2004 Florida Gators football team
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).
2004 Florida Gators football | |
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Peach Bowl, L 27–10 vs. Miami (FL) | |
Conference | Southeastern Conference |
Eastern Division | |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 25 |
2004 record | 7–5 (4–4 SEC) |
Head coach |
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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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 |
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September 11 | Eastern Michigan* | No. 11 | PPV | W 49–10 | 90,009 | |
September 18 | at No. 13 Tennessee | No. 11 | CBS | L 28–30 | 109,061 | |
September 25 | Kentucky | No. 16 |
| ESPN2 | W 20–3 | 89,741 |
October 2 | Arkansas | No. 16 |
| CBS | W 45–30 | 90,014 |
October 9 | No. 24 LSU | No. 12 |
| ESPN | L 21–24 | 90,377 |
October 16 | Middle Tennessee* | No. 22 |
| PPV | W 52–16 | 90,018 |
October 23 | at Mississippi State | No. 19 | JPS | L 31–38 | 43,170 | |
October 30 | vs. No. 7 Georgia | CBS | L 24–31 | 84,753 | ||
November 6 | at Vanderbilt | PPV | W 34–17 | 32,716 | ||
November 13 | South Carolina |
| ESPN2 | W 48–14 | 90,294 | |
November 20 | at No. 10 Florida State* | ESPN | W 20–13 | 84,223 | ||
December 31 | vs. No. 14 Miami (FL)* | No. 19 | ESPN | L 10–27 | 69,322 | |
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Sources: 2012 Florida Football Media Guide,[2] and GatorZone.com.[3]
Game summaries
Eastern Michigan
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Tennessee
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Kentucky
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Arkansas
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LSU
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Middle Tennessee State
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The match with MTSU was intended to be the season opener for the Gators, but was canceled and rescheduled because of Hurricane Frances. This left the Gators without a regular-season bye week.
Mississippi State
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Following this loss, head coach Ron Zook was fired, but allowed to coach the remainder of the season.
Georgia
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Vanderbilt
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South Carolina
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Florida State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Florida | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
Florida St | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
at Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, Florida
- Date: November 20
- Game time: 7:45 EDT
- Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C) • Wind S 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn) to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
- Game attendance: 84,223
- Referee: Steve Shaw
- Gatorzone.com
Game information | ||
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Ron Zook's last game as head coach of the Florida Gators and spoiled the dedication of the field for Bobby Bowden.
Scoring summary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Peach Bowl
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Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was interim head coach for the bowl game.
Coaching staff
- Ron Zook – head coach
- Jerry "Red" Anderson – defensive line coach
- Dan Disch – secondary coach
- Dwayne Dixon – assistant head coach / inside receivers coach
- Larry Fedora – offensive coordinator / receivers coach
- Mike Locksley – running backs coach / recruiting coordinator
- Bill Miller – associate head coach / linebackers coach
- Charlie Strong – defensive coordinator/ interim head coach
- Joe Wickline – offensive line coach / running game coordinator
- Ed Zaunbrecher – quarterbacks coach
See also
References
- University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 2004 Media Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- 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.
- GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 2004 Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
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.