EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the most complete game under first-year head coach Kalani Sitake, the BYU football team went into Spartan Stadium and stunned Michigan State 31-14.

Jamaal Williams led a dominant rushing game with 260 yards, and Taysom Hill was the dual-threat quarterback he prefers to be with 138 passing yards and 38 rushing yards with two total touchdowns.

The Cougars (3-3) started slow but found a little momentum in the second half and made the most of it in true Big Ten fashion.

Here’s how the team graded out in the biggest win of the Sitake era.

Offense: B+

Michigan State’s defense had some deficiencies, especially missing key contributors along the defensive line in the first half as the Cougars piled up 155 yards.

But they also only scored three points on Rhett Almond’s field goal as time expired in the second quarter and Michigan State took a 7-3 halftime lead. Missed opportunities plagued a BYU offense that moved the ball but stalled in the red zone — including two failed fourth-down conversions in the first three drives of the game.

Team captains Jamaal Williams and Taysom Hill rallied the Cougar O in a big way, though. BYU posted more than 100 yards rushing on the No. 16-ranked rush defense in the country, and Williams finished with 163 yards and two touchdowns, and Squally Canada had a career-high 50 yards on six carries.

“I feel like he was the spark plug for this game,” Williams said of Canada. “The way he was running, I wanted to keep him in. You’ve got to keep that person in until they stop him. I’m proud of the way he was running.

“That’s my boy, right there. That really was my boy.”

Defense: A-

Yes, BYU missed a lot of tackles. The Cougars could’ve ended the Spartans’ first touchdown drive, but linebacker Francis Bernard whiffed on a tackle attempt against quarterback Tyler O’Connor on fourth down and the drive continued.

Still, the BYU defense stiffened up when it needed to. After the game-opening 72-yard scoring drive, the Spartan offense had just 39 yards on the next two possessions and finished the half with 105 yards.

Sae Tautu made his presence known after sitting out the first half with a targeting penalty, grabbing a tackle and a sack in the first four plays of his day. Tautu also combined with Travis Tuiloma to drop O’Connor for a loss of 9 yards.

“For the most part, it was just motivation to get out there,” Tautu said. “I was having bad memories from my freshman year of sitting on the sideline.”

BYU’s defense held Michigan State to 7 yards in the third quarter, and Michael Davis grabbed the first interception of his career after O’Connor was pulled for backup Damion Terry.

The Cougars held the Michigan State offense to 206 yards of total offense, and just 85 on the ground.

Special teams: B+

BYU’s punt coverage continued its strong start to the season, and Jonny Linehan booted a 45-yard punt to pin the Spartan offense when it may have garnered momentum in the second quarter.

It was solid but not outstanding from the third phase of the Cougars’ overall unit. Linehan never punted in the second half, and Garrett Juergens and Aleva Hifo combined for just two kick returns.

Coaching: B+

After the Cougars drove inside the red zone on their second drive of the game, Williams was conspicuously absent. After averaging 4.1 yards per carry, when the Cougar offense needed a few inches to pick up a first down on the 3-yard line, offensive coordinator Ty Detmer brought in … Algie Brown.

The fullback dive has its place in college football. But when something is working in the run game, it’s hard not to use a player like Williams when backs are pressed against the wall.

As much as BYU may have second-guessed its play-calling in the early stages, so did Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio. After completing six of his first eight passes on a game-opening touchdown drive, the lack of pass plays for the remainder of the half seemed befuddling.

If Detmer and head coach Kalani Sitake second-guessed themselves in the first half, they let it flow after the break. The Cougars dialed up 49 run plays to 18 pass plays, winning the game in true Big Ten fashion.

Hill looked more comfortable with his ability to run and pass, but also pass off the run using play action and rolling out — and that is a credit to Detmer’s pro-style offense.

Overall: A-

Sitake mentioned last Monday that he wanted his team to put together a complete-game effort.

Coaches will also find something to nitpick, and there were a few corrections that will be taken from this game. But BYU’s most complete game under Sitake leads to the biggest win of the first-year head coach.

“When you play college football, wins are hard to come by, so you need to celebrate them as much as possible,” Sitake said. “We plan on doing that.”

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