Cincinnati’s win in the de facto 2009 Big East championship, a game in which Mardy Gilyard ran rampant and Pitt surrendered a 14-point lead at Heinz Field, was a gut punch for Panther fans everywhere. That included fourth-grader Phil Jurkovec.
Jurkovec, the former Pine-Richland standout and current Boston College quarterback, called that 45-44 defeat “one of the most heartbreaking losses” he ever experienced as a kid. Earlier this week, Jurkovec found himself thinking about that game. He even brought it up to his offensive coordinator in Chestnut Hill.
Frank Cignetti Jr., the Eagles’ play-caller, was Dave Wannstedt’s offensive coordinator back in 2009. And at the time, Jeff Hafley, Boston College’s head coach, was in charge of the Panthers’ secondary. As if Saturday’s game between Pitt and Boston College needed any more layers of intrigue.
Jurkovec’s presence alone should get viewers from Western Pennsylvania to tune in to this Saturday’s 4 p.m. kick. So long as they have ACC Network, they’ll see Jurkovec — one of the best quarterbacks in WPIAL history — try to pick apart a Pitt defense littered with guys he faced just a few years ago.
If you think that’s odd or maybe even kind of cool, imagine the mixed emotions Jurkovec is feeling.
“It means a lot. It’s really a dream, growing up watching Pitt all the time and now getting the chance to play them,” Jurkovec said Wednesday on a Zoom call with reporters, answering the first of a dozen questions about being from the Panthers’ backyard. “I’ve played against a lot of those guys. ... So it will be a little weird at first, but it’s going to be fun.”
Jurkovec, a three-year starter at Pine-Richland, shared a huddle and locker room with Pitt tight end Grant Carrigan. He played against Paris Ford in offseason 7-on-7s. And he remembers losing to Damar Hamlin’s Central Catholic team in 2015, the first time he ever started against the Vikings.
Jurkovec exacted a bit of revenge in 2017, beating Central twice en route to a WPIAL title and PIAA crown. But he admitted it’ll still be fun to try and get a little payback on Hamlin for 2015 at Alumni Stadium this weekend.
Of course, in an alternate universe, maybe it’s Jurkovec leading the Panthers against Boston College on Saturday. Jurkovec, the Post-Gazette’s high school athlete of the year in 2018, had two chances to go to Pitt. Well, let’s call it one-and-a-half times.
Pitt was in on Jurkovec back when he was a sophomore, his first year starting at Pine-Richland. Pat Narduzzi offered him a scholarship on Oct. 1, 2015, after only four games as the Rams’ successor to Ben DiNucci. Per 247 Sports, Penn State offered the next day, and the rest of the Power Five powerhouses quickly followed suit. By April 2016, Jurkovec had scholarship letters from Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee and more.
But Jurkovec said Wednesday his decision was between Notre Dame and Pitt, the two teams he grew up supporting. He picked the former, leaning toward the Irish’s brand and the aura of playing for Notre Dame.
“Coach Narduzzi did give me the opportunity,” the quarterback said. “I can’t say anything bad about what they did. They offered me a scholarship, and they tried to get me there.”
Jurkovec doesn’t regret his choice, but it just didn’t work out for him at Notre Dame. His confidence waned without playing, and when entrenched starter Ian Book opted to skip the 2020 NFL draft and return to South Bend, Jurkovec knew he had to leave.
Second all-time in total yardage in WPIAL history, Jurkovec put his name in the transfer portal nine months ago, specifically on Jan. 8. Plenty of Pitt fans wanted Narduzzi and his staff to once again go after Jurkovec. But the timing made a return to Pittsburgh pretty much impossible.
Jurkovec said he talked to Narduzzi after entering the portal, adding that every interaction he ever had with the coach was positive. But six days before Jurkovec decided to leave Notre Dame, Arizona State’s Joey Yellen announced his transfer to Pitt. Yellen, a former four-star prospect himself, was added to a quarterback room with Kenny Pickett — Pitt’s obvious starter for 2020 — and redshirt freshman Davis Beville, another former blue-chip recruit.
Hafley said he never guaranteed Jurkovec the Boston College job. But the prospect of him playing immediately with the Eagles — pending a waiver that was approved in August — was there. It wasn’t at Pitt.
“They were hard on me, they were always calling, and there weren’t a ton of schools. So it was pretty clear what school wanted me the most,” Jurkovec said of Boston College’s pursuit. “A lot of schools, a lot of situations, it just wasn’t right. They didn’t have scholarship spots or whatever it was. But it was very clear from the start that B.C. was the place.”
And so far, Jurkovec has, in Hafley’s words, “shown flashes” of the gunslinger who torched the WPIAL a few years ago.
In three starts, Jurkovec has completed 80 of 117 passes (68.4%) for 823 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. His 274.3 passing yards per game rank third in the ACC, just behind Pickett’s 280.8, and his performance last weekend nearly guided Boston College to an upset of now-No. 8 North Carolina.
Cignetti put the responsibility on Jurkovec’s right arm, as the redshirt sophomore attempted 56 passes, completed 37 of them and racked up 313 yards. He led the Eagles on a 15-play, 69-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, coming just a two-point conversion shy of knotting the game at 26 and possibly forcing overtime.
Hafley said he’s trying not to have too high of expectations for Jurkovec. “He hasn’t played football in so long,” the coach added. “We’re kind of treating him like a rookie.”
But the coach sees a “special player” in the near future and was impressed with Jurkovec’s ability to escape the pocket and fire darts into tight spaces last weekend.
Narduzzi, meanwhile, saw the same kid that was slinging it at Pine-Richland.
“He’s confident like he was in high school,” Pitt’s coach said Monday. “And if it’s not there, he’s taking off. ... He’s a hard guy to get down. We’ve got to stress that he’s not going to just be dragged down to the ground. He bumps off people. He shakes them. He doesn’t feel like he’s going down.”
The onus will be on Pitt’s vaunted front-four to keep Jurkovec within the pocket on Saturday. Panthers senior Rashad Weaver knows after watching tape and seeing Jurkovec complete “circus throws” downfield that he and his teammates up front have a job to do. Ford, Hamlin and Pitt’s secondary will be responsible, too, for locking up Boston College’s receivers and forcing Jurkovec into an uncomfortable pocket.
Narduzzi said the Panthers have to tighten up their coverage “a lot more from what it looked like last week.” N.C. State’s Devin Leary had a 336-yard, four-touchdown field day in Pitt’s 30-29 loss last Saturday, and Narduzzi said Jurkovec is as good or better than Leary at getting the ball out quick and on target.
This weekend will be a test for the Panthers and Jurkovec alike. Both parties know that as they enter a game packed with years-long familiarity and history.
Jurkovec said he’ll always consider himself a Pitt fan. He has “a lot of respect” for the Panthers and wishes his WPIAL counterparts success in the future. And regardless of who comes out on top, one thing will always ring true for Jurkovec.
“(In Boston), they try to say it’s the city of champions,” Jurkovec said smiling. “But it’s not really the city of champions. Pittsburgh always will be.”
Spoken like a true yinzer.
John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
An earlier version of this story listed Jurkovec as second all-time in WPIAL passing history. He is second all-time in total yardage and fifth in passing.
First Published: October 7, 2020, 8:33 p.m.
