CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2004 West Virginia

8–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Big East), coached by Rich Rodriguez.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 2004, game by game: won vs. East Carolina 56–23; won at UCF 45–20; won vs. No. 21 Maryland 19–16; won vs. James Madison 45–10; lost at Virginia Tech 13–19; won at UConn 31–19; won vs. Syracuse 27–6; won at Rutgers 35–30; won vs. Temple 42–21; lost vs. No. 21 Boston College 17–36; lost at Pittsburgh 13–16; lost vs. No. 16 Florida State 18–30+35−19Won 56–23 vs. East Carolina+33East CarolinaWon 45–20 at UCF+25UCFWon 19–16 vs. No. 21 Maryland+3No. 21 MarylandWon 45–10 vs. James Madison+35James MadisonLost 13–19 at Virginia Tech-6Virginia TechWon 31–19 at UConn+12UConnWon 27–6 vs. Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 35–30 at Rutgers+5RutgersWon 42–21 vs. Temple+21TempleLost 17–36 vs. No. 21 Boston College-19No. 21 Boston CollegeLost 13–16 at Pittsburgh-3PittsburghLost 18–30 vs. No. 16 Florida State-12No. 16 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsEast CarolinaW 56–⁠2384%
Sep 11atUCFW 45–⁠2072%
Sep 18vs21MarylandW 19–⁠1652%
Sep 25vsJames MadisonW 45–⁠1088%
Oct 2atVirginia TechL 13–⁠1950%
Oct 13atUConnW 31–⁠1950%
Oct 21vsSyracuseW 27–⁠674%
Oct 30atRutgersW 35–⁠3074%
Nov 6vsTempleW 42–⁠2192%
Nov 13vs21Boston CollegeL 17–⁠3664%
Nov 25atPittsburghL 13–⁠1650%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs16Florida StateGator BowlL 18–⁠3041%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 30–⁠18 in the Gator Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Big East champions.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 3: 10
  3. Wk 4: 7
  4. Wk 5: 6
  5. Wk 6: 6
  6. Wk 7: 16
  7. Wk 8: 17
  8. Wk 9: 15
  9. Wk 10: 15
  10. Wk 11: 15
  11. Wk 12: 13
  12. Wk 13: 21
  13. Wk 14: 21

Big East champions4–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Boston College, Pittsburgh and Syracuse

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 shared first in Big East
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
361–⁠246
Coach
Rich Rodriguez
Elo
1598 +8 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 40 of 120; offense No. 45, defense No. 42
SRS
7.6 No. 28 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 38
Offensive coordinator
Calvin Magee
Defensive coordinator
Jeff Casteel
Offense
Spread option
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense35th of 118
  • Defense19th of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0237%1.0235th of 118
Defense-0.1233%1.0019th 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 322% 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

Brandon Barrett WR★★★★No. 42
Marcus Platt RB★★No. 831
Chad Mayse ILB★★No. 831
Mike Dent SDE★★No. 979
Jake Figner OG★★No. 979

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

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs22.00.767
Receivers42.50.809
Offensive line22.00.767
Defensive line22.00.756
Linebackers22.00.778
Defensive backs12.00.767
Whole class132.20.780

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 1Adam Jones DBTennessee Titans
Rd 3Chris Henry WRCincinnati Bengals
Rd 5Rasheed Marshall WRSan Francisco 49ers

2004 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Boston College4–⁠29–⁠321
West Virginia4–⁠28–⁠4
Pittsburgh4–⁠28–⁠425
Syracuse4–⁠26–⁠6
UConn3–⁠38–⁠4
Rutgers1–⁠54–⁠7
Temple1–⁠52–⁠9

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