Boston College Football Preseason Camp Blog No. 4

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – For the first time this preseason, Boston College practiced in full pads on an extremely hot and humid Friday morning inside Fish Field House. Due to the excessive heat, the majority of the two-hour practice was held indoors.

BC returns 20 starters from last season’s 6-5 squad that finished sixth in the ACC. The five ACC wins for the Eagles last year were the most since 2009 as the league scrapped divisions for one year and every team played 10 conference games.

For the first time since 2010, Boston College was selected to finish third in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, according to a preseason poll of 147 media voters.

Expectations and optimism surrounding the program are as high as its been at the Heights since the Eagles ripped off two consecutive trips to the ACC Championship Game in 2007 and 2008.

“I’m glad people were talking about us,” said head coach Jeff Hafley. “I appreciate them being excited. We won six games last year and we just need to get better. I’m not going to put a number on anything, I’m not going to put a ranking on everything. We need to get better every day. We need to play better than we did last year and that’s how we’re always going to approach things but I appreciate people being excited and I’m grateful for that.”

After seven practices this preseason, Hafley touched on what aspects of practice they focused on today and where the team will be going.

“We’re still in installs,” said Hafley. “Today we did high red, low red, we got first, second, third down, and we got some situational work in. At least for the next week and a half will continue to plug away.”

News and Notes: Red zone period began with 7-on-7 work as Phil Jurkovec found Kobay White for an 18-yard touchdown on the first play of the period … freshman running back Xavier Coleman continues to show another gear when accelerating through the hole … Josh DeBerry recovered a fumble during the red zone period … the Michigan native has been all over the field in the preseason, showing why he is considered one of the ACC’s best defensive backs … Jason Maitre has shown some position versatility lining up at safety this preseason … the former Everett standout continues to flash as another intruiging defensive back option for associate head coach and defensive backs coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim … during a team period near the goal line, Maitre chased down Jurkovec in a race to the pylon … the depth in the back end for the Eagles looks to promising in 2021 … Brandon Sebastian picked off a pass during team work in the red zone on Friday … freshman defensive end Ty Clemons had a would-be sack if the quarterbacks were live on Friday … Sebastian also made a nice pass breakup on Kobay White during team period … freshman wide receiver Lewis Bond found a soft spot in the defense for a touchdown from Dennis Grosel to close out the red zone period … Jurkovec and his favorite target Zay Flowers connected on a 40-yard completion between double coverage during team period … freshman wide receiver Jaden Williams continues to excel with a 30-yard completion from Grosel … Jahmin Muse had an excellent pass breakup in the back of the end zone during a red zone period … Boston College continues with practice on Saturday and Sunday before meeting the media again following the first scrimmage of the preseason on Monday … the next preseason blog returns following media availability on Monday.

-BC-