LAS VEGAS - The era hasn't officially ended.

But the Wyoming locker room sure felt like a wake on Thursday night.

Players slowly streamed out in tears, coach Joe Glenn awkwardly called out the Cowboys and athletic director Tom Burman looked very much like a man wrestling with a difficult decision after a demoralizing 22-14 loss at UNLV.

The Cowboys are officially eliminated from bowl contention, incapable of finishing the season with a .500 record and likely starting to prepare for a new coach - though Burman reiterated any move wouldn't happen until after next week's Border War with Colorado State.

"We'll just talk about it at the end of the year," Burman said. "We'll sit down with Joe and make a decision one way or another and go forward."

All indications point to UW moving on without Glenn after six seasons in Laramie, and rumors have surfaced that Burman might have already contacted possible replacements - possibly including Gary Barnett.

Burman refused to comment when asked specifically about the former Colorado coach, but at this point it seems clear the Cowboys will be searching for somebody to take over for Glenn.

He seemed resigned to his fate after UW coughed up a second-half lead and couldn't come back when its turnover and special teams problems flared up again, holding court in a somewhat surreal press conference that featured some uncharacteristic criticism of his players.

Glenn never mentioned any specific names, but it wasn't difficult to figure out who he was talking about during the brief postgame comments.

He chastised quarterback Chris Stutzriem for his two late interceptions and accused him of trying "to do too much."

He pointed a finger at punter Austin McCoy for failing to help UW establish better field position and seemed upset at running back Devin Moore for his improvisations against a run defense that has been repeatedly gashed this season.

And Glenn openly admitted he was angry with his team when the season unofficially ended, even though the Cowboys clearly didn't give up when it appeared over two weeks ago or after falling behind in the fourth quarter.

"In spite of all this, I give UNLV credit," Glenn said. "I don't think they turned it over, they played a clean game, made plays over and over when they had to, couldn't stop them on the short passes, didn't tackle very well in my opinion.

"They were just better than us. It was a hard-fought game by both teams, but the best team won (Thursday)."

Other than the costly turnovers down the stretch, UW certainly played well enough to have flipped the roles.

And after last week's improbable upset at Tennessee, there was definitely a belief the Cowboys had corrected their season-long problems and could both earn a bowl bid and save Glenn's job.

The former is dead already, and the latter only seems to be needing confirmation.

"I hadn't really thought about (last week affecting a decision one way or another)," Burman said. "I was excited about the Tennessee win and hopeful that maybe we'd turn the corner."

Instead UW is stuck on the same old street.

Contact sports reporter Austin Ward at (307) 266-0634 or austin.ward@trib.com

Cowboys Tracker

THURSDAY: UNLV 22, Wyoming 14.

RECORDS: Rebels (5-6, 2-5 Mountain West Conference); Cowboys (4-7, 1-6 MWC).

NUMBERS GAME: The turnover problems that have plagued UW all season popped back up at the worst time, and Chris Stutzriem's two interceptions kept the Cowboys from climbing back into a game they led heading into the fourth quarter.

HE SAID IT: "We'll just talk about it at the end of the year." - UW athletic director Tom Burman.

UP NEXT: The Cowboys close out their season next week at home with a Border War clash with Colorado State.