Boston College Eagles vs. UNC Tar Heels: Three Stars

These players showed up in their battle on The Heights. Find out who we chose here.

3rd Star - Special Teams

The struggles from the Boston College special teams have been well documented from the past tenure. From missed field goals, to missed extra points and even simple kick offs consistently going out of bounds, it has not been an easy road for previous Eagles special teams units. The new coaching regime has seemingly cleaned that up and it is paying big dividends.

Senior Punter Grant Carlson does not get spoken about much, but with his play yesterday it is certainly warranted. Three of his five punts logged inside the 20 and he had a booming 52 yarder in the 1st half that flipped the field for BC pinning the Tar Heels deep in their own territory.

The graduate kicker followed up his own previous weeks heroics, tallying 10 points on a perfect 3 for 3 field goals and an extra point.

2nd Star - Phil Jurkovec

After last week's late game epic come back the Eagles quarterback turned in another performance equally as impressive. Although this time coming up a bit short against the Tar Heels. But that certainly doesn't take away from the fact that BC was down 8 with a little over 6 minutes remaining in the 4th and Jurkovec remained composed enough to throw a touchdown. One that was called back. And after a few penalties back and fourth, toss another score on a slant to junior receiver CJ Lewis.

Jurkovec also attempted 56 passes which is the most at Alumni Stadium since 1996. After years of a heavy rushing attack, Jurkovec and Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. have transformed the Eagles attack through the air with much success. “Honestly, we weren’t expecting to throw that much,” Jurkovec said. “But with [offensive coordinator Frank] Cignetti, I guess he wanted to throw the ball to air it out. There was a lot there.”

1st Star - Hunter Long

The junior tight end continues to be the blanket for Phil Jurkovic as he reeled in 9 catches for 96 yards, both team highs. With 25 catches on the season, Long currently ranked 3rd in the nation and 1st for his position.

After taking a hard shot in the 1st quarter, Long was visibly shaken up. Jeff Hafley was visible fired up after the opposing Tar Heels were seemingly enjoying the injured Eagle, proclaiming to his bench, "We’ve got a guy hurt, and they’re cheering.”

Long's grit and toughness, which is something the coaching staff have sought to make a point of instilling in their team, was on full displaying. The injured tight end made his return and continued to be a catalyst for the offense.

“It was emotional and you guys probably heard what I said because there was really nobody here,” Hafley said after “But the one thing I promised my team was that I’d have their back no matter what and at that moment I had their back.”

Honorable mention - Clock Management

After an improbable 41 yard touchdown that put the Tar Heels up by 8 with a little over a minute remaining in the 1st half, it seemed likely that the Eagles would head into the locker room with that deficit. 

Jurkovec completed five straight passes and overthrew an open Long in the end zone that resulted in a field goal attempt. The narrowly made kick cut the Eagles deficit to 5 and was a welcome sight of how proper clock management from the sideline staff can benefit the team as a whole, great to see for the Eagles moving forward.