Cougar Insiders Jeff Call, Dick Harmon and Brandon Gurney discuss the impact of the storied 34-31 rivalry games in the '90s, and how those games added spark to the rivalry lore and spotlighted the friendship between coaches LaVell Edwards and Ron McBride. Utah won both games in dramatic fashion, and perhaps signalled a turning point in the rivalry.
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Editor’s note: The following is a transcript of the episode. It's been edited for clarity.
Dick Harmon: Welcome to the Cougar Insider podcast. I'm Dick Harmon, columnist for the Deseret News, along with beat writers Jeff Call and Brandon Gurney. We're coming to you from Thanksgiving Point where we're talking BYU sports. This podcast is brought to you by the Salt Lake Stallions and Deseret News GridPicks. And gentlemen, we'll talk a little bit about this weird situation that happened back in the early '90s, this back-to-back wins by the Utes of 34-31 at a time that BYU had just lost Ty Detmer and the Heisman Trophy winner had left the school, John Walsh had kind of picked up things, they had Jamal Willis, Itula Mili and Mark Atuaia.
It was an interesting team. This first year they went 6-6 after defeating the Utes I think three or four straight times. But, Jeff Call, the unique thing about this is that some bank decided they were going to do a spinoff from a Bank One commercial that had been running in Arizona with University of Arizona (basketball) coach Lute Olson and ASU coach Bill Frieder. And this was kind of a nightmare scene where one of the coaches would wake up, in this case it was LaVell Edwards, and just think about a nightmare 34-31, 34-31, and that commercial ran and was very, very popular and it added to the kind of the cultural lore of LaVell Edwards and Ron McBride.
Because at this time back in those days, this was before I think both of you were covering BYU football, but we used to go up to what they call the Big Five Huddle. We used to go to Salt Lake City, coaches from all over the state would be there. They would have athletes that would come, we'd all interview them and have lunch and then we'd all depart, it would be kind of a big media day. That came to an end in 2001 but during that time, LaVell Edwards and Ron McBride had become kind of a standup comedy act. They were making fun of each other. They were having a lot of fun. They were making fun of the way each other dressed and the way they said things and it's something that continued until LaVell Edwards died.
But these games, Jeff Call, take us through these games; 34-31 and why they would have become a nightmare, as it was.
Jeff Call: Well, so 1993 was actually the first year I covered BYU football. And I think I was sports editor of The Daily Universe at BYU and BYU had a weird year because BYU started out that season 4-0 and then they had the stretch where I think they lost four in a row and they lost some really ugly games. So going into that Utah game, I remember the night before that game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, then Cougar Stadium, I think Channel 11 TV station had me on to talk about the game. They asked me for a prediction. And I remember looking at the camera and saying, well BYU has not lost to Utah at home since 1971 so I don't see that happening again. The next day we're sitting there watching the game and Chris Yergensen drilled a 50, I can't remember, it was 52-yard field goal.
DH: It was 55 yards. 31-31, game on the line.
JC: And he hits that field goal with probably under a minute to go or something like that. And it was just was stunning, because 22 years since Utah had won in Provo and I remember being down there on the field after that game. And one thing maybe people kind of forget is that there were some Utah players and maybe some fans that tried to tear down the goalpost. Remember that, and Chad Lewis strapped on that helmet, he ran down there and he was going to defend BYU's honor and he started pulling guys off that goalpost.
DH: One guy against like, 100.
JC: It was. And Chad's older brother had played for Utah, too, Mike. And anyway, that kind of added to the surreal nature of the game and then after that game it came out one of those famous quotes, Lenny Gomes, about pumping gas.
DH: He says, these guys are losers. They're just losers. I'll be making — and get this figure — $40 or $50,000 a year and they'll be pumping my gas. A quote that will live forever.
JC: Yeah and so you know you put that in perspective, I mean that it was just a stunning loss. Now you look back on it. I tell my kids about how BYU used to dominate the series against Utah. They can't understand it because all they know is Utah winning for the most part. So that was that year. The next year, BYU travels up to Rice-Eccles and, if I remember correctly, the Utes were ranked, they had a great season and then ...
DH: Twenty-first in the country
JC: Yeah. And BYU is having a decent season as well. And lo and behold, it comes down to another 34-31 game just like the year before. After all the talk of 34-31, I mean, you couldn't have scripted it. Second year in a row, 34-31, Utah beats BYU. And like you said, it just kind of added to the whole lore of the rivalry and made it something where you saw 34-31 all over the place.
DH: It really was a turning point in the whole rivalry, because when Yergensen hit that field goal it really did change the whole, I think, thought process by University of Utah's coaching staff and their athletes about what they could do. They built confidence, winning does that. When you win you believe you can win and they started to believe that they could win. Before that first game in 1993, BYU with Ty Detmer had defeated Utah 70-31 and then they defeated them 45-22 and BYU was ranked number 21st and 25th in the country at both those games. But, Brandon Gurney, I don't know what your memories are of the 34-31 situation or that commercial. But give us your thoughts.
Brandon Gurney: Well, I missed both those games because I was serving a mission in Miami. That's so you know exactly how old I am. I remember you leave for mission service and the rivalry is something, right? And I come back, I'm like what? It was totally different. BYU lost to Utah twice in a row? What is this, this doesn't happen. And I think when you're that involved and things change, it kind of gives me perspective to what fans are going through now. They're used to something being what it is. And when it's not, it's really hard to correlate and understand and deal with
DH: Another part of the turning point is, and both you guys will appreciate this, because you both have met and know Kyle Whittingham. My brother played with Kyle at Provo High School. I knew his father Fred. When the University of Utah hired Fred Whittingham, I think was 1991 or 92, about the time that this turn happened, they made a great investment in somebody who brought toughness to the Ute program. Toughness in the attitude, toughness in the way they practice, and things have never been back to the old Utah again, since Fred Whittingham. I've got to credit, personally myself, the late Fred Whittingham for adding this to Utah's program. And its continued all this time through his son.
JC: I mean Fred Whittingham was a great coach at BYU, was there for a long time and he really instilled, like you said, that toughness to BYU's defenses. And I think you know, you look at the history of BYU football, especially those glory years of BYU football. I think people tend to overlook how good BYU defenses were. There were some really outstanding teams that allowed BYU on the offensive side to do what they could do. And so when Fred Whittingham took his talents up north, I mean, Dick you're exactly right, the '93 game that we saw was visible evidence that the rivalry had changed, that things that turned. But it happened way before then and I think you can point a finger to hiring Fred Whittingham as the turning point and then what happened after that — then Kyle comes aboard, coaching with his dad, and we know what Kyle's done, he's been there for a long time and he's really done incredible things up at Utah. So yeah that hiring was huge. Ron McBride, you got to give him a lot of credit for what he's done.
DH: The year after Yergensen's field goal of course they back that up with another win and, Brandon Gurney, the situation at BYU is you had John Walsh and Jamal Willis, they went into Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and we were there, Jeff, I think you were there. We got our picture taken, remember. And they beat Notre Dame on their home field. And then they get to the end of the season. They lose again 34-31. But that's a team that had guys like John Walsh, and you know, Chad Lewis, this was the building of that 1996 team that won the Cotton Bowl. But yeah, it was a legitimate turn of events for University of Utah.
BG: Yeah, that's never been the same since, it's been totally different. That's what started it, where it was competitive. And now it's gone over the top, where Utah's completely dominating the series. And it's been tough for BYU fans to watch. At the end of the day, that's where the biggest frustration. Any fan that's honest with himself will admit that the frustration is seeing where Utah's at compared to BYU. If Utah wasn't where it's at, it'd be much easier to swallow.
DH: Well, it also is a turn in the way BYU treated the situation. Fred Whittingham had a couple of habits that some administrators didn't like and when he wanted to come back to BYU they said no. He went up to the University of Utah and things changed. The other part of the story, gentlemen, is the banks. Bank One did that commercial. And then it ran for a while and was very popular, but another bank that was sponsoring at least BYU, maybe Utah, and I won't mention the name of that bank. But they didn't like that. They didn't like the idea that Bank One was doing a commercial and getting so much play, and it was so well done, and it has so much emotion. It was funny, and it was very effective. And they complained and that commercial was taken off the air.
Just one more thing in the long, long storied history of this BYU rivalry. Well gentlemen that wraps up this edition of the Utah-BYU rivalry thing. Thanks for being with us Jeff Call and Brandon Gurney. This is your BYU Cougar Insiders podcast. We thank you for being with us. We'll see you next time.