2004 Florida Gators football team

2004 Florida Gators football
Peach Bowl, L 27–10 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference Southeastern Conference
Division Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches No. 25
2004 record 7–5 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach Ron Zook (3rd year)
Charlie Strong (interim)
Offensive coordinator Larry Fedora (1st season)
Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong (2nd season)
Captain Channing Crowder
Mike Degory
Ciatrick Fason
Travis Harris
Home stadium Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
(Capacity: 88,548)[1]
2004 SEC football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Eastern Division
No. 13 Tennessee x  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 7 Georgia  6 –2     10 –2  
Florida  4 –4     7 –5  
South Carolina  4 –4     6 –5  
Kentucky  1 –7     2 –9  
Vanderbilt  1 –7     2 –9  
Western Division
No. 2 Auburn x$  8 –0     13 –0  
No. 16 LSU  6 –2     9 –3  
Alabama  3 –5     6 –6  
Arkansas  3 –5     5 –6  
Ole Miss  3 –5     4 –7  
Mississippi State  2 –6     3 –8  
Championship: Auburn 38, Tennessee 28
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2004 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The season was the third and last for head coach Ron Zook, who led the Gators to a regular season record of 7–4 (.636).

Pre-season

For the fifth time in school history, Florida played five of its first six games at home. Four of the last five games were on the road. Florida's record for the two prior seasons under Zook on the road in conference play was an SEC league best 7–1. Eight starters returned and true sophomore Chris Leak would start the first game of the season at the helm for the first time. The Gators opened the season against Eastern Michigan from the Mid-American Conference.

Schedule

Date Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 11 Eastern Michigan* No. 11 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida PPV W 49–10   90,009
September 18 at No. 13 Tennessee No. 11 Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, Tennessee CBS L 28–30   109,061
September 25 Kentucky No. 16 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida ESPN2 W 20–3   89,741
October 2 Arkansas No. 16 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida CBS W 45–30   90,014
October 9 No. 24 LSU No. 12 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida ESPN L 21–24   90,377
October 16 Middle Tennessee* No. 22 Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida PPV W 52–16   90,018
October 23 at Mississippi State No. 19 Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi JPS L 31–38   43,170
October 30 No. 7 Georgia Alltel Stadium • Jacksonville, Florida CBS L 24–31   84,753
November 6 at Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee PPV W 34–17   32,716
November 13 South Carolinadagger Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida ESPN2 W 48–14   90,294
November 20 at No. 10 Florida State* Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, Florida ESPN W 20–13   84,223
December 31 No. 14 Miami (FL)* No. 19 Georgia Dome • Atlanta, Georgia (Peach Bowl) ESPN L 10–27   69,322
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Sources: 2012 Florida Football Media Guide,[2] and GatorZone.com.[3]

Game summaries

Eastern Michigan

1 234Total
Eastern Michigan 3 7010 20
• Florida 7 21210 49

Tennessee

1 234Total
Florida 7 1407 28
• Tennessee 7 7016 30

Kentucky

1 234Total
Kentucky 3 000 3
• Florida 3 737 20
  • Date: September 25
  • Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Arkansas

1 234Total
Arkansas 0 7716 30
• Florida 7 2837 45
  • Date: October 2
  • Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

LSU

1 234Total
• LSU 0 1437 24
Florida 14 700 21
  • Date: October 9
  • Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Middle Tennessee State

1 234Total
Middle Tennessee St 3 1030 16
• Florida 17 14210 52
  • Date: October 16
  • Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

The match with MTSU was intended to be the season opener for the Gators, but was cancelled and rescheduled because of Hurricane Frances. This left the Gators without a regular-season bye week.

Mississippi State

1 234Total
Florida 0 14107 31
• Mississippi St 7 10714 38

Following this loss, head coach Ron Zook was fired, but allowed to coach the remainder of the season.

Georgia

1 234Total
Florida 0 0710 17
• Georgia 7 737 24

Vanderbilt

1 234Total
• Florida 7 7010 24
Vanderbilt 10 700 17

South Carolina

1 234Total
South Carolina 7 007 14
• Florida 0 211017 48
  • Date: November 13
  • Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Florida State

1 234Total
• Florida 7 3010 20
Florida St 0 3010 13

Ron Zook's last game as head coach of the Florida Gators.

[4]

Peach Bowl

1 234Total
Florida 0 370 10
• Miami (FL) 7 1073 27

Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was interim head coach for the bowl game.

Coaching staff

See also

References

  1. ↑ University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 2004 Media Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  2. ↑ 2012 Florida Football Media Guide Archived 2013-05-27 at the Wayback Machine., University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 113 & 116 (2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  3. ↑ GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 2004. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ ESPN.com

Bibliography

  • 2009 Southeastern Conference Football Media Guide, Florida Year-by-Year Records, Southeastern Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, p. 60 (2009).
  • 2012 Florida Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 107–116 (2012).
  • Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
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