Lucas: BC Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1.Well, that wasn't pretty. But it was still a 26-22 road win over Boston College. That makes Carolina's first three-game ACC winning streak since 2016.

2. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. Carolina will need to play better than it did on Saturday next week at home against Virginia Tech in front of seven percent capacity at Kenan Stadium. Saturday's second half marked just the second time in the last 25 halves of football that the Tar Heels have failed to score a touchdown. The other was the first half against NC State. It looked like some of the rust from the three-week layoff, which essentially created another season opener, was showing. "You're supposed to improve the most from the first to the second game," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "We haven't had a second game. Now we can go back and coach these guys really hard off game type situations."

3. Some of that coaching will focus on Carolina's penalties. The Tar Heels committed 10 of them for 96 yards, and several were big momentum-turning plays. Fortunately for the visitors, Boston College also made some miscues, drawing 12 flags for 110 yards in what turned into a chippy game by the end.

4. Even with all the struggles, the Tar Heels got a big play from Trey Morrison to help seal the game. Morrison was all over the field for the entire game, and he wisely hawked tight end Hunter Long (nine catches for 96 yards) with BC trailing 24-22 with 45 seconds left on a possible two-point conversion. Morrison picked off Jurkovec's pass and raced the length of the field to turn it into two Tar Heel points. Morrison finished with six tackles, a pass breakup, and the key interception that doesn't actually go in the stats as an interception. "I was proud of Trey at the end and the guys played really hard, but we gave up way too many passing yards," Brown said. "They exposed some things that we have to fix. Thank goodness we won. It gives us a lot of things we can fix."

5. The lack of fans means sound just echoes around an empty football stadium. Such was the case with 3:51 left in the first quarter when Trey Morrison broke up a third down Boston College pass with a physical--and legal--hit on tight end Hunter Long. As Long remained on the turf to collect himself and the game paused, the Tar Heel secondary (rightly) celebrated the big hit. This seemed to incense Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley, who turned to his sideline and screamed, "Look at them! He's hurt and they're celebrating!" Long returned almost immediately and was back in the game for BC's next drive.

6. Morrison made another big third down play on the very next drive, again against Long. Boston College had moved the ball successfully and was in the red zone. A third down pass to an open Long looked destined for a first down, but Morrison flew in and knocked the ball away for an incomplete pass.

7. Special teams were inconsistent in the season opener against Syracuse, and a special teams issue led directly to a Boston College first half touchdown. Michael Carter called for a fair catch on a kickoff and then tried to advance the ball after it hit the ground. That gave Carolina the ball on the four yard line, and two plays later Sam Howell's pass was tipped and intercepted, giving the Eagles terrific field position that they turned into seven points. A fourth quarter missed field goal from Grayson Atkins cracked the door to the near-comeback. Special teams will continue to be an area of focus this week.

8. Javonte Williams had a pair of touchdowns and has proven to be a weapon both on the ground and catching the ball out of the backfield. But one of his biggest plays of the game Saturday came when he alertly raced after a Sam Howell fumble on Carolina's first drive of the second half. Williams dove on the ball near midfield and prevented what looked like it was about to be a scoop-and-score for the Eagle defense. It was a 28-yard loss, but the Tar Heels still survived to punt the ball away, and with Ben Kiernan's usual solid work plus a penalty, BC took over inside its own 10-yard line instead of midfield or worse. In what became a one score game, that was a huge play.

9. It's always nice to have a head coach who thinks of most everything in advance. Since coaches aren't allowed on the field, Mack Brown has clearly instructed his strength staff to sprint on the field and break up any sort of potential scuffle. During a third quarter stretch when Boston College committed three straight 15-yard penalties, Brian Hess and his staff jetted onto the turf to separate a couple of Tar Heels and Eagles. The move incensed the BC sideline, but no flags were thrown for the Tar Heel staff being on the field and a messy situation was averted. The Tar Heels turned the three penalties into three points and a 24-16 lead.

10. Chazz Surratt showed the speed and athleticism that is going to make him a lot of money in professional football during one Boston College third quarter drive. He first chased down an Eagle wide receiver from behind to turn what could have been a 20-yard gain into a three-yard gain. Later in the drive, he delivered a bone-shaking hit on an attempted pass over the middle. Surratt led the team in tackles with eight and made an even bigger impact in the game than the stats show.

11. Carolina's offensive line still has room for improvement. The Tar Heels hope the return of Joshua Ezeudu will make a significant difference, but Ezeudu was unavailable again on Saturday and the line struggled to keep the Eagles away from Sam Howell. The sophomore quarterback didn't have one of his best days, finishing 14-for-26 and a pair of touchdowns, plus one interception on another tipped ball. In addition to the issues protecting Howell, several of Carolina's key penalties came from the offensive line.

12. Another area that has suddenly become an issue is the secondary. With Myles Wolfolk ineligible and Patrice Rene still working back from a torn ACL, the Tar Heels suffered a huge blow on the final BC drive when their best corner, Storm Duck, went down with an injury. The Eagles immediately attacked Duck's replacement, Obi Egbuna, and drew a big pass interference penalty that allowed them to convert a third and goal from the 32-yard line. Duck's immediate status was unknown, but Carolina can't afford to lose a player who Boston College essentially avoided all afternoon in the passing game.

13. And there was lots and lots of the passing game. Notre Dame transfer Phil Jurkovec threw it 56 times, completing 37 of them for 313 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Carolina, which might have rightly expected the Eagles to be more run-heavy, had trouble bringing down the 6-foot-5 Jurkovec.

14. But even with Howell not at his peak, the Tar Heels got great production in the ground game from Michael Carter, who finished with 121 yards on 16 rushes. The duo of Carter and Javonte Williams combined for 178 yards. Howell also added something in the ground game, as the Tar Heels continued to incorporate his legs into the offense.

15. It's been a long time since Carolina's last fall visit to Boston College (2009). When most of your trips to Chestnut Hill are made with basketball in rainy/snowy and cold January or February, it's easy to forget the appeal of what they call The Heights here in town. Saturday's weather was gorgeous, the leaves were just starting to turn, and the 3:30 kickoff left time to scope out some of campus. All that was missing was a sellout Alumni Stadium. Maybe next time--check back in 2030.

16. You see a lot of things you've never seen before during this unusual sports year. Certainly on that list: like many schools, Boston College had cardboard fan cutouts in both lower level end zones. And then, inexplicably completely alone in the corner of the upper deck, with not a single other cutout anywhere on that entire side on the upper level, was a cutout of NC State head baseball coach Elliott Avent.

17. It's just seven percent, but it will be nice to get some fans back in the building next week. It was extremely odd in the fourth quarter when Boston College used the stadium LED light system and pumped the music in time to the flashing lights...with exactly zero people to enjoy it. Even as Morrison raced the length of the field on the game-sealing play, there was no reaction in the stands because there was no one in the stands. Having any kind of human interaction in the stadium next week will be a welcome change.

Players Mentioned

Grayson Atkins

Michael Carter

Storm Duck

Obi Egbuna

Joshua Ezeudu

Sam Howell

Ben Kiernan

Trey Morrison

Patrice Rene

Chazz Surratt

Javonte Williams

Myles Wolfolk

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