LARAMIE - BYU had two weeks to think about its last time on the field, a devastating loss to TCU in Provo.

On Saturday, the Cougars took out their frustrations on the Cowboys.

And how.

The score - 52-0 - only gives a glimpse of the domination the Cougars exerted on the Cowboys. From start to finish, the Cowboys were little more than a chance for BYU to get back on track.

BYU scored on its first seven possessions and held Wyoming scoreless, the third time this season the Cowboys have failed to put points on the board.

The Cougars left Laramie unsurprised - and unsatisfied.

"To me, this game wasn't so much a surprise," Cougar coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Maybe the score was a surprise, but how we played was really more of the identity of the team than maybe the exception."

As for the Cowboys, they were left to figure out how it all went wrong: how BYU's total offense was more than double UW's total; how they could allow Cougar quarterback Max Hall to complete 20 of his 22 passes; how they gave up 30 first downs; and how they could never mount any consistent offensive threat.

"Obviously my hat's off to BYU, they're an excellent football team," Wyoming coach Dave Christensen said. "They were much more physical than us today, by a long shot, much tougher today, by a long shot, executed much better than we did today, by a long shot. They were a million times better football team than we were today."

For the Cowboys, it was bad from the start. BYU out-gained Wyoming 175-0 in the first quarter and had 16 of the game's first 17 first downs.

Wyoming had some chances to earn back some respect, but those were wiped out, too:

n The Pokes drove to BYU's 7-yard line on its final drive of the first half but couldn't punch it in the end zone.

n BYU fumbled Wyoming's first punt of the second half, but the Cougars recovered; Hall subsequently led BYU on an eight-play scoring drive to make it 38-0.

n Tashaun Gipson's interception and 42-yard return late in the fourth quarter was wiped out by offsetting personal foul penalties; backup quarterback Riley Nelson ran in for a 10-yard score on BYU's next play to cap the scoring.

"I always expect us to come in and execute and do some good things," Hall said. "But we also had a ton of momentum and we had the momentum the whole game, and any time you have the momentum on your side, I think good things happen."

Even so, Wyoming was little more than BYU's punching bag on Saturday, nothing more than a way for the Cougars to feel good about themselves again after losing to TCU 38-7 on Oct. 24.

"It was rough with a bye week, having to wait," said BYU running back Harvey Unga, who led the Cougars with 85 rushing yards. "But we definitely were eager to come out here… We don't like to sit there and dwell on TCU, so moving on to the next one was definitely a good [way to] focus for us."

The Cowboys were just the unfortunate victims of a focused football team.