Columnist Steve Guiremand: Tough talk from Utah’s Parker rankles BYU — and its fans

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 12:08 p.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. His Around Campus column appears on Fridays during football season. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@lasvegassun.com.

Utah head football coach Ron McBride showed up at a media luncheon this week in Salt Lake City with Ute safety and former Cimarron High School star Arnold Parker in tow.

"Arnold will be seen and not heard today," McBride said half-jokingly.

Seems Parker violated an unofficial McBride gag order not to talk about this week's Mountain West Conference first-place showdown with in-state rival BYU following Utah's 17-3 win over San Diego State last Saturday.

Asked about Saturday's contest with No. 8 ranked BYU, Parker told the Salt Lake Deseret News: "They're one of the best teams in the nation, and we're going to go out and give them a war next week. We've got something for them. We've got a whole nasty defense and nasty offense. They better watch out."

But Parker was only warming up.

"Luke Staley, and what's his name, Domanator?" Parker said referring to BYU quarterback Brandon Doman. "He's going to get dominated."

Asked about the comments later, Parker replied, "I don't say too much I don't believe, and that's what I believe."

Needless to say, Parker's comments have found their way onto the bulletin board in Provo. And incensed BYU fans have not been afraid to let him hear about it.

"I caught a lot of grief -- they got my address, my phone number, my e-mail on BYU's website," Parker told the Provo Daily Herald. "I haven't checked my e-mails yet. (But are they) X-rated? You know they don't go past G."

Fiesta Bowl fireworks

The action might be just as intense in the LaVell Edwards Stadium press box on Saturday afternoon as it is expected to be on the field.

Reason? The Fiesta Bowl, which has made no secret that it covets a potential 13-0 BYU squad, will be on hand to "scout" the Cougars. And that is not going over too well with folks from the Liberty Bowl, which has a binding contract to get the Mountain West Conference champion.

Liberty Bowl director Steve Ehrhart said he "just about fell out of my chair" when he saw Fiesta Bowl representative Alan Young being interviewed on TV during last week's BYU-Wyoming game. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Ehrhart, who will be at Saturday's Utah-BYU contest, called MWC commissioner Craig Thompson this week and said, "The guy from the Fiesta Bowl better not be there."

"We're going to be there," Fiesta Bowl spokesman Shawn Schoeffer said. "We're not backing down."

In fact, Fiesta Bowl chairman Evan Paoletti will be on hand.

Thompson said last week that the Mountain West Conference would be willing to pay an "inconvenience fee" to the Liberty Bowl to free up the Cougars to go to the Fiesta Bowl. That game pays teams about $13 million each, about 10 times what the Liberty Bowl does.

A lot would still have to happen for the Fiesta Bowl to make a hard run at BYU, however. First, the Cougars have to defeat their in-state rival on Saturday, then win back-to-back road games at Mississippi State and Hawaii. And either a Big 12 champ or Pac-10 champ would have to make it into the national championship game at the Rose Bowl to free a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.

If that happens, the Fiesta Bowl will have first choice among BCS bowls to pick a replacement.

Another potential hurdle is that BYU has to finish in the top 12 in the BCS standings for the Fiesta Bowl to take them. The Cougars are 13th this week, but would likely move up in coming weeks if they can run the table.

Once around the Mountain West