QUARTERBACK: B-

It was a mixed bag for Bear Bachmeier during Saturday’s win. The sophomore signal-called showed some very good arm strength in fitting balls to receivers in tight coverage, most notably on a touchdown pass to Kyler Kasper. But he also threw a tough interception toward the end of the first half which affected the course of play during the second half quite a bit. His run production was very limited, although most of that is due to Arizona State running a double-spy on him during most downs which was afforded by the Cougars showing almost no threat of a ground game from the running backs.

RUNNING BACKS: D

The unavailability of LJ Martin, on top of Preston Rex sitting out the game with injury proved to be a big problem. Journee Tonga wasn’t a factor, and although Sione Moa did score on two touchdown runs, his eight carries for just 20 yards wasn’t nearly enough. Overall the group did relatively nothing to take pressure off of Bachmeier and didn’t come close to forcing Arizona State respect the ground game.

RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: B

There were some drops and a tough fumble committed by Kyler Kasper which hampered BYU’s ability to come away with a relatively easy win. The offensive play of the game was made again by freshman phenom Legend Glasker, who managed to take the top off of the Sun Devil defense to haul in a 53-yard bomb from Bachmeier. Walker Lyons showed productive with his five receptions for 49 yards, and although Roger Saleapaga flashed early, he wasn’t a factor after the first few possessions, and perhaps due to an injury sustained.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B-

The offensive line wasn’t the problem for BYU’s offensive troubles on Saturday, although the group could have afforded a bit more room for BYU’s running backs to operate. The pass protection was generally very good for a group that lost another top contributor in Trevin Ostler due to injury. Kyle Sfarcioc returning to the lineup was a big plus and overall the group was solid, but not dominating in providing wide open lanes for BYU’s struggling running back group.

DEFENSIVE LINE: C+

The pressure from the edge was very good, although the defensive interior was pushed around a bit more than anticipated as Arizona State freshman Cardae Mack ran for 123 yards on just 26 carries. Keanu Tanuvasa contributed a few standout plays, and was a force during some key situations, but overall it wasn’t the group’s best overall performance.

LINEBACKERS: C-

The fits weren’t there as much as they needed to be and the group again missed on too many tackles, and perhaps particularly middle backer Cade Uluave, who completely whiffed on a straight shot to ASU quarterback Jake Fette that instead went for a key first down during one of the game’s most critical moments. Overall the group was cause again for BYU coach Kalani Sitake again make a point of emphasis on improving tackling technique during the next week’s preparation time for Utah, which is certainly not where you want to be eight games into any college football season.

SAFETIES: B

BYU went with a three safety look of Faletau Satuala, Raider Damuni and Tommy Prassas for most of the game with Cannon DeVries subbing in for Prassas late. Satuala had a very good game with his nine tackles and was otherwise a strong presence out of the defensive backfield. Raider Damuni proved impactful, too with his overall play, and the group deserves at least some of the credit in helping limit ASU’s top receiver duo of Reed Harris and Omarion Miller to just five receptions for 41 yards.

CORNERBACKS: A

The BYU cornerback duo of Therrian Alexander and Jayven Williams proved the best unit on the entire team on Saturday. Not only did Williams provide lockdown coverage, primarily on Miller, but he also came through with six solo tackles. Meanwhile it was Alexander matched up with Harris, and limited him to just one reception for four yards. A lot was expected from both players given the matchup on top of the absence of Evan Johnson, due to injury, and they responded extremely well.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

One of the more underrated plays of the game was Matthias Dunn kicking through a 45-yard field goal late in the game. Dunn hasn’t missed a kick since an unsuccessful 47-yard attempt versus Utah Tech during the first week of the season. The kick and punt coverage were both good, and special mention goes to the unit successfully covering an onsides kick attempt late. The low point for the group was again some fielding issues on punts.

COACHING: B-

The defensive scheming was good, although there remained some surprising issues with tackling for a second week in a row with some of that culpability landing at least in part to the coaching staff. On offense Bear Bachmeier was clearly frustrated with some of the conservative play-calling from offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, and overall the offense did lack some punch while not proving creative enough to keep Arizona State’s defenders on its heels throughout much of the game, and particularly during the third quarter.