GLENDALE, Ariz. — BYU’s 18-16 win over Arizona on Saturday night in University of Phoenix Stadium won’t be celebrated as the best-looking win on a day filled with college football surprises and scintillating games.

But it will be remembered as one thing: a win.

Maybe that’s all that matters in the end. But here is some of the good and bad from the Cougars’ first victory under head coach Kalani Sitake.

Offense: B-

Jamaal Williams and Algie Brown proved to be a formidable rushing tandem, which the Cougars fed well. Even sophomore Brayden El-Bakri scored on a 1-yard fullback dive in the second quarter.

Despite the dominant rushing attack, the Cougars failed to convert where it mattered most. Drives stalled regularly, receivers dropped balls, and Williams’ biggest run plays were called back by penalties.

Jonah Trinnaman saw his first game at the Division I level, and showed flashes of strong plays. But the American Fork High grad also had a costly block-in-the-back on a big run by Williams that nullified a near-touchdown and forced the Cougars to settle for a field goal. But when the offense needed a score, as they did on the final drive, Taysom Hill turned to Trinnaman. The wideout finished with a team-high 49 yards on six receptions with just one off-target pass thrown his way.

Defense: A-

The Cougars had six tackles for loss in the first half, including sacks by Butch Pau’u, Sae Tautu and Francis Bernard. Bernard, who recently moved to linebacker from running back, also picked off Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon as the Wildcats’ offense was finding momentum in the second quarter.

Fred Warner was everywhere in the box, and Kai Nacua and Michael Davis showed senior leadership in the defensive backfield for a key safety net.

BYU’s front-seven held Arizona to negative-12 rushing yards with six tackles for loss in the first half, and the Wildcats finished with just 328 yards of total offense, 80 coming in the final quarter.

The defense didn’t allow a touchdown until Nick Wilson barreled in for a 6-yard score with 9:33 left in the game to pull the Wildcats within five, 15-10, and Wilson’s second score came on one breakdown for a 49-yard run with 90 seconds left.

The complete-game effort prevents keeps this unit from getting a full A.

Special Teams: C+

Jonny Linehan booted a 50-yard punt to pin the Wildcats at the 1 in the first quarter, a play that was aided by Davis hustling on punt coverage to block the rolling ball. The ball striking and field position by the senior New Zealander was one of the few positives in the game’s third facet for BYU, though.

Garrett Juergens set up a touchdown with a 27-yard punt return, a rare highlight in the return game.

Backup punter Rhett Almond took the starting kicker job during fall camp, and notched the first points of the game with a 24-yard field goal. But the short kick just skimmed over the bar from the right hashmark. Points are points, but it didn’t inspire much confidence.

Almond also missed a PAT on the Cougars’ first touchdown of the game, his only point-after attempt of the game.

But Jake Oldroyd converted a 33-yard field goal with 4 seconds on the clock, masking the pain. All good, right?

Coaching: B+

Sitake’s first big decision of the night came in the second quarter, when the Cougars faced a fourth-and-1 call in the red zone. But the coach barely hesitated, handing the ball off to fullback Algie Brown for a 3-yard dive to the 2-yard line and a fresh set of downs.

BYU went on to score on El-Bakri’s 1-yard fullback dive on that drive, proving even more valuable.

Sitake also relied on his assistant coaches well; he turned to assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Ed Lamb for the call to insert Oldroyd into his first college game — and it paid off. He allowed Ilaisa Tuiaki to call his own game on defense, and it paid off.

A staff with little experience at the highest level was allowed autonomy to call its own game, and though there were some hairy moments, it paid off with a win in the end.

Overall: B

BYU opens the Sitake era with plenty to build on, but the key stat is still in the win column. They’ll take a 1-0 record into Rice-Eccles Stadium next week against rival Utah, where Sitake and defensive coordinator Tuiaki spent the bulk of their assistant coaching careers thus far.

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