The key for the Pitt defense this week will be stopping Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec. The 6’5” sophomore has thrown for 823 yards and five touchdowns through three games and has accounted for two rushing scores as well.
His emergence has shifted the mindset for Boston College under first-year head coach Jeff Hafley. The Eagles had been a power running team under former coach Steve Addazio, but Jurkovec has given Boston College a serious passing threat for the first time in years.
Jurkovec’s size and athleticism is a big aspect of his game. He has displayed the ability to withstand pressure in the pocket, and also extend plays with his feet. Pitt senior defensive end Rashad Weaver looks forward to playing a big, mobile quarterback.
“He knows how to stand in the pocket and be strong with his lower body and shake off tackles and throw the ball down field,” Weaver said of Jurkovec. “So you got to be solid at wrapping him up and bringing him down, because he’s not just going to go down easy and he’ll throw the ball while someone is around his waist trying to pull him down. So we got to be ready for that.”
Boston College is a team that gave the Panthers trouble last season. The Eagles rushed for 264 yards last season in 26-19 win over Pitt at Heinz Field last season. A.J. Dillon rushed for 178 yards himself that day, but has since graduated. Still the Eagles return a veteran offensive line and bruising junior tailback David Bailey to the mix. Despite the change in offensive philosophy with Jurkovec, Pitt is still prepared to see that physical style of play it saw last season out of Boston College.
“They definitely still have a good line,” Pitt sophomore linebacker SirVocea Dennis said. “Their line is unbelievable, but they still have a couple of plays that they carried over from last year even with the new head coaching change that we’ll be able to work on and be able to know how to stop. But this is a great team and we’ll take nothing from them and I think we’ll get after them though with our defense.”
Boston College’s top receiving threat has been 6’5” junior tight end Hunter Long. He has 25 catches this season and has been Jurkovec’s favorite target all season long. Pitt allowed two receiving touchdowns to a tight end last week in the North Carolina State loss, so the Panthers plan to take extra precaution with Long.
“He creates matchup issues and we understand we have to know where 80 is at all times,” Pitt linebackers coach Rob Harley said of Long.
There is the threat of the physical run game, a mismatch type of tight end in Hunter Long, but this game plan all comes back to Jurkovec at the end of the day. The Pittsburgh native was a star at nearby Pine-Richland high school and was one of the most highly rated quarterback recruits in the class of 2018 when he chose Notre Dame over Pitt.
Harley remembers Jurkovec from the recruiting trail and what he’s doing on the field this season for Boston College is exactly how he handled himself in high school.
“To me when you watch him play he’s a competitor, that’s kind of how he was in high school,” Harley said of the BC quarterback. “He was a basketball player as well, and just competitive. He doesn’t want to lose the play and when he gets outside the pocket, he’s a problem for people because he’s going to extend the play.”
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi expects a great challenge when his team lines up against the former WPIAL star later today.
“He's confident, he's getting the ball out,” he said. “They’re not giving up sacks. He's throwing the ball and he looks really, really good. He's a good football player. He's just as good or better than what we faced last week as a quarterback, and I thought Leary was really good."
Dennis respects Jurkovec’s game, but believes if he and his teammates play their game that they will be fine.
“We just got to come in this week with a focus and a mentality that we can also be physical and fast and play our game and we’ll be good,” he said.
