Defense Shines in Annual Jay McGillis Spring Game

By Jack Bergamini Assoc. Sports Editor

Boston College football head coach Jeff Hafley was not lying when he said the Eagles’ defense was ahead of its offense at the start of the 2023 spring season. BC’s defense forced six turnovers and registered six sacks in its annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Game at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, doubling the touchdown count of the offense that was playing with no pressure of real tackles or real scoring.

But Hafley was also transparent about BC not showcasing much of its new offense under offensive coordinator Steve Shimko due to the game being televised.

“Today was going to be vanilla,” Hafley said of the offense.

Make that vanilla in an extra large cup, as the Eagles didn’t score until the 9:33 mark in the second quarter when starting quarterback Emmett Morehead dropped an easy pass into the hands of Dino Tomlin for a wide-open 5-yard touchdown. That would be the only touchdown pass of Morehead’s day, and the signal-caller was also intercepted twice. Morehead finished 14 of 25 for 151 yards.

But according to Hafley, there is nothing to worry about.

“At the end of the day, I’m not gonna judge us off our spring game,” Hafley, who stood on the field behind the offense during the game, said.

“I think we ran four verticals like 10 times, we threw goal balls which we haven’t done much of all spring. We ran two different run plays out of the same formation. … If the defense didn’t have a better day, knowing the limita- tions of what we were gonna run on offense, then something’s wrong with the defense.”

In a game where the final score is perhaps the least important aspect— Maroon won 69–42, tallying points from a modified scoring system— sophomore cornerback Amari Jackson stood out most among the rest.

Jackson picked off Morehead twice, one being an end zone takeaway. The McDonough, Ga. native even made a cameo on offense, catching a pass.

“Details,” cornerback Elijah Jones said about his teammate’s play. “He’s definitely improved from last year.”

There were five interceptions in total and one fumble recovery in the game, with three of the interceptions taking place in the red zone—in part due to the second half being a

33-minute, running clock, situational gameplay style. Hafley said he was particularly impressed with how his defensive backs played—they recorded eight pass breakups—with a highlight coming from Jones’ one-handed, acrobatic bat-down.

Besides Morehead, four other quarterbacks saw action. Jacobe Robinson, who joined the Eagles mid