Second viewing thoughts and grades: Wake Forest

Watching live I felt that the first half was great and the second half was equally terrible. That wasn't really the case. When the fear and emotions of the live broadcast are gone, you realize that a few executions issues, some borderline penalties and a bad fumble, ratcheted up the anxiety. But BC survived and won. Call it ugly. Call it unlucky. At least it was a win.

Offense: B

Murphy played well. It was one of his better days passing. There weren't as many errant throws and he made good decisions on his progressions. There were some open guys on broken plays, but once a play breaksdown, I think Murphy is running all the way. Given his skills that is not a bad plan. His runs weren't as explosive but they were still productive.

Hilliman's TD was great. It showed his power, speed and ability to make people miss. He ran pretty well and did a good job waiting for holes to open. Willis didn't get as many touches but looked good when he caught the ball as a safety valve.

Who knew Dudeck would have the best hands on the team? He did a good job getting open and holding on to the passes. It was nice to see Phillips finally get a big play (and hold on). Crimmins had a nice catch late. Alston only caught one pass and only had a few runs. I would like to see him targeted more in passing since everyone is focused on him during the jet sweeps.

The Offensive Line played well. We used a lot of pulling and power and the different pulling combos looked good. There weren't any big issues or breakdowns. Murphy mostly had time. They controlled the line. When Wake stopped the run it was more on the edges or just jamming the middle for short gain. Gallik looked good and Silberman keeps getting better.

As much as a I don't want Murphy to pass, the passing scheme is getting much better. We're more efficient and getting more big plays from it. In the second half when we needed an answer, we just picked them apart downfield. The other drives really died from penalties and Wake keying on the run. I thought Day called a good game and had a good plan.

Defense: B

The DLine did well early but had issues in the second half getting to the QB. Wujciak had a few nice tackles. Kavalec was productive. Gutapfel also looked good.

It wasn't the best game for the LBs. They missed a few tackles and didn't have great coverage. Keyes was fine but didn't get as much pressure as last week. Daniels was productive but not dominant. Strizak was fine.

Simmons play was huge. It ended the game and was in tight coverage. Sylvia played a lot in nickel and looked good. Brown made some plays early but then got beat over the middle later. Asprilla played well. Williams was good.

Early in the 3rd quarter Wake converted their first 3rd down. It was on a blitz. I don't know if that forced Brown to adjust or if he just felt like playing it safe, but we weren't as aggressive from that point out. We rarely used the amoeba. Instead it was a lot of 3-3-5. Wofford adjusted. I don't want to keep pointing the finger at Brown for the second half issues, but it is frustrating when BC cannot get off the field. In the end we held them to 17 and seven of those points were off a really short field via fumble. The D's scheme was solid. The second half was more a matter of easing off and waiting for them to eat clock and make mistakes. Which Wake did.

Special Teams: C-

I love Myles Willis and love his aggressiveness. However, that fumble was terrible. He needs to protect the ball better in situations likes that. Alston only had one return of note.

Howell's mistakes didn't cost us but they certainly added to the tension. The missed PAT was terrible. You've got to get more height on it. The final punt was a useless touchback. Howell's field goal was fine.

Overall: B

It is hard to be overly critical of Addazio's performance Saturday. You can question the coordinators, but the idea of the second half -- avoid quick scores on D and eat some clock on O -- is sound. The execution was a different issue. He made a nice call on the timeout when we only had 10 guys on the field for the punt. He also didn't seem to panic when we needed a stop. If we fix the Special Teams, this game wouldn't have been nearly as close.

Week to week I start to drink the Daz Koolaid even more. He's over the top, but the guys seem to buy in and we have yet to see Daz's emotions overtake his game management. The game could have slipped away, but it didn't. That's because of solid coaching.