The Utes' 40-7 victory Saturday was a slow-motion train-wreck for the beleaguered Cowboys, who committed five turnovers and gave up 20 points off turnovers and a blocked punt.

"Their offense scored, their defense scored and their special teams scored," said Wyoming coach Joe Glenn. "Other than that, it was a great day."

The Cowboys, hoping to avenge last year's 50-0 loss, which included a third-quarter onside kick by the Utes, never gave themselves a chance in the rematch.

Utah's Sean Smith scored on a 25-yard interception return that made it 7-0 less than four minutes into the game, and Louie Sakoda's punting kept the Cowboys pinned against their own goal line throughout the first quarter.

"I am so sick of starting at the 8 and the 10 and the 6 and the minus-20 and the minus-10," Glenn said. ". . . It was a horrible wind day and that's when a guy like Louie Sakoda really helps. And their kickoff guy, they used the wind in the first quarter and really kept us deep in our own territory. Then, in the second quarter . . ."

Laughing, Glenn continued: "Then, in the second quarter, we get the wind and the wind quit blowing for about a half-hour. So the football gods aren't happy right now, either."

Utah owned a 13-0 lead in the second quarter when Aiona Key blocked a Cowboy punt and returned the loose ball 6 yards for the game's decisive touchdown.

"Their kid made a great play," Glenn said. "We have not had a punt blocked all year. We've worked hard on it and done a good job on it. The punt was off in 2.4 [seconds], which is good. The guy just made a heckuva good play coming right up the middle."

Wyoming played four quarterbacks in the game, a "carousel" that Glenn calls "crazy."

"We just can't keep turning the ball over," he said. "Karsten [Sween], I thought, was in a place where he could get beyond the turnovers. . . . But you can't beat yourselves. Teams are good enough without us trying to help them out. You play a good team like Utah and help them out, you are going to lose, 40-7."

Sween, a junior who is now 1-2 as a starter against Utah, seemed as baffled as his coach over another mistake-filled performance.

"I'm trying to make plays," he said. ". . . I just tried to play lights-out today and make things happen. I don't know what else to do. I don't have an answer. . . . I told the guys today, 'I'm going to play as hard as I can for you. I'm sorry about the turnovers, but I'm playing as hard as I can.' I can't apologize for that."

Wyoming, which had scored only three points in its first three conference games, snapped a Mountain West scoreless streak that reached an almost unbelievable 203 minutes when Greg Bolling caught an 18-yard touchdown pass with 7:47 left.

It was little consolation for the turnover-plagued Cowboys, who have lost eight of their last nine against Utah.

"It seems like 'Groundhog Day,' the movie," defensive tackle Mitch Unrein said. "The same thing keeps happening over and over."

luhm@sltrib.com