BYU Football: Grading the Cougars' Game vs. Oregon State

A win on the road, in October, against a Pac-12 team, after barely beating WAC teams is a good thing.

The Cougars beat Oregon State in Corvallis in somewhat convincing fashion, putting up a season-high 38 points and holding the Beavers to just 21 points on offense.

OSU isn't very good. But while the Beavers aren't exactly the Trojans, there were still plenty of positives to take from the game as the Cougas build toward a strong finish.

Let's hand out some grades.

Quarterback: B

It could have been a B+, had Riley Nelson not thrown the pick-six late in the second quarter (more on that later).

But overall, it was the best performance by a BYU quarterback since Jake Heaps in the New Mexico Bowl last season.

Nelson finished 17-of-29 for 217 yards and 87 yards rushing on 12 carries. Not prolific passing, but the way BYU is running the ball, he’s not being asked to throw 40-plus times per game.

Running Backs: A-

I only dock this group because it didn’t have a 100-yard rusher, but that may be a function of Riley Nelson’s running game more than anything.

The emergence of Michael Alisa is a huge boon to the Cougars who have a featured back who is shifty and strong and just seems to pick up extra yards on every carry.

The move of JJ Di Luigi, Bryan Kariya and Josh Quezada to situational and spelling backs will probably help them in the long run as well.

Offensive Line: A

Riley Nelson never really got sacked. And he sees openings and takes off running so much it’s hard to say he wasn’t pressured.

But the line opened holes for the backs and even did a great job getting downfield and blocking, making one of their best overall performances of the year.

Receivers and Tight Ends: B+

Cody Hoffman finally broke out. And Cougar fans should expect to see a lot more performances like Saturday’s for the offense’s featured receiver.

With good routes, good separation and great catches, he showed it all against the Beavers. If not for a dropped pass, wide open past the secondary, he might have had another 50 yards and another touchdown.

Ross Apo was MIA, but the ends and five-wide crew found openings and hauled in important catches.

Defensive Front Seven: B+

BYU is learning how much it missed Jordan Pendleton earlier in the season. And just how good Kyle Van Noy is.

With a stable of solid-to-great defensive linemen and the aforementioned insanely-good linebackers, BYU has a front that should stop anyone. Except Utah State.

Not to mention this squad forced three turnovers on three straight possessions in the second half.

Secondary: B-

There’s lots of talk that this group is better than they look. And they did knock down a few balls and make some great tackles in the open field.

But there is still a seemingly obvious lack of ability to close up coverage in 3rd-and-long situations. A problem that is lingering from all the way back to the Utah State game.

Special Teams: C

Another big kick return allowed wasn’t impressive, but Cody Hoffman continues to add some power and strength to the return game.

Another missed field goal has us still wanting to see the powerful and accurate leg of Justin Sorensen that was YouTube legend among Cougar fanatics.

And Riley Stephenson was only asked to punt once, and it ended up as a touchback and only netted about a dozen yards after a penalty.

Coaching: B

The move to make Michael Alisa the featured back was very good.

Overall, the play-calling has made Riley Nelson very effective.

But there are still issues. Nelson’s interception can be placed squarely on offensive coordinator Brandon Doman’s shoulders.

Nelson can’t make that throw, across the field, across his body. He never should be expected to, especially in a situation like it was called in.

And penalties on the offense are still killing drives, especially on the opponents side of the field in situations which would have made the game a blowout.

But overall, it was a solid performance and another step in the improvement of this team from OK to good.