2004 Utah Utes football team

American college football season

2004 Utah Utes football

Mountain West champion Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 35–7 vs. Pittsburgh
Conference	Mountain West Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
Record	12–0 (7–0 MW)
Head coach	Urban Meyer (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Sanford (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Kyle Whittingham (10th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Rice-Eccles Stadium
Seasons← 2003 2005 →

2004 Mountain West Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Utah $	7	–	0	12	–	0
New Mexico	5	–	2	7	–	5
BYU	4	–	3	5	–	6
Wyoming	3	–	4	7	–	5
Air Force	3	–	4	5	–	6
Colorado State	3	–	4	4	–	7
San Diego State	2	–	5	4	–	7
UNLV	1	–	6	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria Rankings from AP Poll

Utah Utes fans rush the field and carry the goalpost after defeating rival BYU, completing a perfect regular season, and becoming the first BCS Buster by clinching a spot in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl (hence the sombrero).

The 2004 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. This team was the original 'BCS Buster', meaning, this was the first time that a team from a BCS non-AQ conference was invited to play in one of the BCS bowl games. The team, coached by second-year head football coach Urban Meyer, played its home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Utah finished the season 12–0, the fourth undefeated and untied season in school history. The Utes were one of three teams in the top-level Division I FBS to finish the season undefeated (the others being the USC Trojans and the Auburn Tigers.)

Utah was the highest-ranked BCS non-AQ team in each poll every week of the season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	5:30 pm	Texas A&M*	No. 20	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City	ESPN	W 41–21	45,419
September 11	8:00 pm	at Arizona*	No. 17	Arizona Stadium Tucson, Arizona	KJZZ	W 23–6	52,790
September 18	5:00 pm	at Utah State*	No. 15	Romney Stadium Logan, Utah (Battle of the Brothers)	KJZZ	W 48–6	24,750
September 25	1:00 pm	Air Force	No. 14	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City	ESPN+	W 49–35	44,043
October 1	6:00 pm	at New Mexico	No. 14	University Stadium Albuquerque, New Mexico	ESPN2	W 28–7	40,182
October 16	8:00 pm	North Carolina*	No. 11	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City	KJZZ	W 46–16	45,319
October 23	5:00 pm	UNLV	No. 9	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City	KJZZ	W 63–28	40,341
October 30	7:00 pm	at San Diego State	No. 9	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego	KJZZ	W 51–28	32,683
November 6	7:45 pm	Colorado State	No. 7	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City	ESPN2	W 63–31	44,222
November 13	5:00 pm	at Wyoming	No. 7	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, Wyoming	ABC	W 45–28	17,074
November 20	5:00 pm	BYU	No. 5	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City (Holy War) (College GameDay)	ESPN2	W 52–21	45,326
January 1	6:30 pm	vs. No. 19 Pittsburgh*	No. 5	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona (Fiesta Bowl)	ABC	W 35–7	73,519
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	20	20	17	15	14	14	11	11	9	9	7	7	5	5	5	5	4
Coaches	21	19	16	14	14	14	11	10	10	10	8	8	6	6	6	6	5
BCS	Not released								7	6	6	7	6	6	6	6	Not released

Game summaries

Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	7	0	14	21
#20 Utes	7	20	7	7	41

Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Utes	17	0	6	0	23
Wildcats	3	3	0	0	6

Utah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Utes	20	21	7	0	48
Aggies	0	0	6	0	6

Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	7	7	14	7	35
#14 Utes	0	21	14	14	49

New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Utes	7	0	14	7	28
Lobos	7	0	0	0	7

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	7	3	6	0	16
#11 Utes	10	20	7	9	46

UNLV

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	7	7	7	7	28
#9 Utes	28	14	21	0	63

San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Utes	10	24	7	10	51
Aztecs	0	21	0	7	28

Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	3	7	0	21	31
#7 Utes	21	21	14	7	63

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Utes	17	14	14	0	45
Cowboys	7	0	7	14	28

BYU

BYU at #5 Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU	0	14	7	0	21
• Utah	7	14	17	14	52

Date: November 20
Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
Game start: 7:00 p.m.

Source:

Scoring summary

1	0:52	UTAH	Steve Savoy 2-yard run (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 7-0

2	12:13	BYU	Todd Watkins 5-yard pass from John Beck (Matt Payne kick)	Tied 7-7

2	9:28	UTAH	Marty Johnson 5-yard run (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 14-7

2	5:40	BYU	Curtis Brown 6-yard run (Matt Payne kick)	Tied 14-14

2	1:19	UTAH	Alex Smith 2-yard run (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 21-14

3	11:43	UTAH	David Carroll 30-yard field goal	UTAH 24-14

3	10:43	UTAH	Bo Nagahi 12-yard fumble return (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 31-14

3	8:38	BYU	Austin Collie 16-yard pass from John Beck (Matt Payne kick)	UTAH 31-21

3	5:59	UTAH	Steve Savoy 92-yard run (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 38-21

4	10:34	UTAH	Steve Savoy 20-yard pass from Alex Smith (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 45-21

4	1:03	UTAH	Steve Fifta 4-yard run (David Carroll kick)	UTAH 52-21

Fiesta Bowl: Utah vs. Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Panthers	0	0	7	0	7
#5 Utes	7	7	21	0	35

Main article: 2005 Fiesta Bowl See also: 2004 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Depth chart

Defensive starters

FS
Morgan Scalley
Antonio Young

OLB	MLB	OLB
Spencer Toone	Tommy Hackenbruck	Corey Dodds
Kyle Brady	Taylor Miller	Malakai Mokofisi
Grady Marshall

SS
Eric Weddle
Casey Evans

CB
Ryan Smith
Eugene Oates

DE	NT	T	LE
Marques Ledbetter	Sione Pouha	Steve Fifita	Jonathan Fanene
Martail Burnett	Tevita Kemoeatu	Tevita Kemoeatu	Reza Williams
	Kite Afeaki		Kite Afeaki

CB
Bo Nagahi
Eugene Oates

Offensive starters

WR
Steve Savoy
Derrek Richards

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Tavo Tupola	David Dirkmaat	Jesse Boone	Chris Kemoeatu	Makai Aalona
Jason Voss	Eric Pettit	Andrew Johnson	Kyle Gunther	David Dirkmaat
	Steve Dahl			Jason Boone

TE
Blake Burdette
Willie Sao

WR
Travis LaTendresse
Thomas Huff

WR
Paris Warren
Jerome Wright

WR
John Madsen
Jerome Wright

QB
Alex Smith
Brian Johnson
Fano Tagovailoa

RB
Marty Johnson
Quinton Ganther

Season Statistics

2004 Official Stats

Team

	Utah	Opp
Scoring	544	234
Points per game	45.3	19.5
First Downs	305	220
Rushing	145	90
Passing	136	103
Penalty	24	27
Rushing yards	2833	1682
Avg per play	5.4	3.8
Avg per game	236.1	140.2
Rushing touchdowns	36	19
Passing yards	3164	2439
Att-Comp-Int	344-232-5	372-196-16
Avg per pass	9.2	6.6
Avg per catch	13.6	12.4
Avg per game	263.7	203.2
Passing touchdowns	33	11
Total offense	5997	4121
Avg per play	6.9	5.1
Avg per game	499.8	343.2
Fumbles lost	22–9	19–13
Penalties – yards	88-765	80-693
Avg per game	63.8	57.8

	Team	Opp
Punts – yards	45-1878	70-2727
Avg per Punt	41.7	39.0
Time of possession/game	31:14	28:46
3rd down conversions	80-153	62-177
4th down conversions	9–17	15–25
Touchdowns scored	75	32
Field goals – attempts	7–7	4–11
PAT – attempts	71–75	30–30
Attendance	264670	167479
Games/Avg per game	6-44112	5-33496
Neutral Site	1-73519

Individual Leaders

Passing
Player	COMP	ATT	Pct.	YDS	TD	INT	QB Rating
Alex Smith	214	317	.675	2952	32	4	176.52
Brian Johnson	14	21	.667	142	1	1	129.66
Fan Tagovailoa	2	2	1.000	24	-	-	305.80
Paris Warren	1	2	.500	21	-	-	138.20

Rushing
Player	ATT	YDS	YPC	TD
Marty Johnson	165	802	4.9	14
Quinton Ganther	109	654	6.0	2
Alex Smith	135	631	4.7	10
Steve Savoy	22	307	14.0	6
Paris Warren	28	157	5.6	2
Brian Johnson	21	92	4.4	1

Receiving
Player	REC	YDS	YPR	TD
Paris Warren	80	1076	13.4	12
Steve Savoy	67	961	14.3	11
Travis Latendresse	27	411	15.2	2
John Madsen	27	377	14.0	5
Quinton Ganther	7	49	7.0	1
Marty Johnson	7	46	6.6	1
Jerome Wright	5	64	12.8	1

Tackles
Player	Solo	Asst	Total	TFL	Sacks
Spencer Toone	40	75	115	4	1
Tommy Hackenbruck	46	45	91	9.5	4.5
Eric Weddle	47	28	75	4.5	1
Morgan Scalley	27	24	51	2.5	2.5
Marquess Ledbetter	15	31	46	9	4.5
Steve Fifita	23	22	45	9	4.5
Ryan Smith	26	18	44	3	2
Bo Nagahi	31	11	42	2.5	0
Corey Dodds	10	27	37	4	2
Sione Pouha	16	20	36	3	2
Jonathan Fanene	12	10	22	5.5	3

Pass defense
Player	INT	YDS	Broken up
Morgan Scalley	6	79	2
Eric Weddle	4	34	5
Jonathan Fanene	1	76	1
Corey Dodds	1	26	1
Ryan Smith	1	0	7
Sione Pouha	1	0	4
Steve Fifita	1	6	2

After the season

NFL Draft

Utah had five players taken in the 2005 NFL draft:

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Alex Smith	Quarterback	1	1	San Francisco 49ers
Sione Pouha	Defensive tackle	3	88	New York Jets
Chris Kemoeatu	Offensive guard	6	204	Pittsburgh Steelers
Paris Warren	Wide receiver	7	225	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jonathan Fanene	Defensive end	7	233	Cincinnati Bengals

Awards

National

Urban Meyer: The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, Woody Hayes' National Coach of the Year, Maxwell George Munger Award
Alex Smith: Heisman Trophy finalist (fourth place), The Sporting News National Player of the Year, Sports Illustrated National Player of the Year, Cingular Sports/ABC Sports All-American, SI.com All-American (first team), CoSIDA Football Academic All-American of the Year, Davey O'Brien Award finalist, Walter Camp Award finalist
Chris Kemoeatu: Cingular Sports/ABC Sports All-American, SI.com All-American (first team)
Morgan Scalley: SI.com All-American (second team), CoSIDA Academic All-American (first team), Anson Mount Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Bronko Nagurski National Player of the Week, Pat Tillman Award (East–West Shrine Game honor)
Steve Savoy: SI.com All-American (second team), The Sporting News All-American (honorable mention)
Ryan Smith: The Sporting News Freshman All-American (second team)
Spencer Toone: CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII first team

Conference

Coach of the Year: Urban Meyer
Offensive Player of the Year: Alex Smith
Co-defensive Player of the Year: Morgan Scalley
All-MWC First team: Alex Smith, Steve Savoy, Chris Kemoeatu, Steve Fifita, Sione Pouha, Morgan Scalley
All-MWC Second team: Paris Warren, Marty Johnson, Jesse Boone, Eric Weddle
All-MWC Honorable mention: Makai Aalona, Quinton Ganther, Tommy Hackenbruck, Matt Kovacevich, Spencer Toone

References

^ "2004 Season Year in Review". Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
"Ute Record Book" (PDF). University of Utah. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
"NFL Draft History 2005". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2010.

v t e Utah Utes football
Venues	Cummings Field (1903–1926) Robert Rice Stadium (1927–1997) Rice–Eccles Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games BYU: Holy War (Beehive Boot) Colorado: Rumble in the Rockies Utah State: Battle of the Brothers (Beehive Boot)
Culture & lore	Swoop "Utah Man" Pride of Utah Utah pass
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Mountain West Conference football champions
BYU, Colorado State, & Utah (1999) Colorado State (2000) BYU (2001) Colorado State (2002) Utah (2003) Utah (2004) TCU (2005) BYU (2006) BYU (2007) Utah (2008) TCU (2009) TCU (2010) TCU (2011) Boise State, Fresno State, & San Diego State (2012) Fresno State (2013) Boise State (2014) San Diego State (2015) San Diego State (2016) Boise State (2017) Fresno State (2018) Boise State (2019) San Jose State (2020) Utah State (2021) Fresno State (2022) Boise State (2023) Boise State (2024)

Mountain West Conference football champions

BYU, Colorado State, & Utah (1999)
Colorado State (2000)
BYU (2001)
Colorado State (2002)
Utah (2003)
Utah (2004)
TCU (2005)
BYU (2006)
BYU (2007)
Utah (2008)
TCU (2009)
TCU (2010)
TCU (2011)
Boise State, Fresno State, & San Diego State (2012)
Fresno State (2013)
Boise State (2014)
San Diego State (2015)
San Diego State (2016)
Boise State (2017)
Fresno State (2018)
Boise State (2019)
San Jose State (2020)
Utah State (2021)
Fresno State (2022)
Boise State (2023)
Boise State (2024)

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