CHESTNUT HILL - Where the hell did this come from?

Out-gained UNC 420-212 (including garbage yards late).

Held UNC to 3-13 on third down while going 7-15.

Held the 2nd best back in the country to 53 yards on 11 carries.Won the turnover battle 3-1.Held the ball for 37:48 to UNC's 22:12.

Complete and utter dominance. Here's what stood out...

-I'm not going to be modest this week. This offense is so much better with James at QB it's not even funny. TC doesn't make that throw to Harris and sure as hell doesn't throw for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Even the third down throws where he either steps up or just slides around to by himself time - or just says F it and scrambles like Tommy did - the more he plays the better he's getting. I still believe they'll dip into the portal at QB, but if it continues to look like this you can go into 2025 feeling very good about him as QB1

.-Defense was outstanding today. I was very skeptical they could slow down UNC, but it was as relentless a performance as I think we've seen in quite some time. To hold Hampton to just 53 yards (and UNC had 36 as a team with losses and sacks) is damn impressive. Joe Marinaro deserves a lot of credit for stepping up at the extremely thin LB position too. Fantastic game for him.

.-So, special teams was...meh? I mean, you obviously gave up the kick off return TD, but you also got two field goals and a great punt return from Farris. It's been so bad that you've got to allow the good to outweigh the bad at this point. Changes still need to be made there and a lot needs to be done recruiting wise and schematically, but today could have been way worse.

-228 yards rushing as a team. Great stuff. Kye had 23 and 93 while Jordan McDonald added 10 for 52. Grayson had 10 for 38 and the TD and even Montague had the end around rush for a TD.

-FINALLY, a receiver actually led the team in receiving. Bond had 9 for 81 while Harris had 3 for 76. Baby steps for that group as they continue to gel with Grayson. Again, we're getting glimpses of what COULD be moving forward.-Aside from the Marinaro whiff in the first half I thought this was the best this team has tackled maybe all year long too. Especially on third downs when UNC appeared to be there or about to get it, guys wrapped up to keep them short. BC had 33 total tackles, but eight were for a loss. That's a pretty good number.

Just an ideal performance in a 'gotta have it' spot. Pitt's struggling with Louisville right now, which means that finale next weekend may be a little more winnable than it looked a couple weeks ago. If BC can get to 7-5 (yes, I know it's still well below expectations), they should have a pretty respectable bowl compared to the Fenway facade last year.

Perhaps most importantly, there's signs of growth and some things that could turn around heading into 2025 already after a performance like this.