The bite in the chilly November air clamped down differently for LaVell Edwards and Ron McBride following BYU’s 34-27 victory over Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Nov. 24, 2000. For Edwards, the wild finish brought an end to his storied career. For McBride, the way the Cougars had just beat him ticked him off.
As the two head coaches met at midfield, surrounded by media and with the BYU band playing “Rise and Shout” off in the distance, they embraced three times in 20 emotion-packed seconds.
Edwards initiated the first hug, but McBride was still smoldering over what had just happened.
Not only had the Cougars managed to convert a fourth-and-13 from their own 17-yard line with back-to-back bombs from quarterback Brandon Doman to Jonathan Pittman — all leading to Doman’s game-winning touchdown run with 23 seconds remaining — somewhere in there, Utah recovered a fumble that was negated by the officials.
“Did you see that guy fumble the ball over there?” McBride asked Edwards.
“Isn’t it amazing?” said Edwards, undeterred and with his eyes locked on his friend.
“I couldn’t believe it wasn’t called,” McBride said.
Again, Edwards quipped back, like a consoling and disarming brother.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
The mood turned melancholy. McBride looked down at the game ball Edwards was holding in his right hand. Both knew what it meant. Not only was the ball an instant commemorative piece marking his 257th victory, but it was also a sign of the times. Edwards’ Hall of Fame career was over.
“Hey, take that ball,” McBride said.
“Hey, thanks!” Edwards interrupted.
McBride triggered the second hug. He threw his arms around Edwards and pulled him into his right shoulder. Their exchange was barely audible to anyone but a nearby camera microphone.
“Hey, I really love you,” McBride said as he patted Edwards on the back of his navy winter coat.
“I love you, too,” Edwards responded.
They pulled back and stared at each other for an instant before McBride did what only he could do — he said something funny. When it came to extracting deep, soul-surrendering, belly-bending laughter out of the often stone-faced and stoic Edwards, no one did it better or more often than McBride.
What he said in this historic moment wasn’t audible to anyone else, but it got Edwards laughing so hard that he buried his face back into McBride’s left shoulder and they embraced a final time.
It’s been 25 years since that 20-second postgame exchange, which revealed everything you needed to know about Edwards and McBride. The BYU-Utah rivalry was big, but it was never too big, and certainly not bigger than their friendship.
Edwards passed away nine years ago next month. McBride misses his friend. The rivalry misses their civility, and — as the former Utah coach still contends to this day — the referee missed the fumble; however, having Edwards go out as a winner is something McBride remains perfectly fine with, a quarter-century ago today.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.