But the looks in the BYU Cougars' eyes as they plodded out of the locker room at Romney Stadium on Friday night told a different story.

In a sloppy, penalty-filled scrum before 23,101 fans on Friday night, No. 8 BYU held on for a 34-14 win over Utah State despite scoring just 10 points in the final three quarters against one of the worst defenses in the nation.

Rarely have 20-point winners looked as disappointed as the Cougars looked, although BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall called the win satisfying and convincing.

"I think anytime you win a football game, it's satisfying," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "It's certainly satisfying for another win on the road and to win by a convincing margin.

"We can play better than we did, but again I give Utah State credit."

He ought to, because if the 1-4 Aggies hadn't turned the ball over three times in the first quarter - which BYU turned into 17 quick points - this one could have gotten very interesting in the second half.

The Aggies outscored the Cougars 14-10 in the final three quarters.

"There were a lot of plays to be made that we didn't make," Mendenhall acknowledged.

For three quarters, it appeared BYU was on its way to its third straight shutout, and despite the offense's sluggishness and inefficiency, the Cougars were looking like a team deserving of its lofty ranking.

But the Aggies got it going at the start of the fourth quarter, and with their part of the crowd chanting "overrrated, overrated" at the Cougars, they played with more energy and enthusiasm than perhaps they have all season.

A 40-yard touchdown run by Robert Turbin and a 5-yard touchdown reception by Tarren Lloyd turned the tide, and the Aggies almost put another touchdown on the board in the waning moments, but penalties erased both an interception by BYU cornerback Brandon Bradley and an Aggie TD run.

"They started believing, and you saw what happened," said BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen.

The fact that BYU had to play its starters the entire game - after the first unit rested half the third and all of the fourth quarter in its last two games - was a moral victory of sorts for the Aggies.

"We had more heart this game," said Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel, who committed all three of the first-quarter turnovers - two fumbles and an interception - and was pulled in favor of Sean Setzer, only to return and lead the Ags on the scoring drives.

BYU quarterback Max Hall threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions (for the first time in a game since last year at UNLV) and missed open receivers several times. He even picked up a personal foul penalty for shoving a USU player - teammates said it was in retaliation - after a quarterback sneak.

Hall took a long time before emerging from the postgame locker room, and like the rest of his teammates, didn't have the look of a guy who had just engineered a 20-point win.

"Bottom line, it was a battle," he said. "Utah State did a lot of great things to kind of confuse us, or whatever. Obviously, it wasn't our best day. I did a lot of things I wish I could have done differently."

Receiver Austin Collie was again BYU's offensive star, catching a 76-yard touchdown pass on the Cougars' first possession and finishing with eight catches for 132 yards and two TDs.

"The most disturbing thing is we didn't start fast," Collie said, although the truth of the matter was that the Cougars finished even worse.

Utah State coach Brent Guy said he was proud of how his team responded after going into halftime down 24-0.

"I told them it is a heavyweight fight when you are playing top-10 guys," he said. "You've got to answer them with punches. We didn't do that in the first half."

drew@sltrib.com

Storylines

IN SHORT: The No. 8 Cougars win their 15th straight game, but are sloppy in the process.

* KEY MOMENT: Brandon Bradley returns a fumble 38 yards in the first quarter to give the Cougs a two-touchdown lead.

* KEY STAT: Max Hall throws two INTs for the first time in 11 games.