SOUTH BEND, Ind. — On every depth chart Boston College has issued since Eagles starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec was indefinitely sidelined on Oct. 29, the former Notre Dame QB has been listed as the starter.
Again, that’s the case this week for the third time, as Jurkovec battles back from a concussion, a knee injury and a back ailment. On Wednesday BC coach Jeff Hafley intimated there’s a chance the fifth-year senior could face his former team in some capacity,at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, which is Senior Day for the 18th-ranked Irish (7-3).
Kickoff is 2:30 EST (NBC) as the Irish look to extend their November and ACC regular-season win streaks to 19 and 28 games, respectively.
Those close to the program believe redshirt freshman Emmett Morehead, who engineered a 21-20 upset of then-16th-ranked NC State on the road last Saturday and a near upset of Duke the week before as the starter, should and will be the QB who leads BC (3-7) against the Irish.
Boston College was 0-25 in its last 25 matchups with ranked teams heading to the upending of the Wolfpack in Raleigh, N.C.
Closer to a certainty is who won’t be defending whoever plays QB for the Eagles on Saturday — and prolific wide receiver Zay Flowers, the latter 10th nationally in receptions per game (6.7) and tied for fifth in TD catches (10).
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, during his Thursday weekly Zoom with the media, indicated that starting safety Brandon Joseph has been downgraded to doubtful for the regular-season home finale.
Joseph, a former All-American at Northwestern, also missed last Saturday’s 35-32 survival of Navy after suffering a high ankle sprain Nov. 5 against Clemson. Linebacker Jack Kiser (ankle) is listed as probable and linebacker and leading tackler JD Bertrand (groin), who missed the Navy game, is back to 100%, per Freeman.
For those who like to play the what-if game with Jurkovec, here’s a very unscientific comparison that doesn’t take into account supporting casts, strength of schedules, etc.: Jurkovec’s cumulative pass-efficiency rating from 2020-22 at BC is 132.71.
The cumulative pass-efficiency ratings for Notre Dame’s quarterbacks in their starts during the same timeline (Ian Book, Jack Coan, Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne) is 155.18.
Jurkovec is ND’s highest-rated QB recruit (Rivals No. 87 in 2018) since Brandon Wimbush (No. 60) in the 2015 cycle. He’s the third-highest since Jimmy Clausen was No. 1 in 2007 (Gunner Kiel in 2012 was No. 20).
Jurkovec has a sixth-year option, to play at BC or elsewhere. because of the COVID exemption if he chooses to exercise it for 2023.
Former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long is generally blamed as one of the main reasons Jurkovec left after the 2019 season, his sophomore year, even though Long was fired in early December.
The BC QB apparently wasn’t all that enamored with then-Irish head coach Brian Kelly, either at the time he decided to transfer.
“I was disappointed by some stuff while I was there,” Jurkovec told Trevor Hass of the Boston Globe back in August. “The football team and culture is not what people think it to be. I met a lot of great people. They do a lot of good in the world. It’s a mixed bag. I’m glad I went there, and I’m glad I left.”
Jurkovec said Kelly met with his parents, who told the coach their son was struggling.
“Kelly basically lied to their faces about what he would do, how he would talk to me and explain things about the future,” Jurkovec said. “He basically lied to my parents, so after that, they were done with him.”
Jurkovec and Boston College faced the Irish the following fall in an empty stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass., during the height of COVID-19, with Notre Dame prevailing, 45-31.
Tommy Rees was ND’s quarterbacks coach when Jurkovec was at ND, adding the title of offensive coordinator shortly after the QB departed.
“I was bummed when he left, to be honest with you,” said Rees, who’s kept in touch intermittently ever since Jurkovec transferred. “We wanted to try to keep him around. I thought we were going to keep him around.
“I was happy to see him have some success there early on. It’s been a hard road with some injuries and some things going on, but there are no ill feelings on our end.”
More personnel updates
• Quarterback Tyler Buchner, has resumed practicing on a limited basis. The sophomore started the season as Irish QB1 before suffering a season-ending separation to his left (non-throwing) shoulder a Sept. 10 ND loss to Marshall.
“Tyler Buchner is doing some individual stuff, not wearing pads and stuff like that,” Freeman said, “but he's participating in parts of practice. And then in other parts of practice, he’s doing some rehab, too.”
• Junior nose guard Aidan Keanaaina is back practicing with the team, mostly on scout team, as he rounds into shape from an ACL tear suffered back in mid-March.
“Do I think Aidan is 100%?” Freeman said. “Probably not yet, but he's been helping us in terms of giving us a great look on scout team. … He's a guy I could see trying to help us during the bowl game.”
• Sophomore tight end Cane Berrong hasn’t played in a game since Oct. 9, 2021, but he has resumed practicing after a long rehab for a torn ACL 13 months ago.
“He's been getting reps with the offense and some special teams reps,” Freeman said, “and he's doing a really good job, is pretty much back.”
• Sophomore linebacker Will Schweitzer has yet to play in a game this season, and won’t play over the balance of it. Freeman said the 6-4, 225-pounder underwent an undisclosed medical procedure last month.
“We'll see sometime, maybe after this season, if he's cleared and where he's at,” Freeman said.
• Freshman cornerback Jayden Bellamy, who has yet to play this season, hasn’t been practicing lately because he’s in concussion protocol, per Freeman.
Embracing chaos
Sixth-year offensive guard Josh Lugg is the answer to a trivia question: Who is the only active player on the Notre Dame football roster who’s ever experienced an Irish football loss in November?
Actually, Lugg experienced it twice — a 41-8 blowout at Miami in 2017, and a 38-20 road loss to Stanford two weeks later.
Since then, it’s been 18 straight November victories for the Irish, five of them against ranked teams.
“It's a huge tribute to everybody in the program, from players to our strength staff in the offseason, the kind of workouts they put us through,” Lugg said earlier this week. “We literally have a ‘winning in November’ workout theme.”
This year’s theme? Chaos.
“(Director of football performance Matt) Balis and the crew come up with something that's meant to be challenging.” Lugg said. “It's when guys are bumped up and bruised. They might not feel their best, but they understand how critical it is (to be) their best on command.”
Getting a grip
Grad senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy said Balis has a hand in his spectacular 38-yard TD reception in which he pinned the ball on the back of a Navy defender, then grabbed it to complete the catch.
“When it landed, I didn’t have a great grip on it,” he said. “I had a better grip with my right than my left. All I really tried to do was re-adjust my grip. Once I felt my right hand had a decent grip, I basically pulled it away with my right hand.”
A reporter joked that it was probably not something he worked a lot on with Balis, ND’s director of football performance.
“We do a lot of grip strength actually,” he said.
On Tobias Merriweather
Growing pains early in the year and a concussion more recently have limited freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather’s opportunities and his production (one catch for 41 yards and a TD in six games), but apparently it hasn’t put a dent in his potential, per grad senior Braden Lenzy.
“I love Tobias,” he said. “Young puppy. He has been really good. Wise beyond his years. Great intellect. You can tell his background, where he comes from, his family is smart and raised him well.
“Specifically to football, extremely hard-working, very lengthy build. Anyone in the country would want a guy built like that. He’s probably the prototypical deep threat kind of dude. I have high hopes for him. He has shown everybody here he’s ready to play at this level.
“It’s sucky to see him go through concussion protocol, because I’ve been there before. I’m giving him that advice. ‘Be smart. Go about it how you need to. When you’re ready, we’re here and we’ll hold it down.’
“It’s one of those things where you don’t want to be that soft dude, but it’s nothing to joke around with. He’s aware of that. He knows. This culture is not a rush culture. They want to make sure he’s healthy. He will be back. When he’s back, you’ll see a monster.”
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