This article documents a current sporting event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports, scores, or statistics may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
The 2004-05 NCAA college football bowl season is a series of 32 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) in December 2004 and January 2005 for Division I-A football teams and their all-stars. The post-season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 14, and will conclude on January 29, 2005, with the season-ending Senior Bowl.
Minor bowls
Of the 59 Division I-A football teams with winning records, 56 were invited to the various bowl games. This season, bowl officials had more difficulty than usual filling their slots. Because the regular season was only 11 games, teams had to finish at least 6-5 to qualify. Teams that were allowed under NCAA rules to play a 12th regular-season game in return for playing at Hawai‘i had to finish at least 7-5.
The Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, and SEC all failed to produce enough bowl-eligible teams to fill their contracted bowl slots. In addition, a massive brawl between Clemson and South Carolina players during their November 20 game led both schools to announce that they would not go to any bowl game. Both schools were otherwise bowl-eligible, which forced bowl organizers to scramble even more to fill their slots. Also, Utah's unexpected entry into the BCS caused some shuffling of normal bowl tie-ins.
The main beneficiary of this unexpected chaos was the Mid-American Conference, which received five bowl bids instead of its contracted two. The only bowl-eligible team willing to accept an invitation that was left out of this season's bowl games was Akron.
Many of these teams, including almost all of the teams from minor conferences, participated in bowls in December.
The bowl season kicked off with the fourth annual Wyndham New Orleans Bowl on December 14. Dustin Almond passed for 249 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for a touchdown as well, as Southern Miss of Conference USA defeated the Sun Belt Conference's North Texas 31-10.
Held on December 21 in Orlando, Florida, the Champs Sports Bowl featured Georgia Tech from the ACC and Syracuse from the Big East. Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, while the Yellowjackets defense recorded a touchdown off of an interception and a safety. Georgia Tech romped, 51-14.
Bowling Green from the Mid-American Conference met Memphis of Conference USA on December 22 in Mobile, Alabama for the GMAC Bowl. In a meeting of high-powered offenses, Memphis's Danny Wimprime threw for 324 yards and 4 touchdowns, but was outdone by his counterpart Omar Jacobs, who had 365 yards and 5 touchdowns. Bowling Green won, 52-35.
The Fort Worth Bowl, held on December 23 in that city, matched a departing Conference USA team with a future member of that conference. Cincinnati, which will leave C-USA for the Big East Conference after this season, played Marshall, which will join C-USA from the Mid-American Conference. Cincinnati quarterback Gino Guidugli returned from a broken hand to throw for two touchdowns, and the Bearcats defense held Marshall to 134 yards of total offense in a 32-14 win. The loss broke the Thundering Herd's streaks of 20 consecutive winning seasons and five winning bowl appearances (in nonconsecutive years).
The first matchup of the bowl season that pitted a team from a BCS conference against a non-BCS team was the Las Vegas Bowl, held in that city on December 23. UCLA of the Pac-10 played Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference; UCLA was a heavy favorite. The underdog Cowboys took an early 10-0 lead, but the Bruins stormed back to take a 21-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Cowboys scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a trick play, and capped off the first major upset of the bowl season with a touchdown pass from Corey Bramlet to John Wadkowski with 57 seconds left. The 24-21 Wyoming win was the Cowboys' first bowl victory since 1968.
On December 24, Hawai‘i from the Western Athletic Conference played the Hawaii Bowl on its home field in Honolulu for the third time in the bowl's three-year existence. Its opponent, Conference USA representative UAB, was playing in its first bowl game. In an offensive shootout that saw both quarterbacks (Hawai‘i's Timmy Chang and UAB's Darrell Hackney) throw for over 400 yards, the homestanding Warriors won 59-40. The Warriors' Chad Owens caught two of Chang's four touchdown passes and returned a punt for a TD. Chang finished his career as the first Division I-A quarterback to throw for over 17,000 yards in his career, and also finished with career records for pass attempts, completions, and total offense.
On December 27, the second matchup between BCS and non-BCS teams took place in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Fresno State of the WAC played ACC representative Virginia. UVa went out to a 21-7 second-quarter lead, but the Bulldogs stormed back to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers retook the lead early in the fourth quarter on a rushing touchdown by Wali Lundy, but Bulldogs quarterback Paul Pinegar threw a 3-yard TD pass to Jason Fairman with 19 seconds left; the ensuing extra point tied the game at 31, leading to the first overtime of the 2004-05 bowl season. In the overtime, the Cavaliers had the ball first and kicked a field goal. On the Bulldogs' first play in overtime, Pinegar threw his fifth TD pass of the day, connecting with Stephen Spach to give the Bulldogs a 37-34 upset win.
The other bowl on December 27, the Motor City Bowl held at Ford Field in Detroit, was also a BCS/non-BCS matchup. UConn made its first-ever bowl appearance in its second year in Division I-A and its first as a member of the Big East Conference. The Huskies' opponent, Mid-American Conference champion Toledo, was playing little more than an hour's drive from its campus. Rockets quarterback Bruce Gradowski, affected by a broken hand suffered in the MAC championship game, was ineffective before being benched at halftime. However, the Huskies were effective enough that a healthy Gradowski may not have made a difference; UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky threw for two TDs with no interceptions, and return specialist Larry Taylor had 157 return yards, including a punt return for a TD. UConn won 39-10, giving the BCS its first win in three tries against non-BCS teams this season.
On December 28 in Shreveport, Louisiana, another BCS/non-BCS matchup took place in the Independence Bowl between Iowa State of the Big 12 and Miami (Ohio) of the MAC. Iowa State went out to a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, but Miami scored a touchdown late in that quarter to reduce the Cyclones' halftime lead to 10-7. The RedHawks scored a TD to take a 13-10 lead in the third quarter, but missed the extra point. The Cyclones' Ryan Kock scored the winning TD early in the fourth quarter, and the Cyclones defense held on for the 17-13 win. Two Cyclones, quarterback Bret Meyer and running back Stevie Hicks, rushed for over 100 yards each. RedHawks receiver Michael Larkin extended his NCAA record of consecutive games with a reception to 50. This was the last game for RedHawks head coach Terry Hoeppner, who will take the head job at Indiana.
The second bowl on December 28, the Insight Bowl held at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, was the first of the 2004-05 bowl season to pit two BCS member teams. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the only independent BCS member, took on the Oregon State Beavers from the Pac 10. The Beavers never trailed in the game, and easily defeated the Irish 38-21. Beavers quarterback Derek Anderson threw for 359 yards and four touchdown passes, with no interceptions.
On December 29, the Colorado Buffaloes from the Big 12 took on the UTEP Miners from the WAC in the Houston Bowl at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Miners led for most of the game, but Buffaloes quarterback Joel Klatt threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter to lead CU to a 33-28 win. Klatt finished 24-for-33 for 333 yards. Miners QB Jordan Palmer, younger brother of 2003 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer, threw for 328 yards and two TDs, but was pressured into a 22-for-42 day and two interceptions.
In the other game on December 29, the Alamo Bowl held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, the Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten) took on the Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big 12). The Buckeyes defense set the tone for the game early, intercepting Cowboys quarterback Donovan Woods during the game's first possession. Justin Zwick, starting at quarterback in place of the suspended Troy Smith, threw a touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez three plays later, giving the Buckeyes a lead that they never relinquished. The Buckeyes won 33-7.
In the first of four games on December 30, the Boston College Eagles, which will be leaving the Big East in July 2005 to join the ACC, played a current ACC member, the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Continental Tire Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Eagles quarterback Paul Peterson earned MVP honors by going 24-for-33 for 236 yards and two TDs before breaking his leg in the fourth quarter. Most of the game was close, with three ties, before the Eagles pulled away to win their fifth consecutive bowl game and final game as a Big East member 37-24.
The second game on December 30, the Emerald Bowl held at SBC Park in San Francisco, pitted the Navy Midshipmen (independent) against the New Mexico Lobos (Mountain West). After the Lobos jumped to an early 7-0 lead, Navy QB Aaron Polanco took over the game, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for a fourth. The Midshipmen defense performed well in the clutch, forcing two turnovers in the first half that led to TDs and making a successful goal-line stand in the third quarter. After the stand, the Midshipmen offense then went on a 26-play drive that lasted nearly 15 minutes, ending with the touchdown that sealed Navy's 34-19 win. The Midshipmen finished the season 10-2, their first 10-win season since 1905.
Conference Standings
In the list of teams, winners are marked in bold, losers are marked in italics. Teams in standard case have not played yet. The list is sorted by winning percentage, then by number of competing teams, and finally by number of teams that have played to date.
| Conf | # | W | L | Left | Pct | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Ten | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1.000 | Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio St, Purdue, Wisconsin |
| Big 12 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.667 | Colorado, Iowa St, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech |
| WAC | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.667 | Boise St, Fresno St, Hawai'i, UTEP |
| Big East | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0.667 | Boston College, UConn, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia |
| C-USA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 | Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB |
| Pac-10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.500 | Arizona St, California, Oregon St, UCLA, USC |
| Mt West | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming |
| Indep. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | Navy, Notre Dame |
| ACC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.333 | Florida St, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech |
| MAC | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.250 | Bowling Green, Marshall, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Toledo |
| Sun Belt | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 | North Texas, Troy |
| SEC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | --- | Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee |
Future minor bowls
- Holiday (Dec. 30): Cal vs. Texas Tech
- A possible letdown? Cal was hoping to go to its first Rose Bowl since 1959, but a closer-than-expected season-ending win over Southern Miss, combined with Utah earning a mandatory BCS bid, pushed Cal out of the BCS and all the way to the Holiday Bowl.
- Silicon Valley (Dec. 30): Northern Illinois vs. Troy
- Troy is the third first-time participant in this year's bowl season.
- Music City (Dec. 31): Alabama vs. Minnesota
- Sun (Dec. 31): Arizona State vs. Purdue
- Liberty (Dec. 31): Boise State vs. Louisville
- This promises to be the most entertaining bowl matchup of the year, as it pits the two highest-ranked offenses in Division I-A. Louisville leads the nation in scoring offense and total offense, while Boise State is second in both categories. Louisville has scored 55 or more points in its last five games, a major-college record; Boise has done the same in its last four games. Boise is on a 22-game winning streak, currently the longest in Division I-A.
- Peach (Dec. 31): Florida vs. Miami
- Outback (Jan. 1): Georgia vs. Wisconsin
- Cotton (Jan. 1): Texas A&M vs. Tennessee
- Gator (Jan. 1): Florida State vs. West Virginia
- Capital One (Jan. 1): Iowa vs. LSU
Bowl Championship Series games
Rose Bowl (Jan. 1): #13 Michigan vs #4 Texas
- Promises to be a historic, as well as entertaining, matchup: Michigan has the most NCAA victories of any football program, while Texas is ranked 3rd on the all-time victories list. Yet, in over 100 years of football, these two teams have never faced each other. This game also marks Texas' first ever trip to the Rose Bowl.
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1): #21 Pittsburgh vs #6 Utah
- Another historic matchup, as Utah becomes the first non-BCS school to appear in a BCS game. This will be the swan song for Utes coach Urban Meyer, who will leave after the game to take the head coaching job at Florida.
Sugar Bowl (Jan. 3): #3 Auburn vs #8 Virginia Tech
Orange Bowl (Jan. 4): #1 USC vs #2 Oklahoma
Breaking News
On December 21, 2004, the Associated Press issued a cease and desist letter to the Bowl Championship Series telling them to stop using the AP poll in the BCS rankings. Read Story
All-Star Games
These exhibition games will follow the Bowl Championship Series:
East-West Shrine Game (Jan. 15)
Gridiron Classic (Jan. 15)
Hula Bowl (Jan. 22)
Senior Bowl (Jan. 29)