn’t want to take any credit for the deep ball, which traveled 50 yards in the air.
“I don’t know if it was so much the pass as it was the catch,” Grosel said chuckling. “That one hung up a little bit. But Ethon made a good catch coming back to the ball in his face. … I want to say he’s making more one-handed catches than two-handed catches these days.”
A couple weeks ago, Williams hauled in another Grosel pass down the opposite sideline, using one glove to corral a contested reception. The two seem to have developed a rapport, although Grosel mentioned on Saturday that Williams is just one of the Eagles’ several emerging playmakers on the outside.
The redshirt junior gunslinger also connected with Jehlani Galloway in the corner of the end zone. In traffic, the 5-foot-11 redshirt sophomore wideout went up and got it for six.
Grosel had a smile on his face as soon as he met with reporters. The former preferred walk-on kicked off his interview by stating that he was excited about how the scrimmage went. Minutes later, Notre Dame transfer Phil Jurkovec was asked what it’s been like battling for the QB1 position with Grosel, who started the final seven games under center for the Eagles last season.
“He brings it every day,” Jurkovec said of Grosel. “He’s the same guy. He’s consistent, a very good leader, so he’s awesome to go up against. Off the field, we’re close, we help each other out. On the field, he’s always pushing it, so it’s great competition.”
Jurkovec’s been pushing it, too—especially on the ground. The redshirt sophomore has drawn praise from Hafley this offseason for his ability to tuck the rock and pick up chunk yards with his legs. He did it again on Saturday, peeling away for a 40-yard run. He also engineered one of the Eagles’ two touchdown drives in the two-minute drill, ultimately finding Ohio State transfer Jaelen Gill in the end zone for a score.
Hafley didn’t provide a date for when he’ll name his starting quarterback, yet he did say that he and his staff will take a look at how the depth chart is shaping up on Monday.
Regardless of who’s dropping back to pass, the Eagles will have more perimeter weapons than in years past, particularly at the wide receiver position. Zay Flowers is probably the most explosive of them all: He got things going on Saturday with a 60-yard touchdown.
"Talking to the defensive guys, they’re like, ‘Man, I couldn’t imagine having to game plan us on a short week or on one week,’ because we’re so versatile and have so many playmakers on the outside and inside that are threats downfield and all over the field,” Grosel said.
As of now, there isn’t any tape on this iteration of BC football. On the other hand, the Eagles have another two weeks to watch things play out, in and out of conference.
Hafley told his players to go home after the weekend scrimmage, watch some football, and relax. They’re coming off yet another perfect round of COVID-19 testing. The program has now administered 1,766 tests to student-athletes, coaches, and staff members, with only one positive case, which occurred in late June. That player has since recovered and rejoined team activities.
College GameDay is back, college football is back, and, because of BC’s strict adherence to its COVID-19 protocol, the Eagles made up a lot of lost ground during training camp and now are in position to begin the 2020 season in 13 days.
“Give these guys a ton of credit,” Hafley said. With kids back on campus now, two straight negative tests, it sends a message. These kids love each other, they’ve bought into the staff, and the staff’s done a great job.
“These kids want to play football, and they’re now going to be rewarded for that, which is really, really awesome to see. I’m just excited for them.”
https://bostoncollege.rivals.com/ne...final-scrimmage-qb-battle-and-covid-19-update
