Boston College Football: Moving Toward Opening Day

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On Sunday for the first time this summer, the Boston College football team spent two hours at Fish Field house scrimmaging. By all accounts, the time was well spent. Good reports were filed on both sides of the ball. With two weeks before their opener vs Northern Illinois, camp has gone quite well for head coach Jeff Haffey and his staff. Maybe the only complaint could be that the team has spent more time indoors than outside. But it has been that kind of a summer in New England, and the field house has proven to be a valuable addition to the football program.

The scrimmage took place in front of family and friends. Coach Haffey believes it is important for the parents to get to see their sons before the season takes away that opportunity. So the coach has opened up the weekend practices to allow for some family time to take place. The coach is well aware of the time that is devoted to football and wants to make sure that the families are not left behind.

On the field, the wide receiver group took a big hit with the graduation of Zay Flowers. He now finds himself in a different camp as a first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. Replacing Flowers will be difficult at best but the offensive coaching staff is hoping that graduate student Ryan O’Keefe can at least fill some of the void left by Flowers moving on. During his four years at Central Florida, O’Keefe put up some good numbers catching just under 200 passes for 2,002 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2021, O’Keefe broke the 1,000-yard all-purpose yard barrier with 812 yards through the air and another 274 yards gained on the ground.

It helps to have some familiar faces around to help with the transition from one program to another. O’Keefe has that in former teammate Thomas Castellanos and former coach Darrell Wyatt who was O’Keefe’s receivers coach at UCF. O’Keefe is hoping that his speed will become a weapon that Boston College can use on offense. He likes to, as he puts it, “I like to take short stuff and make it long, and I like taking long stuff and making it into touchdowns.” The BC offense needs an outside playmaker and O’Keefe might be that guy. If nothing else, he will wear the number 4 that was worn by Flowers during his time on the heights.

While all of this sounds good, this offense will only go as far as their quarterback will take them. Emmett Morehead is that guy. If the final three games of a year ago are any indication, this offense is in good hands. Morehead led the team to an upset win over a ranked team in North Carolina State, while also producing back-to-back 300-yard passing games. In ten games a season ago, Morehead was 115-of-192 for 1,254 yards. His completion rate was at 59.9% and he threw 10 touchdowns to six interceptions. He averaged 125.4 yards a game in 2022. The three-game stretch turned out to be the final three games of the 2022 season. Road games vs the Wolfpack and Notre Dame, then the home finale against Syracuse. Morehead was welcomed to big-time college football in a big way and he showed he was up to the task. If the Eagles can add a running game to their offensive arsenal this team has a chance to be something. With four homes in the month of September, getting off to a good start will be key to any kind of success Boston College could have.