BYU football grades vs. Oklahoma State: Cougars survive mediocre performance | News, Sports, Jobs

BYU football beat writer Jared Lloyd gives his grades for the Cougar position units and coaches for Friday’s game against Oklahoma State at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo:

Quarterback

Jake Reztlaff threw a pair of first-half interceptions and completed only 50% of his passes (13-of-26) but when his team needed him to come up big, he did. He finished with 299 total yards of offense and stayed poised when the game was on the line. His final drive was a masterpiece.

Grade: B+

Running back

LJ Martin had a career game, going for 120 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. Hinckley Ropati wasn’t bad either, tacking on another 47 yards (although his only pass attempt turned into a pick). This group carried a big load for the Cougar offense.

Grade: A

Wide receivers/tight ends

Darius Lassiter was the hero of the night, although as far as a football play goes he just caught it and kept dodging tacklers just as he would on every reception. Keelan Marion also made a nice catch and run for a score, but there really weren’t many opportunities for this group. There were a couple of drops they would’ve loved to have made.

Grade: A-

Offensive line

This unit surrendered a sack at the end of the first half but paved the way for BYU to gain 262 yards on the ground. It played a big role in allowing the Cougars to go 5-for-10 on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down. On the big TD at the end, the line kept a nice pocket to allow the play time to develop.

Grade: A

Defensive line

This was always going to be a tough test for this unit but it didn’t prove to be as up for the challenge as it wanted to be. Too often it didn’t lock up blockers or over-pursued, leaving the back side open for QB runs on the read option. There were also too many missed tackles.

Grade: D+

Linebackers

Jack Kelly had a sack and Harrison Taggart again led the Cougars in tackling with 11, but this group was too quiet for long stretches. Despite knowing that the Cowboys were going to lean on the run game, the linebackers failed to consistently get to the holes as Oklahoma State gained 276 yards rushing.

Grade: D+

Secondary

Tanner Wall was just a yard from a pick-6 but his grab of a Cowboy pass that was overthrown set the Cougars up for a 1-yard TD. Tommy Prassas also had an interception that BYU turned into seven more points. This group had to make a lot of tackles but wasn’t able to stop OSU on key third down passes late in the game.

Grade: c

Special teams

This unit again did its job, with Will Ferrin’s 41-yard field goal turning out to be the difference in the game. Sam Vander Haar put his only punt inside the 20-yard line (although he probably wanted it to be inside the 10) and the kickoff coverage was good. Nothing truly game-changing was done by the group but it was solid.

Grade: A-

Coaching

BYU came in knowing the Oklahoma State’s strength was running the ball and weakness was on defense. Although there were missteps along the way, the Cougar offense made enough plays to put up 38 points. But the Cowboys appeared to outcoach BYU with its run game and conversions in the fourth quarter. BYU’s decision to drop eight on a number of key third downs backfired and gave OSU the late lead, but the Cougar offense answered.

Grade: C