Columnist Steve Guiremand: Chang will get record, but few will notice outside of Honolulu

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 5, 2004 | 10:33 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at steveg@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2324.

It won't be on the national stage one might expect for such an achievement but Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang will break the NCAA career passing record early in Saturday night's game against visiting Louisiana Tech.

Chang needs just 14 yards to eclipse the mark of 15,031 yards set by BYU's Ty Detmer. But his record will probably be met with yawns across most of the country because the Warriors' game doesn't kick off until midnight on the East Coast.

That isn't stopping the folks in Hawaii from going to great lengths to celebrate Chang's milestone.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, the Hawaii athletic program even tracked down Detmer this week on his ranch in the small south Texas town of Freer in an attempt to set up a congratulatory video to be played on the Aloha Stadium JumboTron when Chang breaks the record.

The classy Detmer, who is now a backup quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons, who have an open week on its schedule, agreed to make the video if Hawaii could get someone there to shoot it.

The Western Athletic Conference has approved an official timeout to honor Chang after he breaks the record. Chang will be given the game ball and will take it to the sideline where he will then be acknowledged.

The school also considered giving away commemorative items to mark Chang's record performance but decided to drop the idea at Chang's request.

In any other year, Chang would have a solid chance at at least garnering some Heisman Trophy consideration for his feat. However, the West Coast is loaded with Heisman candidates at quarterback who are having better seasons including USC's Matt Leinart, Cal's Aaron Rogers, Utah's Alex Smith and Arizona State's Andrew Walter.

Famous last words?

Add Colorado State safety Ben Stratton to the list of players who are not overwhelmed by the prospect of facing No. 7 Utah.

"We played great the last three weeks," Stratton told the Denver Post of his 3-5 Rams. "Utah has a lot of weapons, but I'm not worried about it. They're stoppable. They are not invincible."

Funny, I recall several UNLV players making the same kind of statements before their trip to Salt Lake City two weeks ago. And before they found themselves behind, 35-7, after just 16 minutes en route to a 63-28 thrashing.

Stay tuned.

New bowl game?

Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson said he met again last week with representatives of the Holiday Bowl to discuss staging a second bowl game at Qualcomm Stadium before Christmas.

The game would pit a Mountain West Conference team possibly against a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. One tentative name for the game is "The Poinsettia Bowl."

Thompson called the get-together "a very, very positive meeting."

The chairman of the Holiday Bowl's national strategy committee, Dick Circuit, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that a decision on whether to move forward on the bowl could be made by the middle of next month. The game then must be certified by the NCAA.

Thompson said the Mountain West is exploring ways to financially subsidize the new bowl in San Diego. That includes establishing a bowl subsidy fund that could get a nice jump-start should Utah go undefeated and rake in a $14.4 million BCS bowl payday for the conference.

Once around the MWC