BC quarterback Emmett Morehead saw action on Syrcause.

Boston College freshman quarterback Emmett Morehead is a novice in football compared to his colleagues in the ACC.

Morehead made his FBS debut last Saturday when he replaced Dennis Grosel on Boston College’s third possession of a 21-6 loss in Syracuse. Morehead is expected to get its first collegiate start when BC host ACC crossover rival Virginia Tech on Friday night (7:30) at Alumni Stadium

With Phil Jurkovec out of season with a hand injury and Grosel’s inconsistency in ACC play, BC coach Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti chosen to give Morehead a shared control of the Eagles’ attack.

It was an incredible vote of confidence for a young quarterback who had not beaten a competition since 2019, his youth years at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. Episcopal canceled its 2020 season due to the pandemic, so Morehead’s football portfolio consists of less than two school seasons.

“It was the first live balls he has had and he did not have a senior year and has not played much football in his entire life,” Hafley said. “He’s not one of those guys who’s been playing since second grade, so for him to go in with limited practice repetitions and play like he did and he’s going to get better.”

Morehead is a 6-foot-5, 229-pound, pocket-passer who can look over the line and deliver an accurate ball. He completed a 6-of-15 against Orange that included a 44-yard strike to split end Zay flowers on his second throw.

“We changed our game plan to try to slow it down for us,” Morehead said. “We got rid of the bracelet and went to a more widespread offense, so it was a little easier to process and helped me move faster.”

The bionic man

Defensive finish Marcus Valdez has the word “disrupt” deleted into its job description.

The 6-foot, 260-pound, graduate of Port Amboy, NJ, wears a cast on his left hand along with fortified armrests and knee braces. Despite the extra layers of protection, Valdez made the kind of disruptive play against Syracuse that has been his strong suit.

With the ball on the BC 3-yard line in the first quarter, Valdez got kicked Garrett Schrader for minus 14-yards. Linebacker Vinny DePalma took the fumble up and added 21 more. BC finished with three sacks to minus 40 yards.

“He got a beautiful sack that we needed,” Hafley said. “Marcus has been beaten up and he has been playing with a lot of pain. That guy has so much gear on his body, but he’s one of the toughest kids on the team. ”

The Man of Steele

Freshman linebacker Bryce Steele made good use of its increased workload against Orange. With middle linebacker Isaiah “IGM” Graham-Mobley, the team’s leading tackle, out with an upper body injury, defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu moved DePalma to the center and put Steele outside opposite came Arnold. Steele had a season of seven tackles, while the linebacker trio combined 23 stops and two TFLs.

“I was really proud of him, he played hard, and he played violently, and he played most of the snaps he’s played all year,” Hafley said. “When he tackles, he swallows a little people because he has really long arms.”

Red Zone Blues

The Eagles’ red zone offense has been tainted since the start of the ACC game, but it bordered on insignificance against Orange. BC came inside Cuse ’20 on four occasions and got six points after two Connor Lytton field goals.

BC turned the ball around on the downs at the Syracuse 1-yard line late in the fourth and made a red zone reverse on the second occasion. With the ball on Cuse ’18, in the middle Alec Lindstrøm‘s shotgun snap sailed over Morehead’s range for a 22-yard loss. BC took another sack on ball possession and ended up pointing.

“It has not been good enough and we seemed like we had a great field position and the special teams did a great job,” Hafley said. “It needs to get better, we need to execute at a higher level and train it better.”