Phil Jurkovec’s surprise return has breathed new life into a season that was trending downward for Boston College.
Once feared lost for the season with a hand injury, Jurkovec was announced as the starter shortly before the game against Virginia Tech last Friday. After a six-game absence, the junior quarterback sparked the offense and helped lead the Eagles to a 17-3 win.
Jurkovec will be under center again for the Eagles (5-4, 1-4 ACC) when they visit Georgia Tech (3-6, 2-5) in Atlanta on Saturday.
“It’s definitely not the way I want it to be yet, but we’re working on it,” said Jurkovec, who was 7-of-13 passing for 112 yards and rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown against the Hokies. “This is going to be a good week for (improvement).”
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Boston College, its longest under second-year coach Jeff Hafley. Now the Eagles are one win away from securing bowl eligibility for the second time in Hafley’s short tenure.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech faces an uphill battle if it wants to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2018. After hosting the Eagles, the Yellow Jackets visit No. 10 Notre Dame before hosting No. 1 Georgia to cap the regular season.
Jordan Mason rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown against Miami last Saturday, but it wasn’t enough for Georgia Tech to avoid a 33-30 loss against the Hurricanes. Jeff Simms was 21-of-38 passing for 194 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Juanyeh Thomas had nine tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a 100-yard interception return on a Hurricanes’ two-point conversion try to earn ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors for the second time in four games.
The loss was the Yellow Jackets’ third in a row despite scoring 30 or more points twice in that stretch.
“It hurts,” Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins said. “We were close but we’ve still got to find a way to get over the hump and not only be in one-score games, but also win one-score games and keep it going forward.”
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series against Boston College 7-3 following a 48-27 road loss to the Eagles last year.
–Field Level Media
