Georgia Tech vs Boston College: Offensive Comparison

Georgia Tech takes on Boston College on Saturday and here’s how the two offenses matchup…

Quarterback: EDGE – Boston College

This is a battle between two quarterbacks that have a ton of talent and are exciting players to watch going forward. Georgia Tech’s Jeff Sims has had a very up-and-down true freshman season. At moments, he shows sparks of greatness and at other moments, he shows some true freshman tendencies and mistakes. All in all, Sims enters the game with a 54.5% completion percentage, 1,025 passing yards, six touchdowns, and nine interceptions. She also has 228 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 57 carries.

Opposite of Sims on Saturday will be redshirt sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovec, a former five-star prospect from outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started his college career at Notre Dame before transferring to Boston College this past offseason.

To start off his Boston College career, Jurkovec, has four games of 300+ yards as he’s amassed 1,526-yards, 10 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Last week against Virginia Tech, Jurkovec threw for 345-yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Neither one of these quarterbacks are perfect quarterbacks by any means, but Jurkovec through five games with the Eagles has shown the potential that made him a five-star prospect coming out of high school. He has a quality completion percentage at 62.6% and has shown great arm strength in the process as well. Jeff Sims brings some things that Jurkovec doesn’t but for now Jurkovec has the edge over Sims here which isn’t all too shocking considering, Jurkovec has been around the college game now for three-years.

Running Back: EDGE – Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech gets the easy edge at the running back group. The Yellow Jackets running backs have been as close to outstanding as they could be so far this season and are led by freshman sensation Jahmyr Gibbs. The Jackets truly have about four different backs that they could give the ball to and expect decent results; Gibbs, Dontae Smith, Jamious Griffin, and Jordan Mason. Four of the five have amassed 100+ yards so far this season with Mason being the lone player not to, yet. He, however, has only 14 carries on the year, all coming against Florida State. He’s been out with an injury since that game.

Boston College’s backfield is a talented one but has not performed well this season by any means. Junior David Bailey has just 189-yards on 58 rushing attempts this season. Bailey has received the most carries on the team with 58 while freshman runningback Pat Garwo III has received 23-carries, picking up 83-yards in the process. Senior Travis Levy has had 21-carries himself and has gained 49-yards. All in all, behind their offensive line (more later), the Eagles backfield has not been able to do much at all this season.

Wide Receiver/Tight End: EDGE – Boston College

For Boston College, the two receivers to watch the closest will be sophomore wide receiver Zay Flowers (28 receptions, 462-yards, and four-touchdowns). Junior tight end Hunter Long has put up impressive numbers as well with 35 receptions, 416-yards. and three touchdowns. Another wide receiver to remember his Ohio State transfer Jalen Gill who followed Jeff Hafley to Boston College. Gill has 16 receptions for 182-yards and a touchdown.

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Georgia Tech’s wide receivers and tight ends haven’t put up as impressive stats but the Jackets are not throwing the ball as much as Boston College. Malachi Carter is the Jackets leading receiver with 14 receptions and 213-yards to go with two touchdowns. A healthy Jalen Camp has looked solid as well, hauling in a team high 15 receptions for 201-yards and two scores. Sophomore Ahmarean Brown has put up disappointing stats so far, he has just seven receptions for 108-yards while former Miami transfer Marquez Ezzard has six receptions for 88-yards. The Jackets tight end group as a whole has made a minimal impact in the passing game, with a combined six receptions for 45-yards.

I think Georgia Tech’s group is just as talented as Boston College’s but the Eagles get the edge at receiver as they’ve had more production so far this season even when considering the big differences in each teams play calling.

Offensive Line: EDGE – Georgia Tech

Last season, Boston College had one of the best offensive lines in the country. All five starters were All-ACC team members and they allowed just 13 sacks in 12 games while allowing the rushing attack to lead the way for the offense.

A year later, and it’s quite a different story for the Eagles offensive line that has struggled majorly so far in 2020. The Boston College rushing attack is averaging a mere 2.1 yards per carry and when looking at just their running backs, they’re averaging 3.14 yards per carry. Either way, not great numbers for the Boston College run game.

Then when it comes to pass protection, it’s been just as ugly for Eagles, as they’ve already allowed 18 sacks on the season and are on pace to allow 36 on the season. The most surprising thing about all this is, Boston College returned four of their five offensive lineman from last season. Perhaps, the loss of offensive line coach Phil Trautwine has had a bigger impact than anyone could’ve imagined.

Georgia Tech’s offensive line, on the other hand, has had almost a complete opposite transition. The Yellow Jackets offensvie line in 2019 was one of the worst in the country and while they haven’t been dominating by any stretch in 2020, they’ve been much improved. The Yellow Jackets rushing attack is averaging 4.6 yards per carry this season and when looking at just running backs, their talented backfield is averaging 4.5 yards per carry, once again a very solid number.

Their pass protection, however, has come the farthest this season as the Jackets through five games have allowed a mere six sacks and that number is only that high because the Jackets faced one of the country’s most talented defensive lines this past weekend against Clemson. In their first four games of the season, they allowed just one sack. While players must perform on the field (which they’ve done greatly), the offensive line improvement for the Yellow Jackets is much due to the coaching of offensive line coach Brent Key.

Overall: PUSH

Overall, I think these two offenses are pretty evenly matched. In Boston College, you have a team that struggles running the ball but can beat you through the air consistently. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, isn’t the best as passing the ball but can run the ball well with any of the running backs not to mention as well with quarterback Jeff Sims.

This game will come down to which offensive line holds up better against the oppositions defensive line. Neither defensive line has been overwhelming defensively but have been solid in their pursuit of getting into the backfield. Georgia Tech’s offensive line has been the much better line coming into the weekend but will they be able to bounce back against following a tough performance against Clemson?