BYU football reporter Jared Lloyd gives his grades for the Cougar positions and coaches for Friday’s game against SMU at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas:

quarterback

Jake Reztlaff didn’t have his best game, struggling to get the offense going and losing the ball on the first possessions of both halves (and throwing a block on a screen pass). He hung in there and made some good plays with his legs, but he clearly had a lot of improvement to make.

Grade: D+

Run back

LJ Martin started strong but then got injured, and Hinckley Ropati and Enoch Nawahine had limited success, although Nawahine scored a key touchdown in the second half. This group also failed to accomplish much in the passing game.

Rating: 3-

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Darius Lassiter made a great catch and run early in the second half that was one of the offensive highlights. Mata’ava Ta’ase scored the first touchdown of the game and made a great play after a whistle, while Keanu Hill made a two-point conversion. There were a few other plays, though.

Grade: C

Offensive line

Facing a good SMU defensive front, this group had a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes they made some great plays, other times they struggled. Not gaining two yards on two running plays wasn’t good, nor was a blitzer hitting Retzlaff, which led to the interception. But they did pave the way for Nawahine’s TD run on a fourth down play.

Grade: C-

Defensive line

This unit was aggressive and forced SMU’s offense into a lot of bad plays. Blake Mangelson managed another sack and BYU applied quite a bit of pressure while limiting the Mustangs’ running game overall. A trio of big plays accounted for a majority of the yards in the first three quarters.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker both had sacks, while this group also played a big part in limiting SMU’s running game. There were also some pass deflections, as the Cougars kept the Mustangs out of the end zone even when they pushed deep into BYU territory.

Grade: B

Secondary

Marque Collins made a key interception in the red zone and BYU failed to get SMU’s passing game going. There were also a number of key tackles by defensive backs who stepped in to help.

Grade: B+

Special teams

This group had to make some puzzling decisions on kickoff returns, although one made it to the 29-yard line. Punting was fine, with one of those becoming a botched kick when it bounced back to a blocker. Will Ferrin couldn’t get his 55-yard attempt through, but he did make the 25-yard attempt that gave BYU a late lead.

Grade: C+

Coaching

The BYU defense was ready to play and performed well for the most part, although the offense was very inconsistent. Some plays ended up being complete disasters, but the Cougars were able to recover and make some good adjustments. The preparation wasn’t perfect, but there were good things.

Grade: C+

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