Targeting Hit on Phil Jurkovec Sets Off Pitt OL
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers hung tough with No. 17 North Carolina for the first 30 minutes of their Week 4 matchup at Acrisure Stadium, but there was a clear turning point in the middle of the game
Late in the second quarter, Pitt's starting quarterback, Phil Jurkovec ran took a designed run outside near his own sideline. As he was being dragged down by one Tar Heel defender, backup cornerback Tayon Halloway leveled a brutal hit that was flagged for targeting and knocked Jurkovec from the game.
"Obviously Phil Jurkovec left at the end of the first half with an injury, and that hurt us," Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said. "I thought Phil really played well in the first half and made a lot of plays."
After the play, Jurkovec's offensive linemen sought out Halloway to let them know they didn't appreciate his illegal hit on their quarterback. Starting right guard Blake Zubovic said that moment galvanized his unit and gave them a chance to stand up for a guy they look to as a leader.
"Absolutely tragic what happened to him," Zubovic said. "I know all the guys were really fired up about that. I didn’t even see the hit at first, but once I saw it on the scoreboard, it really lit a fire under us."
Zubovic saw it as his job as one of the men tasked with protecting Jurkovec to go the extra mile. He believes offensive linemen need to look out for their quarterbacks before, during and after every play.
"I think it was rage, man. I mean, that’s our quarterback," Zubovic said. "I think if you don’t have that kind of emotion on your offensive line, then what do you have? If you don’t stick up for your teammate, your brother, what do you have? You don’t have a team. You don’t have chemistry."
He was upset that Jurkovec had to take such a hit, especially while he was putting together a good game, but said he was proud of his teammates for responding to it how they did. No one earned any personal fouls after the play, but Zubovic thinks the message got across.
"No one did anything ridiculous but I think it was good to at least see guys fired up over it," he said. "I was pissed myself. That was really unfortunate. Not going to speak on anything that happened in terms of how the hit happened, but I just think it’s really sad to see."
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