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Comparing Tez Walker to Phil Jurkovec is, well, black and white.
We all know the story of UNC’s ineligible wide receiver, although we don’t know his next off-the-field move. Perhaps he sues the NCAA based on comparisons to other players who are still on the field, like the quarterback the Tar Heels face at Pitt Saturday night.
Jurkovec, a 6-5 “super transfer,” is playing his sixth consecutive year as a college quarterback for three schools, starting as a 4-star recruit at Notre Dame for two seasons before moving to Boston College for three more and, finally, to Pitt where he is the Panthers’ 23-year-old starter mired in criticism.
Let’s be fair to Jurkovec, who played in only one game as a true freshman for ND in 2018. That was before COVID and scheduling adjustments turned sports upside down, so he entered his second season in 2019 as a red-shirt freshman. Jurkovec did not play much more (12 of 15 passing with 2 TDs).
He left South Bend for BC and started during what was to be his third season, but fanbases were limited in perhaps the strangest fall ever in college football with schedules being torn up and redrawn. On October 3, 2020, Sam Howell dueled Jurkovec at an empty Alumni Field in Chestnut Hill, with a combined 80 passes for 51 completions and 538 yards, 4 touchdowns and only 1 interception, despite getting sacked seven times in Carolina’s 26-22 victory.
Turns out that was Jurkovec’s “COVID season” that gave him three more years of eligibility, the last he is currently playing in Pittsburgh. The fan base is unhappy with his 47 percent passing stat, 4 TDs, 3 picks and 2.7 yards rushing. Panthers’ coach Pat Narduzzi says he is sticking with his sixth-year man.
Tell me, how does all that NOT make Jurkovec a two-time transfer, the so-called violation that is keeping Walker on the sideline?
For review and comparison, Walker never played at his first school, East Tennessee after injuring his knee over the summer. He transferred to N.C. Central to be closer to his family in Charlotte, but never played there because the school canceled the 2020 season and the following spring practice.
Thus, Tez was only a true freshman when he enrolled at Kent State, where he became an All-MAC wide receiver and legit NFL prospect after his second season.
Jurkovec was grandfathered in by the NCAA when changing its two-time transfer rule. Of course, that begs the question, why wasn’t Tez?
Featured image via Pitt Athletics
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“…why wasn’t Tez?”
That one right over the plate, hanging. Tez is at UNC. The NCAA got it’s collective a$$ handed to it by UNC and is now in the process of petty payback, because. The NCAA is corrupt to it’s very core and needs to be replaced.
My Double Naught Spy investigations have taken me to strange, foreign countries like Indiana and New Mexico, but I’ve never seen a stranger situation than the Tez one. I can’t believe a Hall of Fame Coach like Mack can’t get this resolved favorably. And Governor Cooper wrote a letter too? Maybe they aren’t as respected as we thought. I’m going to contact my mom (Pearl) and she can go to the NCAA office and yodel for them. That ought to do it. I won’t rest until I get this resolved!
Now let’s get some lunch. Granny fixed hog jowls, possum innards, and mustard greens!