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2004 Virginia

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Al Groh, finished No. 23 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Virginia in 2004, game by game: won at Temple 44–14; won vs. North Carolina 56–24; won vs. Akron 51–0; won vs. Syracuse 31–10; won vs. Clemson 30–10; lost at No. 7 Florida State 3–36; won at Duke 37–16; won vs. Maryland 16–0; lost vs. No. 18 Miami 21–31; won at Georgia Tech 30–10; lost at No. 11 Virginia Tech 10–24; lost vs. Fresno State 34–37+51−33Won 44–14 at Temple+30TempleWon 56–24 vs. North Carolina+32North CarolinaWon 51–0 vs. Akron+51AkronWon 31–10 vs. Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 30–10 vs. Clemson+20ClemsonLost 3–36 at No. 7 Florida State-33No. 7 Florida StateWon 37–16 at Duke+21DukeWon 16–0 vs. Maryland+16MarylandLost 21–31 vs. No. 18 Miami-10No. 18 MiamiWon 30–10 at Georgia Tech+20Georgia TechLost 10–24 at No. 11 Virginia Tech-14No. 11 Virginia TechLost 34–37 vs. Fresno State-3Fresno State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atTempleW 44–⁠1471%
Sep 11vsNorth CarolinaW 56–⁠2480%
Sep 18vsAkronW 51–⁠081%
Sep 25vsSyracuseW 31–⁠1071%
Oct 7vsClemsonW 30–⁠1073%
Oct 16at7Florida StateL 3–⁠3640%
Oct 23atDukeW 37–⁠1677%
Nov 6vsMarylandW 16–⁠066%
Nov 13vs18MiamiL 21–⁠3153%
Nov 20atGeorgia TechW 30–⁠1050%
Nov 27at11Virginia TechL 10–⁠2441%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsFresno StateMPC Computers BowlL 34–⁠3752%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Fresno State 37–⁠34 in the MPC Computers Bowl; No. 23 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

John Mackey AwardHeath Miller, TE

2 consensus All-AmericansHeath Miller, TE; Elton Brown, OL

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 23 peak No. 6
Points
363–⁠212
Coach
Al Groh
Elo
1637 +49 this season
SP+ rating
20.0 No. 12 of 120; offense No. 30, defense No. 16
SRS
14.4 No. 12 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 37
Offensive coordinator
Ron Prince
Defensive coordinator
Al Golden

How good, play by play

  • Offense6th of 118
  • Defense67th of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0944%1.006th of 118
Defense-0.0336%1.0467th 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 331% allowed
Defense0.0own 273% 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

Olu Hall WDE★★★★No. 67
Devonta Brown ILB★★★No. 679
Chris Gould K★★No. 831
Jamaal Jackson S★★No. 979
Zak Stair OT★★No. 979

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

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.744
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line14.00.974
Linebackers22.50.767
Defensive backs22.00.756
Athletes and specialists12.00.789
Whole class82.40.790

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 1Heath Miller TEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 3Darryl Blackstock LBArizona Cardinals
Rd 4Elton Brown OGArizona Cardinals
Rd 4Alvin Pearman RBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Chris Canty DEDallas Cowboys
Rd 6Andrew Hoffman DECleveland Browns
Rd 7Patrick Estes TESan Francisco 49ers

All-ACC

5 first team, 2 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.