The Cougars picked up yet another dramatic season-opening win over Arizona, winning 18-16 off a last-minute field goal. It was an encouraging start for Kalani Sitake and BYU's new coaching staff.
The Cougars had their moments on all sides of the ball, but they also had their mistakes and mental lapses. Here's BYU's grades for their win against the Wildcats:
Offense
Yea, I'll be watching a lot of #BYU this year. This kid @jswaggdaddy shows it all in this one run #BYUvsAZ pic.twitter.com/kMbP8RwAdx
— eric veal (@gcsuballer) September 4, 2016
BYU's offense was methodical but not terribly flashy against the Arizona defense. Jamaal Williams had a solid return as the Cougars' feature back with 162 yards on 29 carries for the night. Taysom Hill looked more like a pocket passer than his dangerous dual-threat self from years past, but he made plays with his feet when he needed to. The Cougars spread the ball out to eight different receivers for 202 yards and a touchdown.
BYU will need to work on finishing drives and getting points off long drives, but it did enough to get the win. Even more encouraging, the Cougars had no turnovers on the night.
Grade: B
Defense
The BYU defense did a solid job for three quarters containing the potent Arizona offense, then things got a bit dicey at the end. They held the Wildcats to 115 yards rushing and 328 yards of total offense.
Converted running back Francis Bernard looked right at home as a linebacker, making a pick and a sack in his defensive debut. Corbin Kaufusi also made a sack after taking his brother's place on the defensive line. Kai Nacua also made a pick at a critical time.
The defense ran out of gas toward the end, and it will need to work a bit on finishing strong. But all in all it was a good night.
Grade: B
Special teams
On the positive side, Jonny Linehan did a phenomenal job of pinning teams deep. Two of his punts were downed inside the 5-yard line, and it could have easily been five, but three rolled into the end zone for touchbacks without a BYU player being able to get there to down it.
But the field goal kicking unit needs a lot of improvement. Rhett Almond made an ugly-looking 24-yard field goal and missed an extra point badly in the first half. The Cougars also failed on a 2-point conversion on their second touchdown, placing the Cougars in a precarious spot at the end of the game.
Video: Freshman Jake Oldroyd hits the 33-yard game-winning field goal for @BYUfootball vs. Arizona pic.twitter.com/AxExB1L17T
— Brandon Judd (@brandonljudd) September 4, 2016
That said, Jake Oldroyd came in with the game on the line and drilled the winning field goal with four seconds left in the game. We'll see if he'll take over kicking duties from here on out. While that improves the special team's grade, it doesn't change the fact that missed extra points put BYU in danger in the fourth quarter.
Grade: C+
Coaching
Kalani Sitake and the coaching staff had to install a brand-new offense and defense, and for the most part it went well. While there were a few hiccups on both offense and defense, the players knew the new schemes and for the most part executed them well. There were perhaps a couple conservative play calls when BYU was up, but the winning drive play calls worked well. There weren't any major coaching errors for Sitake's inexperienced coaching staff.
Grade: B+
Overall
The Cardiac Cougars lived up to their reputation in 2016 with a last-minute field goal to put BYU up for good. BYU has plenty of things to clean up on both offense and defense. That said, it has a brand new coaching staff and completely new scheme on both sides of the ball. Mistakes are to be expected, which the Cougars will need to clean up before they play Utah next week. Still, it was a solid win to start BYU's tough 2016 slate.
Grade: B
Lafe Peavler is a sports strategist for the Deseret News and KSL.com. Follow him on Twitter @LafePeavler.