After the first few series against Wyoming on Saturday, BYU football fans were feeling deceived.

Hoodwinked. Bamboozled. Run amok.

The Cougars had nine yards on six plays after their first two possessions and the defense, making hockey-type line changes by shuttling in an army of players nearly every play, couldn’t seem to stop the Cowboys’ running game.

This was not the team they were promised.

I guess “promised” is kind of loose terminology. I mean, none of the Cougars had ever said they would win every game by a comfortable margin and go to the College Football Playoffs. But with all the positive rhetoric flowing from the team since spring, the results of the first three games of the 2022 season were hardly consistent.

Slowly over the course of Saturday’s three-hour and thirty-three minute game BYU found some answers and put away a stubborn Wyoming squad 38-24, but it was hardly satisfying.

Even head coach Kalani Sitake said his team is making way too mistakes and at times looked “disconnected.”

Through four games, the Cougars seem to be having a hard time choosing its identity.

“Identity” is one of those sports buzzwords that is subjective and often is difficult to define but it’s like poor officiating — you definitely know it when you see it.

To recap:

Offensive Highlights

Quarterback Jaren Hall was spectacular against the Cowboys, completing 26 of 32 passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns, a passing rating of 211.

Redshirt freshman running back Miles Davis made sweet music in the running game, finishing with 131 yards on 13 carries, including a 70-yard sprint up the sideline in the second half.

Sophomore wide receiver Keanu Hill, who caught five passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, including on 65-yard score when he carried a Wyoming defender 20 yards into the end zone.

Offensive (as in disrespectful and insulting) Lowlights

A dreadfully slow start by the Cougars, who looked flatter than my bicycle tire on the Murdock Trail a few weeks ago.

Disappointing clock management by the BYU coaching staff, which had trouble getting plays called on time.

Officials who somehow don’t know how to blow a play dead, which resulted in two costly penalties against the Cougars. There has been some discussion among Cougar fans that royal blue stands out more than navy blue, but the officials were seeing navy just fine. BYU was hit with 11 penalties for 109 yards, with just two penalties and 20 yards for Wyoming.

So there was a lot to love AND a lot to hate at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday.

The offense did eventually get untracked and posted 525 total yards. Hall threw some absolute dimes and is making a real case for his NFL future. Davis displayed a terrific burst and made good on coaches proclaiming for the past year that he runs at a different speed than the other running backs. I’ve been pretty hard on the offensive line the past two weeks for not opening holes. Maybe Davis fits the run game better because of his speed and sharp cuts. The rushing attack sure looked different with him taking the carries in the second half.

The judge in the stripes gave Hill a poor score on his dance moves after one particular touchdown catch — It was something called, “The Griddy,” according to the cool kids on social media — and the personal foul ended up being costly since Wyoming scored on the ensuing drive. Hill caught an earful from receivers coach Fesi Sitake and Kalani Sitake on that one.

The defense, which shuttled approximately 30 players into the game (23 of which posted at least one tackle or quarterback hurry) eventually slowed down the Wyoming running attack. The Cowboys had 97 rushing yards and halftime but finished with just 124.

Another lowlight was what might be a serious injury to wide receiver Puka Nacua, who missed the past two games with a high ankle sprain. Nacua lost his footing on a reception in the second half and appears to have a knee injury. He was used so sparingly on Saturday it makes you wonder why he was even on the field this week. Kalani Sitake later said the injury wasn’t season-ending, but as he reminded the media in the post-game interviews, he is not a doctor.

Somebody posted on social media that they love watchig a college football weekend where nobody looks good. In truth, there was a lot of that going around on Saturday. Plenty of ranked teams looked disjointed and fans were having a hard time recognizing them.

There are so many factors that influence the outcome of a college football game. Dr. Craig Manning, BYU’s mental strength guru, has a mantra of “control what you can control.” In a football game, there is much you cannot control: The officials, your opponent, the weather, youthful mistakes, I could go on.

The Cougars have a short week to prepare for in-state rival Utah State, which dropped to 1-3 with a 34-24 home loss to UNLV on Saturday.

Who is this BYU football team? Four games in, and your guess is still as good as mine.

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