Arizona football: Kevin Sumlin spoils Khalil Tate’s talent

1. BYU might actually be good

We know that the first week of the season has a tendency to lead to some overreactions, however, there was a lot to take away from this game. The main thing that I saw, and the first thing we’ll talk about, is that BYU looked… pretty decent? After a 4-9 campaign last year, to say that my expectations for the Cougars this year were pretty low would be an understatement. Their offense, on paper, is pretty devoid of talent, and the while I expected good defense, I didn’t expect that good of defense.

We’ll start with the offense. Tanner Mangum wasn’t great or anything, but he looked more than capable of leading the offense, and actually made some pretty big throws, especially in the second half. The passing game was generally pretty good, and that’s a huge step forward from what it was last year. The rushing attack, led by Squally Canada was also pretty solid, and efficient enough to be worth doing, which it wasn’t last year.

Arizona’s defense didn’t look good for a lot of the game, but some credit should still be given to the BYU offense. They looked greatly improved from last season, and the change at offensive coordinator seemed to make a big difference. The stars of the show for BYU however were on their defense.

I was super impressed with how well BYU’s defense, specifically their line, was able to keep Khalil Tate relatively contained. We’ll talk about some things that may have helped with that in a minute, but once again, BYU should get some credit here. They were generally pretty awesome in coverage and got good pressure on a quarterback that is usually extremely difficult to get pressure on.

It’s too early to say, and there’s a lot of season left, but the early returns are in. BYU might be good.