Phil Jurkovec (born November 3, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. He previously played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and the Notre Dame.

Early years

Jurkovec attended

Pine-Richland High School Pine-Richland High School is a large public high school located at 700 Warrendale Road, in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Pine-Richland School District and is located in Pine Township. In the 2018–2 ...

Gibsonia, Pennsylvania Gibsonia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Richland Township, Allegheny County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, north of the city of Pittsburgh. It had a population of 2,733 at the 2010 Census. Its ZIP code is 1504 ...

. He took over at quarterback at Pine-Richland after senior

Ben DiNucci Benjamin Anthony DiNucci (born November 24, 1996), is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He played college football at James Madison and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NF ...

graduated in 2015. During his high school career, he had 11,144 total yards, 8,202 passing yards and 71 touchdown passes. As a senior, he played in the 2018

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

and was the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' Player of the Year. Jurkovec committed to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

to play college football.

College career

Notre Dame

In 2018, Jurkovec made his

debut for Notre Dame against Wake Forest. He came in late in the fourth quarter as Notre Dame was up 56–27 over

Sam Hartman Sam Hartman (born July 29, 1999) is an American football quarterback who plays college football for Notre Dame. He formerly played for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons where he became the ACC all-time leader in touchdown passes. High school career ...

and

Jamie Newman Jamie Newman (born December 1, 1997) is an American professional Canadian football quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Wake Forest before transferring to Georgia in 2020, ...

. He attempted two passes and did not complete either, he also ran once for seven yards to finish his only appearance of the year. The team went on to play, and subsequently lose to Clemson, in the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

. In 2019, Jurkovec appeared in six games for the Fighting Irish. His first appearance came against

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

in week two. He went one for two for 52 yards while rushing three times for seventeen yards as Notre Dame won 66–14. He had a career-high seven pass attempts and his first career

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

pass against

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

. He finished the team's 52–0 win going five for seven for 79 yards and a touchdown. On the ground he also ran for 42 yards on four carries. After not playing against

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

the following week he threw his second career touchdown pass against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Despite the team losing 14–45, Jurkovec came in relief for Book and completed 75 percent of his passes for sixty yards and a half of the team's points. He finished the year out playing sparingly against

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in the

Camping World Bowl The Cheez-It Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Citrus Bowl and the Florida C ...

. On January 8, 2020, Jurkovec entered the

transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

Boston College

On January 11, 2020, Jurkovec transferred to Boston College to join first-year head coach

Jeff Hafley Jeff Hafley (born April 4, 1979) is an American football coach who is the head coach of Boston College. Raised in Montvale, New Jersey, Hafley played prep football at Pascack Hills High School. Hafley was a four-year letterman (1997–2000) as ...

. Upon arrival he was named starter and remained in the position as he started ten games for the Eagles. He made his debut for Boston College against Duke. His first drive with the team ended in a touchdown run from David Bailey. Jurkovec would finish the game going seventeen for 23 for 300 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception as they won 26–6. After throwing for 300 yards against Duke,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

he became the first player in Boston College history to have four 300-yard passing games in their first five career starts, while also being the first quarterback to have four or more 300-yard games in an entire season since Matt Ryan. He had a career-high 358 passing yards, three touchdowns, and a longest touchdown pass of 77 yards in an overtime win over Pittsburgh. Against

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, he started fifteen of nineteen for 203 yards before exiting the game with a lower leg injury that would cause him to miss the final game of the season. In 2021, Jurkovec started the first two games of the season against FCS opponent Colgate and UMass. Against Colgate he threw for 303 yards and his season-high of three touchdown passes. Early against UMass the following week he completed three of his first four pass attempts for 22 yards before exiting the game with a hand injury. Jurkovec would receive surgery for his hand which caused to miss the next six games. Despite seeming unlikely to return at the beginning of the season, Jurkovec managed to return to the starting lineup for the team's game against Virginia Tech. In his return the team threw sparingly as he only managed seven completions on thirteen attempts for 112 yards and an interception. Despite that the team won 17–3. The following week against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, Jurkovec appeared back to his former self as he threw for 310 yards on thirteen completions in twenty attempts alongside 310 passing yards. After that performance he earned

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Quarterback of the Week, PFF National QB of the Week, and one of eight Manning Award Stars of the Week. The team would lose back-to-back games against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and Wake Forest, as Wake Forest held Jurkovec to 19 yards on three completions in eleven attempts, alongside two interceptions and a total of ten team points. The team's

Military Bowl The Military Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that has been played annually each December in the Washington metropolitan area since 2008. The game was originally held a ...

bid against

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

was canceled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Pittsburgh

On December 5, 2022, Jurkovec announced he is transferring to Pittsburgh.

Statistics

Personal life

Jurkovec is the son of Jim and Sara Jurkovec.

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio

Boston College Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurkovec, Phil 1999 births Living people American football quarterbacks Boston College Eagles football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Pine-Richland High School alumni Players of American football from Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Panthers football players