Cougar Center Grades: Ole Miss Game

OXFORD, Miss. — Like the trip itself, the wait for BYU to score on Saturday against the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford was long, but worth the wait.

BYU came away victorious in SEC country for the second time in school history (2001 Mississippi State), scoring 14 unanswered points to cap off the incredible win.

The Cougar Center crew will be posting their positional grades each week for every game in the 2011 season.

OFFENSE

Quarterback — Mitch: B Bean: B- J-Mace: B

Jake Heaps threw for 225 yards on 38 pass attempts in Heaps’ first game with Brandon Doman as the offensive coordinator.

Heaps was effective at times, but had his share of struggles. Heaps wasn’t on point with his screen passes, and lacked the touch on the ball he displayed throughout fall camp. Will this be an issue throughout the season? Doubtful. Heaps is going to be a great quarterback. Still needs to go through those growing pains to become great. In only his 11th start, winning in an SEC venue is impressive.

The exchanges between Heaps and Center Terence Brown were inconsistent, which did not help matters of offense.

Nice seeing Riley Nelson used in packages that we here at Cougar Center have been calling for the coaching staff to incorporate him in.

Running Back — Mitch: B Bean: B+ J-Mace: B+

“Juice” Quezada was injured in the game with a mild concussion. He is questionable at Texas. The loss of Quezada hurt the rushing attack. Q was very effective in the early part of the 1st Quarter.

Seniors J.J. DiLuigi and Bryan Kariya managed to rush for 91 yards. What else is there to say? It was a 91 yards that did enough to allow BYU to eat up the clock. DiLuigi did play strong with the football, which he has continued to improve on in his career.

This was the first non-conference win of the Mendenhall era where BYU rushed for less than 100 yards, but still came away with the victory.

Michael Alisa was a pleasant surprise in the receiving game out of the backfield. Iona Pritchard was a devastating injury during fall camp, and it left a glaring hole at Fullback. Alisa, the former Linebacker, did a nice job in his first game. True Freshmen, Austin Heder saw reps at Fullback as well.

Receivers — Mitch: B Bean: B J-Mace: A-

Six different receivers hauled in receptions during the win for the Cougars. Redshirt Freshmen Ross Apo, who BYU fans have been clamoring to see for years now in a Cougar uniform, led the way with four receptions for 46 yards and a the Cougars lone offensive TD.

BYU’s Wide Receivers had high hopes coming into this game with the Ole Miss Secondary as a big concern for the Rebs. The Rebel Secondary was better than many believed as the Cougar WR’s struggled to get seperation from the line of scrimmage.

JD Falslev had a nice game hauling in passes over the middle to move the chains.

Then the Tight Ends played a very nice game. Austin Holt and Richard Wilson combined for four catches for 44 yards. Finally some glimpses of life from the TE position.

Offensive Line — Mitch: B+ Bean: A J-Mace: A-

The center exchanges with Center Terence Brown and Quarterback Jake Heaps were far from perfect. But that was the only notable flaw in the Cougar O-Line. Ole Miss DE Kentrell Lockett is one of the premier linemen in the SEC, and Matt Reynolds kept him in check the whole afternoon.

Improve the center exchanges, which are vital to the success of the offense, and nothing to complain about going forward with the Cougar O-Line.

DEFENSE

Defensive Line — Mitch: A- Bean: B+ J-Mace: A-

Ole Miss has the biggest Offensive Line in College Football. The BYU D-Line fared very well against the talented Rebel line. Senior Hebron Fangupo had a great game in his Cougar debut along with Eathyn Manumaleuna who brought pressure in the backfield all afternoon in Oxford. The D-Line made enough plays to showcase BYU’s Linebackers.

Linebackers — Mitch: A Bean: A J-Mace: A

These BYU Linebackers lived up to every ounce of hype they were receiving. Kyle Van Noy walked away as the hero of the game with the sack on Ole Miss QB Zac Stoudt to force a fumble, leading to BYU’s go-ahead Touchdown for the win.

USC transfer, Uona Kaveinga made his name known with a hit on Ole Miss RB Jeff Scott that forced a fumble in the 1st quarter.

Jordan Pendleton in his first game back since the Utah State from a year ago, brought pressure off the edge into the Rebel backfield.

Brandon Ogletree was solid stuffing the run up the middle. He was injured in the game with a concussion. The play where the concussion took place was a scary moment. Helmet-to-helmet contact.

These LB’s are going to be terrific. Even if BYU has an injury or two, the depth is there. Spencer Hadley, Jadon Wagner, and Austen Jorgensen were making plays on Saturday that have a bright future in this program.

Secondary — Mitch: B+ Bean: B J-Mace: B

With the terrific play from BYU’s front seven, the secondary which was a concern by some, performed very well. Safety Daniel Sorensen did not display any missionary legs, as he was flying all over the field making plays. Sorensen recovered the fumble forced by Kaveinga’s hit in the first quarter.

Preston Hadley and Corby Eason were the starters at Corner but as the game progressed the Cougars used Joe Sampson over Hadley. Sampson was locking down Ole Miss’ young WRs at the line of scrimmage. Nice start to his Cougar career.

Special Teams — Mitch: C+ Bean: C J-Mace: C+

BYU has made a strong commitment to Special Teams, like no other season. The black socks with black cleats you saw BYU sport on Saturday was a commitment to Special Teams by the team. A new team flag is carried out of the tunnel, it is a testament to Special Teams with the vintage BYU logo. But BYU’s Special Teams unit was far from spectactular.

Shanked punt, missed field goal, and blown coverage on a punt return highlight some of the unit’s miscues. There were some positives as well.

J.D. Falslev, Mike Hague, and Jordan Johnson all did very well in the return game. After Riley Stephenson’s first shanked punt, he was on target the rest of the day.

Kicker Justin Sorensen can’t kick a ball from 70 yards out, but he needs to improve in his accuracy.

Coaching — Mitch: B+ Bean: B J-Mace: B+

2011 has been the most anticipated season of Cougar Football yet. For many reasons, Independence, the schedule, the depth on this team, and the new coaching staff.

Offensive Coordinator Brandon Doman called a conservative game from what many believe BYU is capable of offensively going forward. But the effectiveness of his playcalling was consistent, and BYU took risks. Something not often seen a year ago under Robert Anae.

Bronco as the Defensive Coordinator continues to amaze the Cougar faithful. This was the best defensive performance from a Cougar D since the 2009 Oklahoma game.