2004 Florida Gators football team

2004 Florida Gators football

Peach Bowl, L 27–10 vs. Miami
Conference	Southeastern Conference Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	#25
2004 record	7–5 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach	Ron Zook Charlie Strong (interim)
Offensive coordinator	Larry Fedora
Defensive coordinator	Charlie Strong
Captain	Channing Crowder Mike Degory Ciatrick Fason Travis Harris
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium


2004 SEC football standings
Team	W		L	W		L
Eastern Division
#13 Tennessee ^x	7	–	1	10	–	3
#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
#2 Auburn ^x†	8	–	0	13	–	0
#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 college 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 and results

Date	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
9–11–2004	Eastern Michigan*	#11	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 49–10	90,009
9–18–2004	#13 Tennessee	#11	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	CBS	L 28–30	109,061
9–25–2004	Kentucky	#16	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	ESPN2	W 20–3	89,741
10–2–2004	Arkansas	#16	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	CBS	W 45–30	90,014
10–9–2004	#24 Louisiana State	#12	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	ESPN	L 21–24	90,377
10–16–2004	Middle Tennessee*	#22	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 52–16	90,018
10–23–2004	Mississippi State	#19	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS	JPS	L 31–38	43,170
10–30–2004	#7 Georgia		Alltel Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	CBS	L 24–31	84,753
11–6–2004	Vanderbilt		Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN	PPV	W 34–17	32,716
11–13–2004	South Carolina		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL (HC)	ESPN2	W 48–14	90,294
11–20–2004	#10 Florida State*		Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	W 20–13	84,223
12–31–2004	#14 Miami*	#19	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–27	69,322
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Sources: 2012 Florida Football Media Guide,^[1] and GatorZone.com.^[2]

Game notes

Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eastern Michigan	3	7	0	10	20
• Florida	7	21	21	0	49

Date: September 4
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	7	14	0	7	28
• Tennessee	7	7	0	16	30

Date: September 11
Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee

Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kentucky	3	0	0	0	3
• Florida	3	7	3	7	20

Date: September 25
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Arkansas	0	7	7	16	30
• Florida	7	28	3	7	45

Date: October 2
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

LSU

Middle Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee St	3	10	3	0	16
• Florida	17	14	21	0	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	2	3	4	Total
Florida	0	14	10	7	31
• Mississippi St	7	10	7	14	38

Date: October 23
Location: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Mississippi

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

Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	0	0	7	10	17
• Georgia	7	7	3	7	24

Date: October 31
Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida	7	7	0	10	24
Vanderbilt	10	7	0	0	17

Date: November 6
Location: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Carolina	7	0	0	7	14
• Florida	0	21	10	17	48

Date: November 13
Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Florida	7	3	0	10	20
Florida St	0	3	0	10	13

Date: November 20
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Game start: 7:45 EST

Scoring summary

1	7:56	Florida	Chad Jackson 13 yard pass from Chris Leak (Matt Leach kick)	Florida 7-0

2	9:01	Florida	Matt Leach 38 yard field goal	Florida 10-0

2	0:17	Florida St	Gary Cismesia 20 yard field goal	Florida 10-3

4	11:51	Florida	Matt Leach 21 yard field goal	Florida 13-3

4	8:30	Florida St	Chauncey Stovall 27 yard pass from Chris Rix (Xavier Beitia kick)	Florida 13-10

4	4:59	Florida	Ciatrick Fason 8 yard run (Matt Leach kick)	Florida 20-10

4	3:48	Florida St	Xavier Beitia 52 yard field goal	Florida 20-13

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

^[3]

Peach Bowl

Coaching staff

Ron Zook - Head Coach
Jerry "Red" Anderson - Defensive Line
Dan Disch - Assistant Coach/Secondary
Dwayne Dixon - Assistant Head Coach/Inside Receivers
Larry Fedora - Offensive Coordinator/Receivers
Mike Locksley - Running Backs / Recruiting Coordinator
Bill Miller - Associate Head Coach (Linebackers)
Charlie Strong - Defensive Coordinator
Joe Wickline - Offensive Line/Running Game Coordinator
Ed Zaunbrecher - Quarterbacks

References

↑ 2012 Florida Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 113 & 116 (2012). Retrieved September 16, 2012.
↑ GatorZone.com, Football, History, Florida Football 2004. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
↑ 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.

External links

College Football Data Warehouse, Florida Yearly Results: 2000–2004. Retrieved September 16, 2012.

Florida Gators football

Venues	University Athletic Field / Fleming Field (1906–30) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field (1930–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Auburn Florida State (Florida Cup) Georgia LSU Miami (Florida Cup) Tennessee

Culture & lore	Albert and Alberta Gator "The Orange and Blue" "We are the Boys from old Florida" The Pride of the Sunshine Gator Chomp Gatorade Mr. Two Bits

People	Head coaches Ring of Honor All-Americans UF Athletic Hall of Fame Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL players

Seasons	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

National championship seasons in bold