Second viewing thoughts and grades: Virginia

I mocked Addazio when he predicted beauty. I guess I should be mocking myself now. I don't know if we can sustain this, but for two straight weeks, the Offense has dominated. Watching it back, I was struck by the talent on the field. We can question if it is being used well or coached up, but the size and speed is tough to deny.

Offense: A

Brown did nearly everything right. His deep passes were more accurate. He made quick decisions. He ran when he had to. It was also his most productive day. I thought his most impressive throw was the first TD to Sweeney. Brown sold the fake hard and then took an extra pause to throw a catchable ball.

It was going to be nearly impossible for Dillon to top last week. UVA wasn't going to let him either. But even with their determination to stop him, he still had some good runs. I love that he is very careful with the ball in traffic, yet can still use his arm to toss kids. Hilliman had a really nice catch. I also liked Levy in the mix.

Sweeney seems like a new man. Great runs after the catch. Slipping through coverage. I think opponents will start keying on him more. Thadd Smith made some nice moves on his TD. White looked very strong on his TD. Glad to see Garrison get back into things.

One OL guy who I haven't mentioned much this year, but who did play well this week was Schmal. He rotates, but seemed to get more snaps this week. He had some solid blocks and opened some holes. Monteiro had some balance or footwork issues because I saw him fall a few times. Petrula was good. Lindstrom was good.

The Offense had numerous issues the past two years and I pointed much of it at Loeffler (and Addazio). He deserves credit for this game. BC had some great calls against what UVA was doing. Even as they kept loading the box, BC had answers to get the play off and into space. As for other adjustments, I am glad the are letting Brown throw deep and giving him the green light to run more.

Defense: A

Ray played very well and got a big sack. Merritt and Smith had one of their better games stuffing the middle. Allen was good, although not an impactful as he had been the past few weeks. Landry was limited with his ankle.

Lamot had another solid game. He is getting more aggressive and attacking each game. UVA did not target Bletzer in pass coverage as some teams have done. He made some nice plays. Schwab was very productive.

Harris had his best game in a few weeks. Many tackles, good coverage and getting a foot in on that weird INT. Glad Cheevers got another moment after last week's big play. Torres had some tough moments on their one TD drive. He missed a tackle on 3rd down and got called for Pass Interference in the endzone. Moore and Yiadom were fine.

Reid kept it simple. In fact it was only after they built up the lead that you started to see some unique fronts and blitzes. My one gripe is that there were a lot of open spaces in the middle. I don't know how much was by design or Lamot being a little too aggressive. I think we better adjust or else teams will kill us intermediate passes down the middle. Also, there are still some tackling issues.

Special Teams: A-

The only nitpicky thing was that Walker let too many punts bounce and roll. The punts and kicks he returned were fine.

Knoll thankfully didn't have as much to do and was fine.

Lichtenberg was fine.

Schulze-Geisthovel continued to boot the kickoffs.

Overall: A

During the game, I wrote that the first half was the best half of football BC had played under Addazio. Nearly everything worked. The second half wasn't as clean, but BC did the right things. I was most encouraged that BC kept playing aggressively during the first few possessions of the second half.

I know BC fans and just casual college football followers are all trying to figure out what happened. I don't know if there is a simple answer. In my opinion it started with the offensive line a few weeks ago. Then Dillon exploded. In turn UVA sold out to stop the run and ended up exposed to big plays.

Now it is up to Addazio to keep building on this.