BYU Football: Better, but Still Not Great Grades for the Performance Against UCF

Well, it was a win. BYU used a second half surge to slip past a pretty decent Central Florida team 24-17.

The point total represents the Cougar’s highest of the season, and the win comes at a time BYU absolutely needed it.

So the Cougars site at 2-2 after games against four tough opponents, with the softest part of the schedule now ahead.

Mama taught me never to complain about a win. But it wasn’t pretty in many aspects of the game.

And the grades will reflect that.

Quarterbacks: C-

Jake Heaps looked downright inept at times. There were a slew of timing routes called by offensive coordinator Brandon Doman, and Heaps was consistently out of sync with his receivers.

Sure, that may be the receiver’s fault, but the fact is, the timing is very poor right now and it’s making Heaps look bad.

But beyond that is the fact that Heaps still is all over the place in terms of accuracy. With a chance to take control of the game, the QB-wunderkind missed a wide open McKay Jacobson in the end zone on a pass 65% of fans in the stands could have made.

And all night Heaps was off. It resulted in just 133 yards passing on less than a 50% completion rate.

Wide Receivers: C

It’s hard to say there wasn’t separation from the DBs by the wide receivers when there were so few plays called that weren’t short timing routes to the outside.

When Heaps had the chance to look across the middle, there seemed to be separation, but there just weren’t many chances for the receivers.

And the Cougars losing Ross Apo early in the game to a concussion was a pretty big blow.

Heaps’ lone interception was also on the receivers who couldn’t get in the end zone all game.

Running Backs: B-

While the passing game was sputtering, at least the running game made some strides forward.

The backs were stuffed at the line on quite a few occasions, but overall the backs really showed some heart and strength, gaining yards when the holes weren’t there, and reaching for extra yards all night.

Brian Kariya probably earned himself some extra carries by punishing the opposing defense with strong down-hill runs which probably saved the game for the Cougars.

And four-plus yards per carry is a number the Cougars can live with—and should run with.

Front Seven: B+

With the exception of the first drive, this unit was stellar all night, especially considering they were on the field a ton in the second and third quarters when the offense was stagnant.

The Cougars limited the Knights to just 81 yards rushing on 34 carries, and that doesn’t include any big yardage lost to sacks. By comparison, this same UCF unit racked up 235 yards against Boston College.

Defensive Backs: C

After the dust settled, UCF ended up 21 of 31 for over 300 yards against the Cougars in a very efficient outing. The attempts were limited turnovers, but the Knights moved the ball through the air with relative ease.

Cougar fans were especially frustrated by the extremely soft coverage on the outsides, as UCF racked up yardage on short out-routes that turned into first downs regularly. Oddly enough, they were the same kind of routes the BYU offense was unable to gain any yards on.

The unit did get a very timely pick and tended to ratchet up the coverage when against the wall.

Special Teams: A

A punt return for a touchdown.

Punts down inside the 10.

Touchbacks on kickoffs.

After three weeks of suspect special teams play, the Cougars really put it together this week and had by far the best performance of the year in that area of the game.

Coaching and Intangibles: C-

The play calling on offense is still dreadful. There’s no way to sugar coat it. Offensive coordinator Brandon Doman continued to call timing routes when the quarterback and receivers were totally out of sync.

Additionally, the vast majority of passing plays were short routes to the outside which were continually stopped for very short gains or losses. Yet Doman continued to call these when the only passing plays which were working were crossing and seam routes.

And on defense the Cougars seemed content to let UCF march down the field on those same short out routes, but in the Knight’s case they were good for 10 yards at a time.

And the use of Riley Nelson passing on a critical fourth down in the first half was just plain foolish.

There’s still a ton wrong with this team, and we’re four weeks into it without any sign Bronco and Brandon are righting the ship.