‘Massive concussion’ puts Utah QB on sidelines

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999 | 10:32 a.m.

All in all, last Saturday's surprising 43-29 loss to Wyoming is a day that Utah coach Ron McBride would like to forget.

Not only did the nationally televised loss virtually eliminate the Utes (6-3, 3-2) from Mountain West title contention, Utah also likely lost starting quarterback Darnell Arceneaux for the remainder of the regular season with what was called "a massive concussion."

Arceneaux, a former prep teammate of UNLV linebacker James Sunia at St. Louis High in Honolulu, lay motionless on the field for several minutes after taking a nasty hit to the helmet from Wyoming linebacker Jared Jarnagin. His face mask was removed and he was later placed on a stretcher before being taken away from the field by an emergency vehicle.

"It was a pretty ugly thing," McBride said during Tuesday's weekly Mountain West coaches conference call.

"He was out when we got there," Utah team doctor Dr. Robert Burks said. "It took a couple of minutes before he could answer us."

Arceneaux will definitely miss Utah's key MWC game against New Mexico this weekend and more than likely won't play in next week's showdown with archrival BYU.

"He's not doing anything right now," McBride said. "He's still foggy and kind of out of it. He did go to class (Monday). He's definitely out this week. Whether he can play against BYU, we'll just have to wait and see."

McBride was very disappointed with his team's defense in the fourth quarter of the Wyoming loss, a quarter that saw the Cowboys score 23 points.

"They ran a little stretch play to score on us in the fourth quarter that our guys just sort of quit on," McBride said. "It pains me to say that."

* GIVE ME LIBERTY? The Mountain West champion is locked into the Liberty Bowl the next three years. And BYU, which lost to Tulane in Memphis last year, looks like the huge front-runner to return to Tennessee on New Year's Eve to take on the champion from Conference USA.

However, the 15th-ranked Cougars (8-1) aren't exactly drooling over the prospect of spending the holidays in Graceland again.

"I don't think anybody wants to go to the Liberty Bowl this year," Cougar wide receiver Jonathan Pittman said. "We all want to go higher than that. We're looking for a BCS standing. We're striving to be in the BCS standings. ... We're looking at the Liberty Bowl as more of a consolation prize more than, like, 'Oh, we're at the Liberty Bowl!' We're thinking higher than that."

BYU must be ranked sixth or higher to warrant consideration for either the Rose, Orange or Fiesta Bowls. The odds of that happening in the final few weeks of the season are about as likely as hitting Megabucks.

Cougar coach LaVell Edwards, apparently upset at some of the Liberty Bowl comments he read in Utah newspapers over the weekend, said he talked to his team on Sunday night about the possibility of playing there again this year. He said his team is eager to return ... now.

"A lot of people have been saying we don't want to go to the Liberty Bowl," Cougar quarterback Kevin Feterik said. "That's wrong. We want to go to any bowl that will take us."

* BIRD'S-EYE VIEW: Wyoming head coach Dana Dimel will return to the press box for Saturday's game with BYU.

Dimel decided to stay up top for last week's 43-29 win at Utah. He said at the time it would help him see the game better and make adjustments. Wyoming responded with season highs in points (43) and total yards (539).

"I guess I'll do it again," Dimel said. "It's easy to say it worked because we won. I was able to see more of what was happening. Sometimes when you're on the field, you have to rely on experience and instinct."

Besides, it's a lot safer. Following the Cowboys' last game at War Memorial Stadium two weeks ago -- a bitter 24-13 loss to rival Colorado State -- Wyoming students unleashed a tirade of obscenities and pelted players and coaches with water bottles and other trash at the end of the game.

* ROAD WARRIORS: Visiting teams have now won 13 of the 17 Mountain West Conference games.