CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2004 Alabama

6–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mike Shula.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 2004, game by game: won vs. Utah State 48–17; won vs. Ole Miss 28–7; won vs. Western Carolina 52–0; lost at Arkansas 10–27; lost vs. South Carolina 3–20; won at Kentucky 45–17; won vs. No. 24 Southern Miss 27–3; lost at No. 11 Tennessee 13–17; won vs. Mississippi State 30–14; lost at No. 17 LSU 10–26; lost vs. No. 2 Auburn 13–21; lost vs. Minnesota 16–20+52−17Won 48–17 vs. Utah State+31Utah StateWon 28–7 vs. Ole Miss+21Ole MissWon 52–0 vs. Western Carolina+52Western CarolinaLost 10–27 at Arkansas-17ArkansasLost 3–20 vs. South Carolina-17South CarolinaWon 45–17 at Kentucky+28KentuckyWon 27–3 vs. No. 24 Southern Miss+24No. 24 Southern MissLost 13–17 at No. 11 Tennessee-4No. 11 TennesseeWon 30–14 vs. Mississippi State+16Mississippi Sta…Lost 10–26 at No. 17 LSU-16No. 17 LSULost 13–21 vs. No. 2 Auburn-8No. 2 AuburnLost 16–20 vs. Minnesota-4Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsUtah StateW 48–⁠1775%
Sep 11vsOle MissW 28–⁠754%
Sep 18vsWestern CarolinaW 52–⁠084%
Sep 25atArkansasL 10–⁠2738%
Oct 2vsSouth CarolinaL 3–⁠2059%
Oct 9atKentuckyW 45–⁠1757%
Oct 16vs24Southern MissW 27–⁠346%
Oct 23at11TennesseeL 13–⁠1733%
Nov 6vsMississippi StateW 30–⁠1480%
Nov 13at17LSUL 10–⁠2626%
Nov 20vs2AuburnL 13–⁠2133%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsMinnesotaMusic City BowlL 16–⁠2051%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Minnesota 20–⁠16 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 100th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
295–⁠189
Coach
Mike Shula
Elo
1535 +19 this season
SP+ rating
9.2 No. 36 of 120; offense No. 87, defense No. 14
SRS
6.8 No. 33 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 21
Offensive coordinator
David Rader
Defensive coordinator
Joe Kines
Captains
Todd Bates and Wesley Britt
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense52nd of 118
  • Defense7th of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0636%0.8352nd of 118
Defense-0.1531%0.917th 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 323% allowed
Defense0.0own 302% 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

Nikita Stover WR★★★★No. 54
Nick Walker WR★★★★No. 108

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

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers24.00.960

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.

Drafted in 2005

The 2005 draft
Rd 3Evan Mathis OGCarolina Panthers
Rd 5Wesley Britt OTSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Anthony Bryant DTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Cornelius Wortham LBSeattle Seahawks

All-SEC

4 first team, 5 second team

First team

  • Evan MathisOGAP-1; Coaches-2
  • Wesley BrittOTAP-1
  • Cornelius WorthamLBAP-1; Coaches-1
  • Bryan BostickKAP-1; Coaches-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2004 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2004 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn8–⁠013–⁠02
Tennessee7–⁠110–⁠313
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠27
LSU6–⁠29–⁠316
Florida4–⁠47–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠46–⁠5
Alabama3–⁠56–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠55–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠54–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠63–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠72–⁠9
Kentucky1–⁠72–⁠9

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