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The 2004 season

USC finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 13–⁠0 under Pete Carroll, after it beat Oklahoma 55–⁠19 in the Orange Bowl. Auburn also claims the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 USC 55, No. 2 Oklahoma 19 (Jan 4, 2005). Three Division I-A teams finished unbeaten. 49 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Matt Leinart, QB, USC, who also won the Walter Camp and Manning.

The Heisman vote: Matt Leinart 1,325 points, Adrian Peterson 997
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Matt Leinart QB, USC1,325267211102
Adrian Peterson RB, Oklahoma997154180175
Jason White QB, Oklahoma957171149146
Alex Smith QB, Utah63598112117
Reggie Bush RB, USC5971188083
Cedric Benson RB, Texas187124169
Jason Campbell QB, Auburn162212451
J.J. Arrington RB, California115103319
Aaron Rodgers QB, California6781415
Braylon Edwards WR, Michigan6231327

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 2004 Virginia Tech team
The 2004 Virginia Tech teamPhoto: CipherSwarm of flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The 2004 Virginia Tech season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1USC (62)Pac-10
2Auburn (3)Southeastern Conference
3OklahomaBig 12
4UtahMountain West Conference
5TexasBig 12
6LouisvilleConference USA
7GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
8IowaBig Ten
9CaliforniaPac-10
10Virginia TechAtlantic Coast Conference
11MiamiAtlantic Coast Conference
12Boise StateWestern Athletic Conference
13TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
14MichiganBig Ten
15Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
16LSUSoutheastern Conference
17WisconsinBig Ten
18Texas TechBig 12
19Arizona StatePac-10
20Ohio StateBig Ten
21Boston CollegeBig East
22Fresno StateWestern Athletic Conference
23VirginiaAtlantic Coast Conference
24NavyIndependent
25PittsburghBig East

Biggest upsets

Oct 30, 2004North Carolina 31, 4Miami 28
Nov 13, 2004Michigan State 49, 4Wisconsin 14
Oct 30, 2004Maryland 20, 5Florida State 17
Oct 2, 2004Virginia Tech 19, 6West Virginia 13
Dec 30, 200424Texas Tech 45, 4California 31
Oct 2, 2004Northwestern 33, 7Ohio State 27
Nov 20, 2004Ohio State 37, 7Michigan 21
Sep 11, 2004Notre Dame 28, 8Michigan 20
Nov 6, 2004Notre Dame 17, 9Tennessee 13
Nov 20, 2004Florida 20, 10Florida State 13
Nov 6, 2004Clemson 24, 11Miami 17
Oct 9, 200417Tennessee 19, 3Georgia 14

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2004, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 4Wk 6Wk 8Wk 10Wk 12Wk 14FinalVirginia Tech: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 No. 23, Wk 10 No. 22, Wk 11 No. 18, Wk 12 No. 16, Wk 13 No. 15, Wk 14 No. 11, Wk 15 No. 10, Final No. 1010 Virginia TechCalifornia: Wk 1 No. 13, Wk 3 No. 12, Wk 4 No. 10, Wk 5 No. 10, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 4, Final No. 99 CaliforniaIowa: Wk 1 No. 19, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 16, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 No. 25, Wk 10 No. 23, Wk 11 No. 20, Wk 12 No. 19, Wk 13 No. 17, Wk 14 No. 12, Wk 15 No. 12, Final No. 88 IowaGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 8, Final No. 77 GeorgiaLouisville: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 24, Wk 5 No. 24, Wk 6 No. 22, Wk 7 No. 20, Wk 8 No. 18, Wk 9 No. 15, Wk 10 No. 14, Wk 11 No. 14, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 7, Final No. 66 LouisvilleTexas: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 6, Final No. 55 TexasUtah: Wk 1 No. 20, Wk 3 No. 17, Wk 4 No. 15, Wk 5 No. 14, Wk 6 No. 14, Wk 7 No. 11, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 5, Final No. 44 UtahOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 2, Final No. 33 OklahomaAuburn: Wk 1 No. 17, Wk 3 No. 18, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 3, Final No. 22 AuburnUSC: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Final No. 11 USC
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Louisvilleunranked → No. 6
  2. UtahNo. 20 → No. 4
  3. Virginia Techunranked → No. 10
  4. AuburnNo. 17 → No. 2
  5. Boise Stateunranked → No. 12

Fell

  1. West VirginiaNo. 10 → unranked
  2. FloridaNo. 11 → unranked
  3. Kansas StateNo. 12 → unranked
  4. LSUNo. 4 → No. 16
  5. Ohio StateNo. 9 → No. 20

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsSonny Cumbie (Texas Tech)4,742 yds
Passing touchdownsOmar Jacobs (Bowling Green)41 TD
Passer ratingStefan LeFors (Louisville)181.7
Rushing yardsJ.J. Arrington (California)2,018 yds
Rushing touchdownsDeAngelo Williams (Memphis)22 TD
Yards per carryDeAndra’ Cobb (Michigan State)7.6
ReceptionsDante Ridgeway (Ball State)105 catches
Receiving yardsRoddy White (UAB)1,452 yds
Yards per catchDan Sheldon (Northern Illinois)23.4
Receiving touchdownsChad Owens (Hawai’i)17 TD
PointsTyler Jones (Boise State)141 pts
Points per gameTyler Jones (Boise State)11.8
Total offenseSonny Cumbie (Texas Tech)4,575 yds
Total offense per gameSonny Cumbie (Texas Tech)381.3
Punt return averageTed Ginn Jr. (Ohio State)25.6
Kickoff return averageJustin Miller (Clemson)33.1

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Virginia Tech
Big 12
Oklahoma
Big East
Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia (shared)
Big Ten
Iowa and Michigan (shared)
Conference USA
Louisville
Mid-American Conference
Toledo
Mountain West Conference
Utah
Southeastern Conference
Auburn
Sun Belt Conference
North Texas
Western Athletic Conference
Boise State

Division I-AA

Atlantic 10
Delaware, James Madison and William & Mary (shared)
Big Sky
Eastern Washington and Montana (shared)
Big South
Coastal Carolina
Gateway Football Conference
Southern Illinois
Great West Conference
Cal Poly
Ivy League
Harvard
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Duquesne
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Hampton and South Carolina State (shared)
Northeast Conference
Central Connecticut and Monmouth (shared)
Ohio Valley Conference
Jacksonville State
Patriot League
Lafayette and Lehigh (shared)
Pioneer Football League
Drake
Southern Conference
Furman and Georgia Southern (shared)
Southland Conference
Northwestern State and Sam Houston (shared)
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alabama State

Division II and below

Heart of America Athletic Conference
Lindenwood
Northeast-10 Conference
Long Island University

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

26 playersAll 11 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2004 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2004 All-America teams page.

The 2004 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

USC 27 on the staff list

  • Pete Carrollhead coach (also served as USC’s defensive coordinator)
  • Norm Chowoffensive coordinator
  • Ed OrgeronAss. head coach, DL, recruiting Coord. (part of the season)
  • Tim Davisoffensive line
  • Greg Burnssecondary coach
  • Lane Kiffinwide receivers, passing game Coord.
  • Brennan Carrolltight ends
  • Rocky Setolinebackers coach
  • Todd McNairrunning backs
  • Carl Smithquarterbacks
Support staff (17)

Strength and conditioning

  • Chris Carlisle strength and conditioning coach
  • Jamie Yanchar Assists head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle
  • Charr Gahagan Assists head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle
  • Gary Uribe Assists head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle
  • Leslie Cordova Assists head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle
  • Jim Jacobson Assists head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle

Operations and recruiting

  • Mark Jackson assistant athletic director, director of football operations
  • Greg Bukowski recruiting and operations assistant
  • Christie Valine recruiting assistant
  • Lindsay Gillman assistant to the head coach
  • Joyce Hirayama administrative assistant to football coaches
  • Irene Puentes football Receptionist
  • Christy Valine recruiting assistant

Equipment

  • Tino Dominguez assistant (football Equip. Coord.)
  • Greg Allen assistant (Asst. football Equip. Coord.)

Video, communications and other staff

  • John Soldate associate director (football Counselor)
  • Allah-mi Basheer assistant director (football Counselor)

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Final BCS standings

1USC12–⁠0
2Oklahoma12–⁠0
3Auburn12–⁠0
4Texas10–⁠1
5California10–⁠1
6Utah11–⁠0
7Georgia9–⁠2
8Virginia Tech10–⁠2
9Boise State11–⁠0
10Louisville10–⁠1
11LSU9–⁠2
12Iowa9–⁠2
13Michigan9–⁠2
14Miami8–⁠3
15Tennessee9–⁠3
16Florida State8–⁠3
17Wisconsin9–⁠2
18Virginia8–⁠3
19Arizona State8–⁠3
20Texas A&M7–⁠4
21Pittsburgh8–⁠3
22Texas Tech7–⁠4
23Florida7–⁠4
24Oklahoma State7–⁠4
25Ohio State7–⁠4

The last standings of the season, released December 5: the Bowl Championship Series’ formula of polls and computer rankings that matched No. 1 and No. 2 in the title game, 1998–⁠2013. From Wikipedia’s season rankings article (CC BY-SA); records as it lists them.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 14, 2004Southern Miss 31, North Texas 10New Orleans Bowl
Dec 21, 2004Georgia Tech 51, Syracuse 14Champs Sports Bowl
Dec 22, 2004Bowling Green 52, Memphis 35GMAC Bowl
Dec 23, 2004Cincinnati 32, Marshall 14Fort Worth Bowl
Dec 23, 2004Wyoming 24, UCLA 21Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 24, 2004Hawai’i 59, UAB 40Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 27, 2004Fresno State 37, 18Virginia 34MPC Computers Bowl
Dec 27, 2004UConn 39, Toledo 10Motor City Bowl
Dec 28, 2004Iowa State 17, Miami (OH) 13Independence Bowl
Dec 28, 2004Oregon State 38, Notre Dame 21Insight Bowl
Dec 29, 2004Colorado 33, UTEP 28Houston Bowl
Dec 29, 200425Ohio State 33, Oklahoma State 7Alamo Bowl
Dec 30, 200423Boston College 37, North Carolina 24Continental Tire Bowl
Dec 30, 2004Navy 34, New Mexico 19Emerald Bowl
Dec 30, 200424Texas Tech 45, 4California 31Holiday Bowl
Dec 30, 2004Northern Illinois 34, Troy 21Silicon Valley Football Classic
Dec 31, 2004Minnesota 20, Alabama 16Music City Bowl
Dec 31, 200421Arizona State 27, Purdue 23Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 20047Louisville 44, 11Boise State 40Liberty Bowl
Dec 31, 20049Miami 27, 20Florida 10Peach Bowl
Jan 1, 200515Tennessee 38, 22Texas A&M 7Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 20058Georgia 24, 17Wisconsin 21Outback Bowl
Jan 1, 200516Florida State 30, West Virginia 18Gator Bowl
Jan 1, 200512Iowa 30, 13LSU 25Capital One Bowl
Jan 1, 20056Texas 38, 14Michigan 37Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 20055Utah 35, 19Pittsburgh 7Fiesta Bowl
Jan 3, 20053Auburn 16, 10Virginia Tech 13Sugar Bowl
Jan 4, 20051USC 55, 2Oklahoma 19Orange Bowl

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2004 NCAA rule book against the one before: 8 changed, 1 removed and 1 retitled articles.

Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment

  • Retitled Rule 1-2-9 Field Areas (The Field)

Rule 2: Definitions

  • Removed Rule 2-18-2 Offside (Encroachment and Offside)

Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions

  • Changed Rule 3-2-4 Timing Devices (Playing Time and Intermissions)
  • Changed Rule 3-3-4 Charged Team Timeouts (Timeouts)
  • Changed Rule 3-3-7 Length of Timeouts (Timeouts)

Rule 6: Kicks

  • Changed Rule 6-2-1 Kicking Team (Free Kick Out of Bounds)
  • Changed Rule 6-3-6 Catch or Recovery by Kicking Team (Scrimmage Kicks)

Rule 8: Scoring

  • Changed Rule 8-5-1 How Scored (Safety)

Rule 11: The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties

  • Changed Rule 11-7-1 Basic Responsibilities (Side Judge)
  • Changed Rule 11-8-1 Basic Responsibilities (Back Judge)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).