Second viewing thoughts and grades: Florida State

The team looked even more dominant the second time around. If not for a few plays here and there, BC could have scored 50 on them. In fact, this is one of those games where I feel like the stats don't tell the whole story. BC outplayed, outhustled and yes, out coached Florida State. It was fun to watch.

Offense: A-

Brown's stats should have been better. He had teammates drop a few passes. He also missed out on a potential TD when he had to come out. But he is looking comfortable in the pocket and is getting more accurate. His ability and willingness to run will also open up other things. Wade was fine as a fill in when Brown got dinged.

The game was low on Dillon highlights but high on productivity. Simple power runs off tackle or even on the interior work because his timing on hitting the hole is very good and he's tough to bring down. Levy caught just one pass.

Sweeney had some nice catches. Fortunately his drops didn't come back to haunt us. White's TD catch was nice. Jeff Smith made a nice throw. Smith also had a decent run. Thadd's run was just okay. He should have cut upfield earlier. It was nice to see Garrison catch a ball.

I know I've been nitpicky with Monteiro this year, but he played well. Lindstrom was also good at the other tackle. The guards moved well and everyone gave Brown time in the pocket.

Loeffler called a very good game. The TD was one of those plays that was perfectly set up by the previous reverse. We didn't pass much or pass well, but that wasn't really because of bad calls. Just a few drops and a good mix of run.

Defense: A

No Landry, no problem. Smith and Ray both had big days. Allen was fine. Merritt played well. If I have any concern about the DL right now, it is that the backups did not make much of an impact when they did see the field.

This was the Linebackers' best game as a unit. Schwab was everywhere and made an incredible INT. Beyond the INT, he seemed to show good anticipation. That hasn't always been so obvious this year. Lamont was very disruptive. Bletzer was fine.

The DBs were solid. The one large pass they allowed was sort of an outlier. Denis and Harris were good helping to stop the run. Moore played well. So did Yiadom.

I don't want to say the transformation is complete, but the shift in approach looks more and more effective each week. We are not running something derivative of Don Brown. If anything it looks more like the Spaz days...just with a little more blitzing and a bit more man. But we are not doing lots and lots of different looks up front. Nor are we blitzing at the same rate as last year or the year before. But the adjustment has allowed us to stop the big run plays. Now we clog lanes and the LBs are more likely to make the tackle. Reid deserves credit. When it looked like the defense was dead, he put together two solid game plans in ACC play.

Special Teams: B+

This FG attempt wasn't even close.

The punt coverage team was great and really helped BC build the lead.

Four out of six of the kickoffs were touch backs.

Knoll's punting was good.

Overall: A

I have my theories on what happened to this team, but I would love to hear Addazio's explanation. He believed this blossoming was coming when no one else did. I was one of the many mocking him for his "beautiful" comments. In fairness, the past two games have been beautiful. Much of this can be attributed to maturation, but I still think it all starts up front with the Offensive Line. That was Addazio's background and that has been his calling card. So, he deserves much of the credit.

As for managing this particular game, it was good to stay aggressive on Florida State in the second half. He also deserves credit for keeping the team focused and not letting the win streak or the leads get to them.

Now he has a break. That's not always good for a hot team. Hopefully he can keep everyone focused and keep this rolling.