Despite opportunity after opportunity to beat a ranked Boise State team for the first time on the Smurf Turf, BYU lost yet another heartbreaker by a final score of 28-27 Thursday night.
It was a weird game filled with big mistakes by the Cougars and Broncos. Boise State was clearly the better team in just about every statistical category, but it just kept giving BYU chances to hang in the game. Boise State's quarterback scored all five of the game's passing touchdowns, including two for BYU. The Cougars faked a punt on fourth-and-19 in the shadow of their own end zone and the Broncos couldn't make BYU pay for that baffling decision.
Here are BYU's grades in yet another last-second loss to Boise State.
Offense
Simply put, the offense had every opportunity to win the game and couldn't get the job done.
Not having running back Jamaal Williams for this game hurt BYU a lot. While Squally Canada had a decent game with 88 yards on 21 carries, you can't help but think that Williams would have had a much bigger game.
Taysom Hill struggled with the passing game once again, finishing 21 of 41 for just 187 yards. But the worst unit on offense by far was the wide receivers as they dropped pass after pass. Nick Kurtz, in particular, had a horrible game, but several BYU receivers missed catchable balls.
When you finish +5 on turnover margin, you should win the game. The offense had great field position several times and couldn't turn it into points. The only word that fits BYU's offensive performance is failure.
Grade: F
Defense
On the one hand, the defense deserves a lot of credit for creating turnovers. The BYU defense outscored the BYU offense by one point. Fred Warner's interception and subsequent return was the most impressive scoring play the Cougars have made all year. Dayan Lake is also making big plays as a freshman with a pick-six. Kai Nacua forced yet another turnover with a fumble recovered by Handsome Tanielu.
On the other hand, Boise State moved the ball at will for much of the game. The Cougars gave up 442 yards through the air and three touchdowns. And late in the game when the Cougars had the lead, the defense ran out of gas and let the Broncos score the go-ahead touchdown.
The pass rush for BYU continues to be a concern. While the defense did pick up three sacks (one intentional grounding, one by Sae Tautu and one by Trajan Pili), Boise State's Brett Rypien had all day to throw.
The defense did almost enough to win the game, but this wasn't a marquee performance by any stretch of the imagination.
Grade: C+
Special Teams
It was quite the mixed bag for the special teams. On a horrendous fake punt on fourth-and-19 from BYU's end zone, punter Jonny Linehan had absolutely no chance of making the first down. This was the coaches decision, but you can't let this one go.
That said, special teams did quite a few things right. Corban Kaufusi blocked a field goal that Nacua returned to midfield. Zayne Anderson recovered a muffed punt for the Cougars. Linehan pinned the Broncos inside the 20 five times.
Then there's the blocked field goal that almost ended the game. That one is more on the line than Rhett Almond as the Cougars allowed way too much penetration for a kick from just about any distance. Almond hit his other two field goals, but BYU missing the one that would have won the game hurts.
Grade: C-
Coaching
This coaching staff sure looked like rookies in this game.
Going for a fake punt on fourth-and-19 for their own end zone is unconventional to say the least. BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and the rest of the coaching staff is incredibly lucky Boise State somehow didn't turn that disaster into points.
Then late in the game, the coaching staff decided to punt on fourth-and-3 at midfield. The defense eventually got the ball back, but the clock management at the end of the game was curious as BYU decided to kick a field goal with 15 seconds rather than running one more play to get into better range.
Hopefully the coaching staff learned some things and won't repeat their mistakes in future games.
Grade: C-
Overall
Frankly, BYU should not have been in this game. Boise State beat the Cougars soundly in almost every statistical category. If you take away BYU's two pick-sixes, the Cougars lose by at least 15 instead of 1.
You have to admire BYU's heart in these games. There's no quit in these Cougars. But BYU had a golden opportunity to beat a ranked Boise State team on the road and simply could not capitalize.
Grade: C-
Lafe Peavler is a sports strategist for the Deseret News and KSL.com. Follow him on Twitter @LafePeavler.