2004 Air Force

5–⁠6 (3–⁠4 Mountain West Conference), coached by Fisher DeBerry.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 2004, game by game: lost vs. California 14–56; won vs. Eastern Washington 42–20; won at UNLV 27–10; lost at No. 14 Utah 35–49; lost vs. Navy 21–24; won vs. New Mexico 28–23; lost vs. BYU 24–41; lost at Wyoming 26–43; won at Army 31–22; lost vs. San Diego State 31–37; won vs. Colorado State 47–17+30−42Lost 14–56 vs. California-42CaliforniaWon 42–20 vs. Eastern Washington+22Eastern Washing…Won 27–10 at UNLV+17UNLVLost 35–49 at No. 14 Utah-14No. 14 UtahLost 21–24 vs. Navy-3NavyWon 28–23 vs. New Mexico+5New MexicoLost 24–41 vs. BYU-17BYULost 26–43 at Wyoming-17WyomingWon 31–22 at Army+9ArmyLost 31–37 vs. San Diego State-6San Diego StateWon 47–17 vs. Colorado State+30Colorado State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Colorado State 47–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Mountain West Conference.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 4th in Mountain West Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
326–⁠342
Coach
Fisher DeBerry
Elo
1456 −39 this season
SP+ rating
-0.9 No. 69 of 120; offense No. 33, defense No. 89
SRS
2.1 No. 53 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 116
Defensive coordinator
Richard Bell
Captains
Adam Cole, Dan Shaffer, Ryan Carter, John Rudzinski and Alec Messerall
Offense
Wishbone triple option
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense18th of 118
  • Defense110th of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0338%0.9218th of 118
Defense0.1251%0.84110th of 118
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 25— allowed
Defense0.0own 36— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2004 class

Josh Jones OLB★★No. 979
Andrew McKain ILB★★No. 979
Jon McDaniel OG★★No. 1993

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Offensive line12.00.722
Linebackers22.00.767
Whole class32.00.752

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

2004 Mountain West Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Utah7–⁠012–⁠04
New Mexico5–⁠27–⁠5
BYU4–⁠35–⁠6
Wyoming3–⁠47–⁠5
Air Force3–⁠45–⁠6
Colorado State3–⁠44–⁠7
San Diego State2–⁠54–⁠7
UNLV1–⁠62–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.