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“Back to the drawing boards,� he said.

The Wildcats lost their first home opener in 18 years, marring what should have been an exciting kickoff to the Kevin Sumlin era.

There was plenty of blame to go around.

Tate completed 17 of 34 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, but ran for only 14 yards on eight attempts. The rest of coordinator Noel Mazzone’s offense showed growing pains, too, which may be understandable given there are still 11 regular-season games to be played.

The UA defense’s problems seem bigger.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ allowed BYU, a team that was finished 118th in total offense a year ago, to control the tempo in the second, third and fourth quarters. The UA started strong, controlling the ball for 8 minutes 39 seconds through its first two drives.

After that? BYU put together two consecutive drives longer than four minutes.

“The time of possession, I think we were even or controlled it in the first half and we didn’t have the points to show for it and we didn’t get the defense off the field,� Sumlin said. “But it’s a team effort.�

BYU utilized pre-snap motions with tight ends and halfbacks, and its offense continuously picked up chunks of yards and kept ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s defense on the field in the second half. The Cougars averaged 5.5 yards per play and 4.3 yards per rush in offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ debut.

BYU’s offense held the ball for 15 minutes longer than ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ in the second half. The Cougars were 5 of 12 on third-down conversions for the game, turned a fourth-down gamble into a touchdown and delivered in all three trips to the red zone.

“They were able to control the line of scrimmage,� Sumlin said. “We couldn’t get off the field and when we did force them into third-down situations, they made plays and got first downs. … We just couldn’t get off the field.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s defense had its bright spots. Linebacker Colin Schooler registered a career-high 16 tackles, the most by a Wildcat since Scooby Wright III had 19 against UCLA in 2014. Fellow linebacker Tony Fields II added 11 tackles. The UA allowed 396 yards, 50 fewer than its per-game average in 2017. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s opponents averaged 34.3 points per game last year; BYU scored just 28.

But there’s still cause for concern heading into Week 2. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s revamped defensive line combined for just seven tackles against BYU. The Wildcats’ line finished with zero sacks and zero tackles for loss.

The addition of 6-foot-4-inch, 335-pound defensive tackle PJ Johnson to a line that included returners Dereck Boles and Justin Belknap was supposed to help the Wildcats deliver pressure on the quarterback. The return of defensive coordinator in Marcel Yates and nine starters — and Sumlin’s decision to keep the Wildcats’ scheme intact — meant the defense should’ve been ahead of the offense.

Instead, both looked lost at times on Saturday. Johnson, the heralded transfer, finished without a statistic.

Now, the Wildcats will turn their focus to their Week 2 opponent, Houston. While most will focus on ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s offensive line’s ability to deal with No. 1 draft pick Ed Oliver, a defensive end, the Wildcats’ defense faces a similarly daunting task. Houston quarterback D’Eriq King completed 17 of 24 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win over Rice; he also rushed for one touchdown.

Yes, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s defense is larger this season. Yes, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s defense is another year older. Yes, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s defense has the potential to be one of the top units in the Pac-12.

But Saturday proved that UA is far from reaching its potential.

“We gotta learn from this. All is not lost and we’ve got a lot more football to play,� Sumlin said. “There are some things we need to fix as a coaching staff and players, and the key to that is stay together as a team.

“We have to address those issues honestly as a coaching staff and as a team, and then move forward. The only way to do that is to not dwell on tonight and look at tonight for what it really is and fix the issues.�