The Clemson Insider recently caught up with Trevor Hass to get some insight on Boston College ahead of Clemson’s game against the Eagles. Hass covers Boston College football for The Boston Globe.
Hass hit on a number of topics during the following question-and-answer session, including what’s surprised him about Boston College so far, the Eagles’ method of attack on offense, the defense and more heading into Saturday’s game at Alumni Stadium.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity
How has Boston College performed through the first five games relative to what you were expecting coming into the season?
People thought this would be the year that (Boston College) took it from six to seven or eight wins. Expectations were pretty high. And that Rutgers game (in the season opener), it really didn’t look like expectations that people had. They lost by one on a last-minute drive, which kind of set the tone for the start of the season. So they started 0-1. Then they went to Virginia Tech and lost that game. Got smoked. The offensive line was struggling again, and they’re 0-2. Things are getting a little dicey. Then they beat Maine, then they got smoked against Florida State, and then they beat Louisville by one.
So it’s kind of a wait-and-see situation at this point. They’re 2-3. They’re kind of in the middle of the pack. Obviously they’re expected to lose this game and then Wake (Forest) will be tough. So if they’re 2-5, then it gets a little interesting. But if they can get one of those games, then they’re 3-4 and they can still get to that six or seven wins. So it’s kind of wait and see at this point, but I would say they’ve underachieved just a tad, partially because the offensive line is pretty young. But it’s definitely improving the past couple weeks, so they are getting better.
Any surprises either good or bad to you so far?
I would say just the run game was worse than I expected at the beginning. I thought that it would be average maybe just because they lost so many linemen. They lost Zion Johnson, who’s now with the (Los Angeles) Chargers. One of the best linemen in the country last year, and the players around him were really solid as well. So without those players, I think it was fair to expect a learning curve this year with a lot of young guys, and I think people were surprised just by how much of a learning curve it was at the beginning. But I think they have really made significant strides, and they’ve run the ball the best they have all season in recent memory.
Against Louisville, they look pretty good. Pat Garwo was a 1,000 yard rusher last year, and he’s starting to round in to form. Alex Broome is the name to keep an eye on as well. He’s a true freshman. Really shifty and sturdy guy who can break tackles and get downfield. So I think the run game was slow at first. To be expected but a little bit slower than we might have thought. But now it’s coming along.
Dabo Swinney talked about Boston College’s knack for using max protections to push the ball downfield in the passing game. How would you describe how this Boston College offense operates?
It’s definitely a pass-heavy offense. (Quarterback) Phil Jurkovec, his career has kind of been up and down. He started at Notre Dame and was highly recruited out of high school but didn’t really fit in there. He was stuck behind Ian Book and couldn’t really carve out a role. So he transferred to BC and was kind of reborn and got a second chance to kind of prove himself that he belonged as a college football quarterback. But he’s been great here overall. He’s really had a solid career at BC. I think he’s kind of proven that he can be an NFL guy. It was tough at the beginning of this year just because the offensive line, it wasn’t really giving him much protection. So it looked a little bit worse than it really was from Phil’s perspective. But when they’re thriving offensively, when they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, it’s a pretty good offense and a more explosive one than Clemson fans might realize.
Zay Flowers, as I’m sure people are realizing now, is without question one of the best wide receivers in the country. Just extremely shifty, extremely mobile, gets down the field quickly, great route runner and great hands. Extremely polished, and I expect him to be a first-, second or maybe a third-round pick next year. George Takacs is a tight end. He got injured in the Louisville game, so we’ll see if he plays. He’s TBD for this one but he’s a guy to keep an eye on. Also a Notre Dame transfer who’s a pretty solid, dependable player, good blocker and good pass-catcher. So they like to feature him. Jaelen Gill, who played at Ohio State. You can see a theme here. Lots of transfers from Big Ten and other schools. Jaelen Gill is a name to keep an eye on. Jaden Williams is a deep threat, and those running backs that I mentioned earlier.
It’s a pretty balanced offense. When their run game is a threat, they’re really lethal because they can pass it already. And when they run it the way they should, they’re pretty tough to stop. So it all comes down to that offensive line and if they give Phil time. He makes great decisions when he has time.
Boston College has college football’s third-worst rushing offense. Clemson’s run defense is second-best nationally. So do you just expect the Eagles to try to air it out more than usual?
I was surprised to see Clemson’s secondary had been broken the way it has. I know they’ve played some pretty lethal offense themselves, but I do expect BC to throw probably maybe like 30ish times, somewhere in there. I don’t think it will be anything like 50. I think they need to establish a run game. If they get in second- and third-and-long situations, it could get dicey because then Clemson knows the pass is coming and Clemson obviously has great athletes.
I think if BC can establish that run game on first and second down and get 3 or 4 yards, then it opens up the pass game. And (Boston College coach) Jeff Hafley really like to play complementary football. He doesn’t really rely too much on the pass or the run. He likes to get involved both. So I expect them to try to establish the run early but then throw it long to Zay, Jaelen and everyone to get them involved. So I think it will be a mix but pretty pass heavy.
Speaking of Zay Flowers, how is Boston College utilizing one of the more dynamic receivers in the country?
It’s a little bit of everything. It’s pretty fun to watch honestly. They talked before the season about how they want to just get him the ball as much as possible. Get him up to like 15 targets a game, and they were not lying about that. It’s been right around that number, so it’s pretty impressive. He’ll line up in the slot and on the outside. You can take it into a jet sweep or they even try to double pass, and he just took off and ran almost to the end zone, which is pretty cool. But I would say his best thing is just slants and those deep balls. He’s really, really great at creating separation. I think that’s probably his best thing if I had to choose one. A guy will be on him or even two guys and, all of a sudden, they look up and he’s just 5 yards past them.
You have to really know where he is at all times because he’s so explosive, and he’s capable of taking the top off of the defense on any play. So you’ll just have to know where he is, which opens things up for everyone else. He’s been great throughout his career, and he’s really taking it to the next level. So it’s pretty fun to watch right now.
What’s the skinny on Boston College’s defense? And how do you think it might be able to create some problems for a Clemson offense that’s been much improved?
I think that will probably be the key to the game. I think I expect BC to score a decent number of points. Maybe not 40, but somewhere in the 20s, I would say. So if BC can kind of keep Clemson in that 20s range, which is obviously easier said than done, that would go a long way. I think BC’s secondary on paper is certainly its strength. They have a lot of guys who have experience there. (Defensive back) Jaiden Woodbey, who played at Florida State, is a really great player and could be a draft pick next year. Elijah Jones is a good player. Josh DeBerry. Just a lot of solid guys back there.
Last year, teams would know that BC struggled defending to run, so they would just run the ball over and over again. And their stats were a bit inflated because of that. But at the same time, the secondary is very talented and played well all of last year. This year, it’s been a little more up and down. They’re played pretty well in stretches, but they’ve kind of struggled in other stretches. So I think this is a big prove-it game for the secondary. I think that will be the key to the game.
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