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2004 Virginia Tech

10–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Frank Beamer, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Virginia Tech, 2004
Photo: CipherSwarm of flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Virginia Tech in 2004, game by game: lost vs. No. 1 USC 13–24; won vs. Western Michigan 63–0; won vs. Duke 41–17; lost vs. NC State 16–17; won vs. No. 6 West Virginia 19–13; won at Wake Forest 17–10; won vs. Florida A&M 62–0; won at Georgia Tech 34–20; won at North Carolina 27–24; won vs. Maryland 55–6; won vs. No. 16 Virginia 24–10; won at No. 9 Miami 16–10; lost vs. No. 3 Auburn 13–16+63−11Lost 13–24 vs. No. 1 USC-11No. 1 USCWon 63–0 vs. Western Michigan+63Western MichiganWon 41–17 vs. Duke+24DukeLost 16–17 vs. NC State-1NC StateWon 19–13 vs. No. 6 West Virginia+6No. 6 West VirginiaWon 17–10 at Wake Forest+7Wake ForestWon 62–0 vs. Florida A&M+62Florida A&MWon 34–20 at Georgia Tech+14Georgia TechWon 27–24 at North Carolina+3North CarolinaWon 55–6 vs. Maryland+49MarylandWon 24–10 vs. No. 16 Virginia+14No. 16 VirginiaWon 16–10 at No. 9 Miami+6No. 9 MiamiLost 13–16 vs. No. 3 Auburn-3No. 3 Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28vs1USCBca ClassicL 13–⁠2429%
Sep 11vsWestern MichiganW 63–⁠072%
Sep 18vsDukeW 41–⁠1780%
Sep 25vsNC StateL 16–⁠1761%
Oct 2vs6West VirginiaW 19–⁠1350%
Oct 9atWake ForestW 17–⁠1056%
Oct 16vsFlorida A&MW 62–⁠092%
Oct 28atGeorgia TechW 34–⁠2052%
Nov 6atNorth CarolinaW 27–⁠2469%
Nov 18vsMarylandW 55–⁠670%
Nov 27vs16VirginiaW 24–⁠1059%
Dec 4at9MiamiW 16–⁠1038%
Jan 3Bowls & playoffvs3AuburnSugar BowlL 13–⁠1643%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Auburn 16–⁠13 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 9: 23
  2. Wk 10: 22
  3. Wk 11: 18
  4. Wk 12: 16
  5. Wk 13: 15
  6. Wk 14: 11
  7. Wk 15: 10
  8. Final: 10

Atlantic Coast Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 10
Points
400–⁠167
Coach
Frank Beamer
Elo
1719 +145 this season
SP+ rating
19.9 No. 14 of 120; offense No. 39, defense No. 8
SRS
14.7 No. 11 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 34
Offensive coordinator
Bryan Stinespring
Defensive coordinator
Bud Foster
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense34th of 118
  • Defense2nd of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0236%1.0234th of 118
Defense-0.1932%0.912nd 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 342% allowed
Defense-0.1own 303% 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

George Bell RB★★★★No. 116
Eddie Royal WR★★★★No. 123
D.J. Parker CB★★No. 979
Theodore Miller S★★No. 979
Michael Green ILB★★No. 1839

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

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.936
Receivers14.00.922
Linebackers12.00.744
Defensive backs22.00.767
Whole class52.80.827

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 3Eric Green DBArizona Cardinals
Rd 4Vincent Fuller DBTennessee Titans
Rd 7Jon Dunn OTCleveland Browns

All-ACC

4 first team, 3 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 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech7–⁠110–⁠310
Florida State6–⁠29–⁠315
Miami5–⁠39–⁠311
Virginia5–⁠38–⁠423
North Carolina5–⁠36–⁠6
Georgia Tech4–⁠47–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠46–⁠5
NC State3–⁠55–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠55–⁠6
Wake Forest1–⁠74–⁠7
Duke1–⁠72–⁠9

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