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BC Bulletin

Boston College vs. Colgate: Three Stars

Staff Writer Mitchell Wolfe gives his three stars to the best players from BC's 51-0 domination of Colgate.
Mitchell Wolfe|
Boston College vs. Colgate: Three Stars
Boston College vs. Colgate: Three Stars

Boston College blew the doors off of Colgate in their Week 1 matchup to open the 2021 season. The Eagles had some hiccups, dropping the ball occasionally and busting some assignments on defense. But they shut out the Raiders, scored seven touchdowns (by seven different players), and covered a 49.5 point spread. Let's see which players were the best for the Eagles on Saturday. 

Third Star - Shitta Sillah: 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack

Shitta Sillah looked like a man among boys against Colgate on Saturday. Granted, it was against an FCS opponent, but this was the performance that BC fans were waiting for from Sillah. At 6’4”, 253 pounds, with incredible length and athleticism, Sillah used those physical gifts to his advantage. He easily pressured the quarterback and even chased Grant Breneman outside of the pocket on several occasions. 

But where he really shined was defending the run. Sillah penetrated the backfield several times while also showing good discipline to maintain his gap integrity on other plays. With Marcus Valdez possibly sideline for a few weeks with a hands injury, it’s up to Sillah to make his presence felt on the edge.

Second Star - Zay Flowers: 9 targets, 7 catches, 135 yards (19.3), 1 TD, 1 rush, 1 yard

The next two stars are pretty interchangeable. Additionally, their successes on Saturday are quite intertwined. But we’ll start with Zay Flowers. Flowers has some massive expectations entering this season. He earned preseason All-ACC 1st-Team honors, and he delivered on those expectations on Saturday. Flowers took the first pass attempt of the game, a quick bubble screen, for 33 yards. He turned a quick rocket pass from Jurkovec into a 17 yard gain to get BC into the red zone on his next touch. 

Flowers continued to dominate, reeling in a 39-yard touchdown catch, leaping over two defenders. He also made a highlight catch along the sidelines, just getting his toes in before stepping out of bounds. He dropped a low throw inside the five that he probably could have turned into a touchdown. But at the end of the day, Colgate could not stop Flowers.

First Star - Phil Jurkovec: 16 completions, 24 passes, 303 yards, 3 TDs, 5 rushes, 61 yards

With all that being said, Flowers could not have had as good of a game without his quarterback. Phil Jurkovec started slowly, mostly throwing bubble screens and rocket passes. His receivers left him out to dry sometimes, too, with a few bad drops. But he found his stride in the second quarter with a beautiful strike to new tight end Trae Barry, who hurdled a defender and took the ball 51 yards for a touchdown. Jurkovec kept dealing throughout the rest of the game, delivering several excellent throws to Zay Flowers and CJ Lewis, along with a beautiful fade ball to true freshman Jaden Williams for a touchdown. 

He capped off his performance with a 41-yard scamper off a read-option play. Throughout the game, Jurkovec looked calm, comfortable, and in command of the offense. The offensive line gave him plenty of time (albeit against a vastly inferior defensive line), allowing him to work through his progressions and find the open man. Jurkovec is the first star because he also made plays with his legs, both to simply pick up yards and to buy time and deliver the ball. 

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Mitchell Wolfe
MITCHELL WOLFE

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