Full disclosure, I was covering Merrimack/Stonehill for my NEFJ site today and didn't see the game live. However, I did go back and watch most of it once I got home, so I'm not completely talking out of my rear end here, although many probably think I do regularly anyway.

Here are my biggest takeaways heading into the bye after watching the recording of this one...

1. 3-3 is far better than what could have been

Given how it seemed like this team was going to lose to UVA for a half last week and how putrid they looked against NIU and to an extent Holy Cross, it's certainly better than the alternative. The biggest thing here is that the team is still playing for Hafley when they easily could've folded the tents after the Louisville butt kicking. The old saying goes you are what your record is and heading into the bye, BC is an average team, which is pretty much what the fan base thought it was to start the season.

2. Do whatever you can to keep Castellanos here

BC hasn't had a true superstar since like, Matt Ryan. Zay was, but the team was terrible last year and his hype really didn't start until the draft process. Teams are going to be calling Castellanos off the hook in the offseason to get him back in the portal. This school needs to do whatever it takes to keep him. If that means building him a house on campus, do it. Not just because of the four rushing TD's today and the game-winning drive, but clearly his teammates LOVE playing for and with him. If he stays, you will get other guys in the portal wanting to play with him. There is no one else on this roster that has the pull he will have. Superstar is a bit much right now, but his value to the program could go far beyond the field.

3. Defense shows up early, falters in second half

Well, that was the complete opposite of the performance last weekend now wasn't it?. To their credit, holding Daily to 99 yards rushing is pretty good. Army's other two top rushing performances were 31 yards and 21 yards. The weather obviously played a huge factor in the passing game so the secondary wasn't really tested, but aside from a few hiccups that allowed Army to hang around far more than they should have, it's actually hard for me to find fault in the performance. Tackling early was good, not so much in the second half but again, they found a way to win the game.

4. Possession time dominance

During the week, Hafley talked about how much Army likes to milk clock and keep its defense fresh. Well, the Eagles held the ball for 33:35 to Army's 25 minutes and change. Not too shabby. The Eagles also held the Black Knights to just 12 total first downs. Obviously, I'm signing a different tune here if they ended up choking this game away, but the numbers bear out that the Eagles did sort of control things until the Army run in the third quarter and that score with 11:43 left in the game that put BC in a 24-20 hole.

5. Garwo's back

111 yards on 14 carries after 90+ on 23 last week. I will absolutely take another victory lap on the O-line here and it seems like as a team, that running game is starting to heat up. 61 total carries between everyone for 336 yards. That's the BC we all know and love. The biggest part here is that with throwing the ball totally out the window, Army knew it was coming and still had trouble stopping it. That bodes well for the RB room's confidence going forward, particularly Garwo.

6. Penalties down again

Three calls for 25 yards. This program deserves an award for a day like that given how bad it was early in the season. For everyone wondering if the players were tuning the staff out, that's clearly not the case since it's been MUCH better the last few weeks. Hopefully it continues.

7. The lack of step-on-the-gas awareness is still worrisome

Up 13-3 at the half this game should have been like a 24-point win at least. BC still doesn't have that killer instinct until their backs are against the wall. That's a dangerous game to play.

8. So, who is this BC team?

I do think they'll be 5-3 after the next two games, but the bye week comes at a perfect time for them. It's hard to know exactly if this is a seven-plus win team or they'll revert back to old ways and end up .500 or worse. Still, like I said earlier, given how people felt about things the first few weeks, this team has far more fight than I think many of us may have thought. Seeing them play from ahead was a welcome change too, now if they can just put it all together for 60 minutes, this might be one hell of a turn around when we're making flight plans for a bowl game in December.