CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2004 LSU

9–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Nick Saban, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2004, game by game: won vs. Oregon State 22–21; won vs. Arkansas State 53–3; lost at No. 14 Auburn 9–10; won vs. Mississippi State 51–0; lost at No. 3 Georgia 16–45; won at No. 12 Florida 24–21; won vs. Troy 24–20; won vs. Vanderbilt 24–7; won vs. Alabama 26–10; won vs. Ole Miss 27–24; won at Arkansas 43–14; lost vs. No. 12 Iowa 25–30+51−29Won 22–21 vs. Oregon State+1Oregon StateWon 53–3 vs. Arkansas State+50Arkansas StateLost 9–10 at No. 14 Auburn-1No. 14 AuburnWon 51–0 vs. Mississippi State+51Mississippi Sta…Lost 16–45 at No. 3 Georgia-29No. 3 GeorgiaWon 24–21 at No. 12 Florida+3No. 12 FloridaWon 24–20 vs. Troy+4TroyWon 24–7 vs. Vanderbilt+17VanderbiltWon 26–10 vs. Alabama+16AlabamaWon 27–24 vs. Ole Miss+3Ole MissWon 43–14 at Arkansas+29ArkansasLost 25–30 vs. No. 12 Iowa-5No. 12 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsOregon StateW 22–⁠2174%
Sep 11vsArkansas StateW 53–⁠391%
Sep 18at14AuburnL 9–⁠1057%
Sep 25vsMississippi StateW 51–⁠090%
Oct 2at3GeorgiaL 16–⁠4545%
Oct 9at12FloridaW 24–⁠2150%
Oct 23vsTroyW 24–⁠2084%
Oct 30vsVanderbiltW 24–⁠790%
Nov 13vsAlabamaW 26–⁠1074%
Nov 20vsOle MissW 27–⁠2484%
Nov 26atArkansasW 43–⁠1462%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12IowaCapital One BowlL 25–⁠3057%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 30–⁠25 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 3: 6
  3. Wk 4: 5
  4. Wk 5: 13
  5. Wk 6: 13
  6. Wk 7: 24
  7. Wk 8: 20
  8. Wk 9: 18
  9. Wk 10: 19
  10. Wk 11: 17
  11. Wk 12: 17
  12. Wk 13: 14
  13. Wk 14: 14
  14. Wk 15: 13
  15. Final: 16

Rimington TrophyBen Wilkerson, C

2 consensus All-AmericansBen Wilkerson, C; Marcus Spears, DL

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 4
Points
344–⁠205
Coach
Nick Saban
Elo
1727 +23 this season
SP+ rating
19.5 No. 15 of 120; offense No. 35, defense No. 12
SRS
10.9 No. 22 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 4
Offensive coordinator
Jimbo Fisher
Defensive coordinator
Will Muschamp
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense23rd of 118
  • Defense21st of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0141%0.9923rd of 118
Defense-0.1227%1.0821st 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
Offense-0.1own 321% allowed
Defense-0.1own 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

Early Doucet WR★★★★★No. 5
Xavier Carter WR★★★★★No. 17
Glenn Dorsey DT★★★★★No. 30
Herman Johnson OT★★★★No. 58
Marlon Favorite DT★★★★No. 62
Ryan Miller OC★★★★No. 77
Lavelle Hawkins WR★★★★No. 89
Luke Sanders ILB★★★★No. 123

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

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers34.70.986
Offensive line24.00.973
Defensive line24.50.981
Linebackers14.00.922
Whole class84.40.973

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 1Marcus Spears DEDallas Cowboys
Rd 2Corey Webster DBNew York Giants
Rd 4Travis Daniels DBMiami Dolphins

All-SEC

5 first team, 4 second team

First team

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.