Parris Warren has given the Ducks something to talk about.
The former Oregon receiver — now a junior at Utah — made remarks about his time in Eugene that were neither flattering of Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti nor the Ducks in general.
The Sacramento, Calif., native told the Salt Lake Tribune on Monday he transferred from Oregon after the 2001 season because he was not a large enough piece of the offensive puzzle.
“It’s going to be hard to keep my emotions down,” he said of tonight’s game in Salt Lake City. “But I’m going to be fired up for this game. I just feel I have a lot to prove to them.”
Warren played in ten games for the Ducks in 2001 — missing only the team’s game against USC — but was not a primary target of then-quarterback Joey Harrington. He had six tackles on special teams but failed to catch a pass that season.
Ironically, Warren threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Justin Peelle against Utah.
After hearing of Warren’s comments, Utah head coach Urban Meyer put a gag order on the wide receiver.
“I’m a big believer of shutting your mouth and playing football,” Meyer said. “I wish I had gotten to him (before he said anything). Young people have a tendency to make remarks before they think about it.”
Warren has become a big piece of the Utah offensive pie this season. He has caught 24 passes this year, including a season-high nine against California and head coach Jeff Tedford, formerly Oregon’s offensive coordinator.
“It’s a shame,” Bellotti said earlier this week. “Parris is a good receiver. We recruited him here, and he chose to leave. And that was his choice, not ours. I feel bad about that. We gave him a lot of breaks and took care of him.”
Warren has also recently gotten in trouble with the law. After making his debut with the Utes on Aug. 28 against Utah State — catching seven passes for 103 yards in Utah’s 40-20 win — he found himself under arrest.
He had attempted to steal a box of condoms from a grocery store, only to be pulled over. He eventually paid a fine.
“I just got tied up in the wrong place,” Warren told the Portland Tribune, declining to discuss the situation further. “Everybody doesn’t know the real story.”

Running quiet
While Warren has made all the headlines — at least for Oregon fans — this week, Utah running back Brandon Warfield is the true showpiece of the Utes’ offense.
He has run for 563 yards this season, crossing the scoring plane eight times. His ability to eat up ground and the clock has given the Utes the ability to spread out their offense.
“It makes it a lot easier when he is back there,” Utah quarterback Alex Smith told the Daily Utah Chronicle earlier this month. “Teams have to game-plan around him and it gives me a lot more time.”
Warfield averages more than 130 yards per game rushing and ranks fifth in the NCAA.
He has been the workhorse of the Utes’ attack, running the ball at least 30 times in each of Utah’s first three games. Against Colorado State last week, he finished with a season-low 78 yards on 20 carries. He did, however, score a touchdown to propel Utah to the 28-21 win.
“He’s scary,” Bellotti said. “He’s scary, one, because of his ability. He’s a tremendous running back. He’s got speed, he’s got shiftiness, he’s got power. Because they spread you out more than any team we’ve played, those are huge concerns because he catches the ball in the option, on reverses, on fly sweeps and just the basic running plays, but all the other things that occur because you are spread out.”
Bellotti has a trusted friend in Tedford to rely on for suggestions on how to stop Warfield, but even he may not be able to help. Warfield ran for 94 yards on 30 carries against the Golden Bears, but scored three touchdowns as Utah controlled the game late to win, 31-24.