BYU Football: Grading the first half of the 2018 season

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TUCSON, AZ – SEPTEMBER 01: Running back Squally Canada #22 of the Brigham Young Cougars scores on a one yard rushing touchdown against the Arizona Wildcats during the first half of the college football game at Arizona Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

The Offense – C

Two games keep the offense from dropping down near a failing grade. Their performance against Arizona and Wisconsin gave Cougar fans hope that the offense was turning around. They dominated the line of scrimmage and established a power running game, allowing Tanner Mangum to take advantage of play action passes.

But the offense has been a shell of itself since the Wisconsin game. Sure, they scored 30 points against McNeese State, but that’s an FCS team and the Cougars took advantage of turnovers for a majority of their points.

The run game has disappeared in the last two games. The offensive line has been beaten badly in protection, and they haven’t been able to open holes to get the run game going.

Offensive Coordinator Jeff Grimes finally let Mangum loose against Utah State to air the ball out, but with no running game to compliment the air attack it was still largely ineffective.

No wideout has stepped up to become a reliable target, and there are no big-play weapons on the offensive side of the ball.

Grimes is going to have to find a solution that keeps the passing game open while finally getting a steady running game back on track.

And that’s a lot easier said than done.

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