BYU showed a lot of very good things tonight in the 30-6 win over Wazu. There is also a bit of work to do if BYU is going to "maximize their potential" as Bronco would say. But first, I wanted to offer some first impressions.
Offensive Line
The offensive line is slim. I have never seen BYU's OL as skinny as it was. Now, I didn't see improved play, necessarily, but they sure looked different from what BYU fans have become accustomed to. We usually see some big, fat slow, but very strong, dudes. Tonight, BYU showcased slim slow dudes that didn't seem to get much "push."
Front 7
The front 7 on D is as good as advertized. Van Noy is just smart. The way he flows around out there is amazing. He knows where to be, he gets there in a hurry, and he makes sure no one forgets he was there. The DL did exactly what they needed to do: keep Tuell moving around all night. He was never comfortable back there (Leach didn't earn his paycheck tonight: Tuell shouldn't have seen a snap in the 4th quarter). The DL didn't make many plays, but they dictated where the ball was going on many occasions. The LBs sure made plenty of plays though, which is exactly the game plan against a team like Wazu. They missed a few plays too, but, for the most part, they did phenomenal.
Defensive Backs
The DBs are better. They are faster, they are physical, and...they still can't catch. Sorensen looked good, particularly in the first half. Jordan Johnson played the out route perfectly and picked it off: BYU fans haven't seen that since 1996, maybe?
WRs/TEs
There are a lot of guys that can catch the ball. Friel was a nice target for Riley Nelson and Taysom Hill. I suspected the TEs would get worked in a lot more early in the season. Skyler Ridley showed some toughness (though I bet he'll be sore in the morning!). Apo still doesn't quite know how to go get the ball, but he played solid. I'm guessing Hoffman will be OK, I certainly expect to see him by the Utah game. There were no drops, which was a big difference from the past two seasons.
Looking Ahead
Final first impression: Pac 12 refs are awful. BYU fans will have to suffer through them two more times. It was pathetic. BYU had at least 80 yards in totally bogus penalties (which consequently gave Wazu their 6 points: without those, it's a shutout). They also missed a few obviously holds and pass interferences (a few on BYU as well).
What were your first impressions?
"Final" Initial Thoughts
Let me preface this by saying, Wazu is not going to be a very good team. There is a reason most people put them around 100 out of 124 FBS teams. BYU did what it should have done: move the ball and prevent Wazu from moving it in bunches.
Defense
Now, with that said, BYU is a very good team. That D frustrated some decent, experienced offensive players for Wazu. Wazu essentially quit midway through the third. To hold Mike Leach to 5 yards per ATTEMPT and 7.6 yards per completion is impressive. In 10 rushing attempts, Wazu only gained 5 yards one time, netting 13 total yards in all. The D looked a LITTLE undisciplined at times, but at least 4 of those penalties and 60 of those penalty yards were just awful officiating. Still, I don't think BYU fans could have asked for any more tonight from the D.
Offense
The offense didn't really seal the deal in the red zone, but I think that was more on Doman than on the O. The rushing attack wasn't great. There weren't many holes, particularly on the right side. That's OK, b/c the left side had some poor play in pass protection so there's room for improvement on both sides. I would have liked to see Pritchard a bit more in the rushing attack, and Foote looked athletic. I have no complaints about the WRs and TEs who did a solid job. Nelson played well, with really only two bad plays all night, which is great for a man with his skillset and mindset in the opener. The O should probably have scored 40+ tonight, but again, I don't think Doman did a great job in the red zone: he got too cute yet predictable. First down was a run. Second down was a pass. Third down was a QB rollout with "flood" patterns to give Riley the option to throw or run. And the option wasn't working all night, why would it work in the red zone? Alright, enough, Doman will get it together for Weber State...
Special Teams
Special teams wasn't awful. They had four kickoffs that were covered well. Two of them weren't covered well at all, though one was called back on a hold. Riley did a decent job punting. Both times. He had one punt that was a bit low without much hang-time, which ended up getting returned 17 yards. He did miss one chip shot field goal, but hey, he's a punter: 3-4 on FGs isn't bad. He should have been 1-1 on FGs and 6-6 on XPs.
Grades
With as average as some of the aspects of BYU's game were, they still beat a BCS opponent by 24 points on ESPN. I'll have to go back and watch it again to give more well-thought out grades out, but initially, I'd give the following.
QBs: A- Could have been better at times, particularly with "scrambling," but completing over 70% and throwing for 300+ yards combined is great. I'll take that all season long.
RBs: B+ Very few broken tackles or yards after contact. They seemed to cut back inside too much on plays called outside and cut outside too much on plays called inside. I expect (and suspect we'll see) more from this unit in the future.
WRs/TEs: A Would have liked to see more from the group in the open field, perhaps, but can't remember anything specific to downgrade them. They responded very well after Hoffman went out. It looks like BYU found a fourth WR, but don't ask me who the 5th is! That's still a thin position for me.
OL: B- I'm not sure anyone can argue the point that this was the worst unit on the field for BYU tonight. With that said, they allowed only 2 sacks in 39 passing plays (well, probably more like 41 or 42, but I don't recall how many times Riley scrambled on called pass plays).
DL: B+ I know I just got done singing their praises; making Tuell move around a lot was big. However, they had opportunities to get him down on the ground though and whiffed, with a couple of completions resulting. They need to finish plays better.
LBs: A- They didn't do as well as I expected in the open-field, perhaps a product of not tackling in camp. However, everywhere else they were phenomenal. Ogletree looked a bit out of sorts.
DBs: A- Wazu put a lot of pressure on them and they came through in fine fashion. They covered well. They tackled well. They moved well. A couple of dropped INTs from the group could have been costly for momentum. They kept most everything in front of them and let the LBs make plays.
Riley Stephenson: B+ The low punt and the missed field goal are really the only reason to downgrade him. He did make a nice tackle on a kickoff, but then whiffed another one. Those things didn't impact his grade, but I thought I'd mention them anyway...haha
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