It may not have been the biggest college football scene, but it was one of the most picturesque.

Due to an unforeseeable circumstance, I got to see my first University of Wyoming home football game in 40 years on the big screen in my easy chair at home when UW took on No. 3 Boise State Saturday in War Memorial Stadium.

A perfect evening for football, a full house decked out in yellow. Wow, what a scene, and CBS College Sports did a great job in presenting it for all the country to see.

It was an athletic director’s and head coach’s dream. Tom Burman and Dave Christensen couldn’t have asked for more.

And then the game began, and all the wonder and anticipation turned into a nightmare for Burman, Christensen, the Cowboys and a near capacity crowd of 29,014.

First and foremost, Boise State was everything it was cracked up to be. The Broncos are a nice blend of experience, power and speed. They also have a well-designed system on both sides of the ball and are well coached.

It’s a program to be envied and what every so-called mid-major strives to be: in a position to compete at a high wow power leveling  and more than hold its own against the BCS power schools.

The final line told the story:

Boise State: 51 points, 275 yards rushing, 373 yards passing, 648 yards of offense, 86 plays averaging 7.5 yards per play for 37:33 in possession time.

Wyoming: 6 points, minus-21 yards rushing, 156 yards passing, 135 yards of offense, 49 plays averaging 2.8 yards per play for 22:27 in possession time.

It was total domination from start to finish, and the Broncos didn’t take any prisoners, though Boise State coach Chris Petersen took his foot off the gas and went more to the run toward the end of the second quarter and the early part of the third period.

His starters spent most of the fourth quarter watching from the sideline.

There were a lot of forces at work in this game, and none were good from UW’s point of view.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference came up front: The Broncos dominated both sides of the ball.

The Boise State offensive line gave quarterback Kellen Moore all the time he needed to throw. As a result, he completed 20 of 30 passes for 370 yards and touchdowns of 58 and 49 yards. The only time he was touched was when UW was flagged for a late hit, negating an interception.

Meanwhile, UW’s Austyn Carta-Samuels was harassed all night and was sacked four times. He was flushed out of the pocket on virtually every pass, and time after time Cowboys running backs were run over in the backfield before they ever got started.

And Boise State was able to do that with pressure from the front four, making it easy to limit UW’s passing game.

The contest got away from the Cowboys early simply because they made too many mistakes.

Freshman Robert Herron dropped a first-down pass on UW’s first possession. Then safety Shamiel Gary muffed a sure interception in the end zone on BSU’s first possession, resulting in a Bronco field goal.

On UW’s second possession, it was hit with motion and false-start penalties before center Nick Carlson snapped the ball when Carta-Samuels wasn’t expecting it, resulting in a Broncos recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

Shortly thereafter, Boise State turned to its bag of tricks and hit a 58-yard TD pass off the flea-flicker.

Just over nine minutes into the game and the Cowboys were down 17-0 and the rout was on. BSU was executing at its best while UW was in a continuous backpedal.

It’s obvious that Christensen and his staff still have a long way to go in rebuilding the program.

The attitude and willingness to work hard may be there, but UW simply is not yet big enough, strong enough or fast enough to compete with the big boys.

The Cowboys got away with it a week earlier because Texas did not play its best game. But Boise State was on its game, and that led to Saturday’s nightmare.

Christensen has never been one to make excuses, and he offered none after Saturday’s disappointment.

Still, although no one has mentioned it, what has gone on in the UW program over the last two weeks with the death of freshman linebacker Ruben Narcisse, traveling to Texas to face the Longhorns in the heat and before 100,000 people may have finally caught up with the Cowboys on Saturday.

An excuse?

No, but more of an explanation what may have happened.

So the Cowboys will spend the early part of this week picking up the pieces. It won’t get any easier on Saturday when a good Air Force team comes to town.

Earlier this fall, Burman said he was hoping to bring at least one, and maybe two, early September night games to War Memorial Stadium.