Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 19, 2022 35 GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE Three Things To Know About Boston College 1. Major Offensive Line Woes Boston College knew a step back on the offensive line was coming. The Eagles lost first-round guard Zion Johnson and a trio of three-year starters to the NFL after the 2021 season. Three of those four departed starters were All-ACC selections. A drop-off to some degree was expected with that kind of experience and talent drain. No one, though, could have predicted disaster unfolding in the way it has in 2022. Injuries have shipwrecked Boston College's line and turned it into one of the nation's worst units. The attrition and bad news started in June, when second-team All-ACC guard Christian Mahogany tore his ACL. That left the Eagles with zero returning starters. The hits didn't stop there. Left guard Finn Dirstine suffered a shoulder injury that ended his season after four games. Right tackle Kevin Cline tore an ACL in September. No Eagles offensive lineman has started every game this year. The broken-down line has impacted the entire offense. Boston College ranks 126th out of 131 FBS teams in sacks allowed per game (3.78), 121st in tackles for loss allowed per game (7.89), last in yards per carry (2.29) and 115th in yards per play (4.8). Per Football Outsiders, the Eagles are last in stuff rate (29.5 percent of carries) and 116th in sack rate (9.3 percent of dropbacks). Their leading rusher, redshirt junior running back Pat Garwo III, is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry one year after running for 1,024 yards. 2. Dynamic Top Receiver Boston College's passing offense has not proven too difficult to defend — in large part because of those offensive line problems — but the Eagles still have a high-end receiver who looks like a future NFL Draft pick. Senior Zay Flowers entered Week 11 ranked 19th nationally in receiving yards with 791. He is averaging 13.2 yards per catch and has 8 of Boston College's 16 receiving touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 172-pound Flowers operates from the slot and out wide. He has caught at least 8 touchdowns in three straight seasons and has a career average of 15.2 yards per catch. He has caught 9 of 23 targets on throws at least 20 yards downfield. The latter is tied for ninth-most among FBS wide receivers. Flowers entered the Eagles' game against NC State Nov. 12 needing 10 catches, 31 yards and 4 touchdowns to break the career program records of 191, 2,800 and 28, respectively. He needs 19 catches and 3 touchdowns to break the program's single-season marks in each. 3. Familiar Faces Boston College is the only team on Notre Dame's regular season schedule that has a former Irish player on its roster — two, actu- ally. One is well known. Graduate student quar- terback Phil Jurkovec, a top-100 recruit in the 2018 class, was one of the higher-profile transfer exits of the last few years. He chose Boston College and has been the Eagles' starter since 2020 when healthy. He has thrown for 1,711 yards with 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in eight starts this season but left BC's loss to UConn Oct. 29 due to injury and did not play the next week. Another former Notre Dame player joined Jurkovec this offseason. Tight end George Takacs departed in February as a graduate transfer and picked Boston College. He has 20 catches for 214 yards and a touchdown through nine games. Takacs was the Irish's No. 2 tight end in 2021 after two years as the No. 4. He played 407 snaps last season but caught just 3 passes for 36 yards. He had 8 receptions for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns in his Notre Dame career. — Patrick Engel 2022 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 3 at Ohio State L, 21-10 Sept. 10 Marshall L, 26-21 Sept. 17 California W, 24-17 Sept. 24 at North Carolina W, 45-32 Oct. 8 vs. BYU* W, 28-20 Oct. 15 Stanford L, 16-14 Oct. 22 UNLV W, 44-21 Oct. 29 at Syracuse W, 41-24 Nov. 5 Clemson W, 35-14 Nov. 12 vs. Navy^ W, 35-32 Nov. 19 Boston College (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 26 at USC TBD * at Las Vegas; ^ at Baltimore 2022 BOSTON COLLEGE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 3 Rutgers L, 22-21 Sept. 10 at Virginia Tech L, 27-10 Sept. 17 Maine W, 38-17 Sept. 24 at Florida State L, 44-14 Oct. 1 Louisville W, 34-33 Oct. 8 Clemson L, 31-3 Oct. 22 at Wake Forest L, 43-15 Oct. 29 at Connecticut L, 13-3 Nov. 4 Duke L, 38-31 Nov. 12 at NC State W, 21-20 Nov. 19 at Notre Dame (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 26 Syracuse TBA Tight end George Takacs, who took the graduate transfer route to Boston College this offseason after spending four years at Notre Dame, had 20 catches for 214 yards and 1 touchdown for the Eagles through nine games this season. PHOTO COURTESY BC FOOTBALL of the videos, sent a scholarship offer and was met with a commitment rather quickly. Two and a half years after commit- ting, Morehead might make a start at Notre Dame Stadium. "I remember watching his workouts and saying, 'He's got the size, he's got the arm talent, he seems like a really great kid, smart kid,'" Hafley said. "We kind of took a run on him. I'm glad we did. We'll see where it goes." Whether it's Jurkovec or Morehead, the best thing the BC quarterback can do is get the ball to senior wide receiver Zay Flowers, who had 60 receptions for 791 yards and 8 touchdowns through nine games. Connecting with former Notre Dame tight end George Takacs, contributor of 20 catches for 214 yards and 1 touchdown through nine games, isn't a bad option either. It'll come down to time in the pocket. Without it, which has been the norm this fall, it's a bit of a lost cause for the Eagles' signal-caller. Just ask Jurkovec and his ailing knee. ✦