Grading BYU's 35-32 loss to West Virginia


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LANDOVER, Md. — BYU’s hex on the East Coast continued Saturday with a 35-32 loss to West Virginia at FedEx Field, a neutral-site game played at the home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins.

BYU scored the most points of the season, including nearly double the total outage from a 17-14 home loss to UCLA just a week ago.

There were plenty of issues all around, but perhaps the offense shouldn’t shoulder the majority of the blame for a losing effort.

Here’s how the Cougars graded out as they fell to 1-3 in the Kalani Sitake era.

Offense: B

At last, an offense. It wasn’t perfect — three interceptions by Taysom Hill isn’t a high point. But the offensive side moved the ball 521 yards, gained 27 first downs and completed 10-of-15 third downs.

Jamaal Williams rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way for an offense that at times simply needed to get out of its own way as much as avoid West Virginia’s defenders.

The fifth-senior from Fontana, California, ran the ball seven times for 46 yards in BYU’s 12-play opening-scoring drive, capped by Mitchell Juergens’ first touchdown reception of the year.

Williams’ 101 rushing yards in the first quarter would have surpassed single-game marks in all but 11 contests of his BYU career.

After completing five of his first six passes, including a touchdown, Hill threw a pick-six that Rasul Douglas ran back 54 yards for a touchdown to put West Virginia up 21-10.

BYU quarterback Taysom Hill (7) runs away from West Virginia linebacker Sean Walters (27) play West Virginia at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
BYU quarterback Taysom Hill (7) runs away from West Virginia linebacker Sean Walters (27) play West Virginia at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

Defense: C+

Mountaineer quarterback Skyler Howard was perfect on his first drive, completing 8-of-8 passes for 79 yards before Rushel Shell ran in the final 6 yards for a 7-0 lead. The defense gave up 88 yards on the opening series, and West Virginia (3-0) finished with 481 yards of total offense.

Howard hit six receivers on the Mountaineers’ opening drive, which consisted of five rushes to go along with his eight passes. He finished with 332 yards passing with a touchdown, and another 27 yards and a score on the ground.

But the strength of BYU’s defense, at least in the first two games of the seasons, was forcing turnovers — and the trend continued Saturday. Butch Pau’u pulled in his first career interception, returning it 20 yards, and that directly set up Williams’ 56-yard #BeastMode run that nearly went for a touchdown.

BYU forced four turnovers and four tackles for loss, but the offense couldn’t capitalize on short fields.

Special teams: A-

Garret Juergens had a 32-yard punt return, but BYU couldn’t make work of a shorter field after the punt to midfield. Just noting the effort here.

After the Mountaineers’ 21-10 lead, freshman Aleva Hifo took the ensuing kickoff from a step into the end zone and burst through a hole on the left side for 50 yards, the longest of the season for BYU. Matt Hadley added a 41-yard kick return to start the second half as well.

This game wasn’t lost on special teams, which continues to be a high mark of BYU’s 2016 squad under assistant head coach Ed Lamb.

Coaching: D-

When Williams was running as well as he did in the first quarter, offensive coordinator Ty Detmer capped off the Cougars’ opening drive … with a 25-yard pass play to Juergens for a touchdown. The same thing happened on the Cougars’ next drive: long periods of sustained running led to three downs of pass attempts and play action that prompted Almond’s field goal.

Players make plays, and coaches can’t control a lack of execution. But when a play is working, why go away from it?

BYU lost by three points, which may be disingenuous: the Cougars caught a break when a misplayed final snap gave them one second in the first half, and Almond smacked a field goal to go into the third stanza down 21-10.

BYU left two points on the field via missed two-point conversions in the second half, when Almond hit both PATs and both field goals he attempted in the game. Point-after touchdowns are coaching decisions.

Overall: C+

Just as the Cougars seemed to turn a corner on offense, several key defensive lapses and untimely turnovers spelled doom in their eighth loss in the Eastern Time Zone since 2010.

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Sean Walker

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