On Saturday, November 20, 1993, the Ute Football team defeated longtime rival BYU at Cougar Stadium by a score of 34-31. The win was only the third Ute victory against BYU in two decades, during which time they had NEVER won in Cougar Stadium. So, as you can well imagine, there was much celebrating on the part of the Utes, which lasted well into the new year.
To capitalize on this, Bank One (a national bank with several branches in Utah) produced a series of commercials starring BYU head coach LaVell Edwards and Utah head coach Ron McBride. In the most famous of these commercials, coach Edwards was shown tossing and turning in bed from nightmares, where he kept muttering "Thirty-Four..., Thirty-One...." The scene then blurred into his dream, where it showed a a tailor measuring him for a new suit. "Well, look at that," said the tailor (coach McBride) holding up the measuring tape. "Thirty-Four, Thirty-One." The scene then blurred to show coach Edwards sitting at a restaurant table. A short waiter with a fake mustache (McBride) said, "Here you are, sir," presenting him with a bill showing the numbers "34-31" circled at the bottom. "Thirty-Four, Thirty-One," he said. The commercial then went on to make the point that, "at least banking doesn't have to be a nightmare."
The commercials proved to be very popular. Ute fans loved them because they highlighted the first victory over BYU in decades, and Cougar fans thought they were "cute" because they never expected Utah to win again for another decade. But that all changed after the rematch on November 19, 1994. In a hard-fought game on the Utes' home field, Utah was again victorious over their rivals to the south. The game proceeded much differently than it had the previous year, but ironically, the score was exactly the same – Utah 34, BYU 31. From that time forward, the numbers “34-31” achieved legendary status, and they remain a significant symbol for the rise of Utah Football during the modern era.
SIDE NOTE: When the Utes returned to Cougar Stadium in 1995, they once again scored 34 points to defeat BYU. However, this time BYU only scored 17 points on their side of the ledger. Thus, BYU broke the magic of the 34-31 charm. From that game on, each side has traded wins against their rival nearly every other year, and both teams have remained highly competetive with each other.