So will any positive conclusions about Utah's offense.

On a strange Saturday when the Utes won 40-7, they also stirred questions and negative suspicions about themselves, and whether they're as good as people thought they were.

"We're not hitting on all cylinders," Kyle Whittingham admitted afterward. "We haven't played our best football."

More on that in a minute. First, the negative emotion.

It didn't work.

It led, in fact, to more embarrassment.

Not since "Moby Dick" and "Les Miserables" had payback taken such a severe beating. It got hammered straight through oh-never-mind and directly into the most infuriating state of all: total humility.

Try as they might, the Cowboys just couldn't put any kind of hurt on the Utes, no matter how badly Utah deserved it after Whittingham's infamous onside kick 11 months ago. It must really stink, getting dissed like that and then not being talented enough to make anybody regret it.

As much as everyone tried to play down the revenge angle - "A dead issue," Whittingham called it - it was definitely on the Cowboys' minds,

or, at least, in their dreams. Having a pathetically weak offense, and knowing it, they were pretty sure they had no chance to win this game. But . . . if they only could.

Why, I oughta . . .

Sit down and take another beating.

That's exactly what Wyoming did. It played the same way it has in its previous six games, getting smoked en route by Air Force, Brigham Young, Bowling Green, and New Mexico. The good news around here: The Pokes beat Ohio, 21-20, and North Dakota State, 16-13.

Yeah, this was not the day, month, year, maybe decade for revenge. Wyoming has desperately few offensive weapons, but - and here's the thing that worries the Utes - they still outgained Utah, 252 yards to 242.

Hence the questions and negative suspicions about the wholeness of the Utes. The defense and special teams were terrific, causing five Wyoming turnovers, and combining for three of Utah's touchdowns and two Louie Sakoda field goals.

Even though the Utes were never going to lose here, and even as they built a large lead, their offense limped home, raising a red flag for the future. It converted just 4 of 17 third downs and was consistently inconsistent.

Whittingham blamed much of that on the wind.

But, in the first half, before the wind picked up, Brian Johnson passed for only 28 yards. By game's end, he totaled 110. The ground game wasn't overly proficient, picking up 123 yards in 44 attempts.

"I don't know," Johnson said. "We've just got to go out and play."

Translation: We're in a world of pain right now.

And he's right.

The Cowboys are inept enough to have let Utah get away with its offensive indiscretions. But what about TCU and BYU? What about Colorado State?

Forget revenge, forget the wind, the Utes' biggest concern centers around their own precision, their own execution, or lack thereof, when they have the ball.

"It's a talented offense," Johnson said. "We just have to keep playing . . ."

He hesitated, and then continued.

". . . As long as you win football games, it doesn't matter what you do wrong."

It didn't matter Saturday. But it will at some significant juncture in the weeks ahead. Johnson knows that, too. He's been critical of his own play and frustrated by his offense's overall performance thus far this season. It's been brilliant at times, and mediocre at others, and the split has been about even.

He also knows the Utes, as a team, can blow past good, and be really, really good, maybe even great. Nobody is exactly sure, though, when that promise will be completely fulfilled and displayed. If and when it is, watch for an explosion. Multiple explosions in all of the proverbial three phases.

In the meantime, we'll have to wait and wonder.

On a blustery Saturday in Laramie, when Utah got another lopsided win, potential was left as undone on the one side as revenge was on the other.

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* GORDON MONSON hosts "The Monson & Graham Show" weekdays 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com.