Emmett Morehead will begin at quarterback when Boston College opens the 2023 season towards Northern Illinois on Saturday (midday) at Alumni Stadium.
Not precisely a information flash.
Morehead had the advantage of incumbency and being the one quarterback of the roster with Power-5 sport expertise. Morehead took over the BC offense final season when Phil Jurkovec went down with a season-ending proper knee harm in a 13-3 loss at UConn on Oct. 29.
He threw for 330 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first profession begin towards Duke and powered the Eagles to a 21-20 upset victory over No. 17 North Carolina State at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Morehead accomplished 29-of-48 passes for 330-yards and three touchdowns with two picks towards the Wolfpack. He completed the season with 1,257 yards on 115 completions with 10 touchdowns and 6 picks.
“Emmett will start and I thought had a good camp,” mentioned BC coach Jeff Hafley throughout his weekly information briefing on Monday on the Yawkey Center.
Despite all his {qualifications}, the 6-5, 235-pound, redshirt sophomore from Woodside, Calif., didn’t declare the beginning job by default. Thomas Castellanos, a 5-10, 195-pound sophomore switch from Central Florida, displayed his formidable dual-threat capabilities to be a critical contender within the run-up to the season opener.
The phrase out of coaching camp was that Castellanos ran some performs higher than Morehead and was seen as a situational soccer choice greater than a traditional back-up, regardless of seeing restricted enjoying time at UCF. Castellanos appeared in 5 video games and accomplished 9-of-16 passes for 75 yards.
“Thomas came in and in a short amount of time learned the offense,” mentioned Hafley. “He didn’t actually get right here till after spring ball so he had a shorter time frame to know the gamers and attending to know the playbook.
“It was a lot different offense than he was used to running. He did do a great job getting to know his teammates and showing some leadership. But, at the same time, he was able to grasp the playbook and the concepts. He’s a very talented quarterback with a very big future.”
Castellanos was a phenom at Ware County High School in Waycross, GA. A four-year starter, Castellanos threw for 7,710 profession yards, rushed for 3,681 and doubled down as a cornerback on protection.
Shuffling linebackers
SAM linebacker Bryce Steele was a giant contributor in 12 video games for BC final season. The 6-1, 232-pound, junior from Raleigh, N.C., registered 51 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks, a compelled fumble, and a fumble restoration.
Steele, Kam Arnold, and Vinny DePalma made for a strong trio on the again finish of the entrance seven. But Steele has been out of the image in coaching camp with an undisclosed ailment. Hafley mentioned a wholesome competitors developed between redshirt sophomores Jaylen Blackwell and Owen McGowan of Canton for the open place.
“Right now, Vinny and Kam will be the two (primary) guys going out with JB and Owen,” mentioned Hafley. “Whether we go base or have two linebackers or there in a substitute package, we have four guys there that we feel really good about. That will be the two deep as we are going forward.”
Captains named
Hafley introduced the 4 captains voted into management positions by the group. Junior defensive finish Donovan Ezeiruaku and graduate MIKE linebacker Vinny DePalma have been the defensive duo whereas redshirt senior working again Pat Garwo and graduate proper guard Christian Mahogany will characterize the offense.
“We had the team vote and those were the top vote-getters which is a good mixture,” mentioned Hafley. “You have a youthful participant in Donovan after which you may have some older vets.
“With Christian getting voted it kind of shows his maturity as a football player and a leader. Those are four really good football players, great people and great leaders that will represent us in a positive way.”
Coaching assignments
Hafley made a number of additions and upgrades to his teaching employees within the offseason and he offered an perception on how they are going to be deployed towards NIU. Hafley has elected to separate his co-offensive and co-defensive coordinators between the sidelines and the coaches’ sales space six flooring up within the press field.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Steve Shimko will report up prime whereas affiliate head coach for offense Rob Chudzinski will work the sidelines. On the opposite aspect of the ball, co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Sean Duggan will observe from the field whereas co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim might be on the sphere.
“We have some new coaches and we are sending some guys up in the booth this year on defense that we haven’t in the past,” mentioned Hafley. “We worked on all that in scrimmages and I’m excited for it because I trust the staff, they have done a good job.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com