Boston College Gets Ready for Home Opener vs Rutgers

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The wait is over and now it’s time for the 2022 college football season to get underway. The Boston College Eagles will make their season debut at Alumni Stadium this Saturday hosting the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. This will be the 28th all-time meeting between the two programs. BC holds somewhat of a one-sided advantage in the record to date at 20-6-1. The last time these two teams played was back in 2019 in Piscataway, NJ with the Eagles coming out on top 30-16. The win was the 11th straight for Boston College in this series.

This begins head coach Jeff Hafley’s third season as the BC head coach. His overall record in the previous two seasons is 12-11. The Eagles have won the two prior season openers under Hafley and won their last four openers. The last loss took place vs Wake Forest back in 2017. The 12 wins for the coach have him tied for second among all Power-5 coaches that became head coach in 2020. BC has also been bowl eligible in those years. His forte is defense and that unit has improved under his watch. The Eagles ranked third nationally in passing yards allowed with 173.5. They were also ranked in the top 50 in the nation in six other defensive categories. To give you an idea of the turnaround that has taken place on that side of the ball, consider this. In 2019 BC’s defense was ranked 125th in total defense. In 2021, that ranking was at 28th, a 97 spot improvement that is the second biggest jump in the country.

This group will face a Rutgers offense that averaged 22 points a game in a season where they went 5-8 overall and 2-7 in league play. Under head coach Greg Schiano, the Scarlet Knights are 9-4 in opening games and have won the last two over conference foes Michigan State and Temple. Last season, the team jumped out to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2012. One thing to look for is Rutgers’s ability to stay away from turning the ball over. A season ago, when they played a clean game, they were a perfect 5-0. On special teams, they set an NCAA record for net punting average in a season at 45.25 yards. They have two players who excel in returning kicks for touchdowns in Aron Cruickshank (2020) and Joshua Youngblood (2019). Both of these players led the nation in kickoffs returned for scores in their given year.

On defense, the Scarlet Knights ranked 19th nationally and second in the Big-10 in third down conversions holding their opponents to a 33.9%. In nine of their games, they allowed five or fewer conversions, including a season-best 1-for-14 performance vs Indiana on the road. A season ago the Eagles converted at a 39% clip. This could be a very important stat to keep track of early in the year for the Eagles since they will start five new members in the offensive line on Saturday.

BC offense ran for 1.983 yards last year and they return 93% of those yards gained with Pat Garno leading the way with 1,045 yards. He had four 100-yard games a season ago for Boston College In the passing game, they bring back 45.2% of last year’s production and 101 receptions. Zay Flowers led the receiving core with 44. QB Phil Jurkovec threw for 915 yards in six starts as he lost time due to injury last season. As a starting quarterback for the Eagles, Jurkovec is 10-6. He has six 300-yard passing games on his BC resume and also has eight career rushing TDs.