ARSLANIAN REPRIMANDED AGAIN, ISSUES APOLOGY

Weber State football coach Dave Arslanian Wednesday issued an apology to all parties concerned regarding statements he'd made Tuesday about officiating at the University of Nevada, but he was still officially reprimanded by Big Sky Conference commissioner Ron Stephenson and faces undisclosed "internal action" from his school.

On Tuesday at the weekly Big 5 media and coaches' luncheon at the Salt Lake Red Lion, Arslanian complained vigorously about two calls late in the Weber State-Nevada football game Saturday that he thought cost the Wildcats the game. It was a 55-49 loss after Weber led 49-14 early in the third quarter.Making matters even more heated than publicly criticizing officials, some of Arslanian's comments were interpreted as meaning that gambling in Nevada might control outcomes at games in Reno.

Arslanian later said he meant no such thing and used poor judgment in selecting phrases like "when the chips are down and the money's on the table" in discussing the matter.

He stood by his comments that Weber State films showed poor calls by the officials twice in the final two minutes as No. 1-ranked Nevada scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to win the game.

Stephenson, who on Tuesday reprimanded two Idaho State University football coaches for public comments about officiating in one of their games, said that the films he saw of the Weber-Nevada game, supplied by a Reno and Boise television outlets, showed that the calls were correct. "There is absolutely no question in my mind that they made good calls," Stephenson said. "In fact, they were excellent calls."

Arslanian's Wednesday statement said, in part, "I apologize to Weber State, the Big Sky Conference and Big Sky officials. These things should not have been discussed in public. There are proper ways and channels in which these concerns can and should be addressed.

"I apologize for and embarrassment which has come to our school and program."

Weber athletic director Richard Hannan said the school will take unspecified internal measures on Arslanian, who has been reprimanded by the league twice this season. The other time was for an on-field argument with Southern Utah University coach Jack Bishop following a Sept. 7 game at Wildcat Stadium.