2004 Mountain West Conference football season
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 Mountain West Conference football season was the 6th since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the MWC. It was the last season of the conference's original eight-team line up, as Texas Christian University had agreed to join the conference for the 2005 season. The University of Utah won the conference championship in 2004, the Utes' 3rd MWC title since the league began in 1999. On the strength of their perfect 11-0 record in the regular season, Utah became the first team from a non-BCS conference to be invited to a BCS bowl when they accepted an invitation to play Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.
Final standings
| 2004 Mountain West Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowl Games
UCLA vs. Wyoming in the 2004 Las Vegas Bowl
| Bowl | Date | Stadium | City | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas Bowl | December 23, 2004 | Sam Boyd Stadium | Las Vegas, Nevada | Wyoming 24, UCLA 21 |
| Emerald Bowl | December 30, 2004 | SBC Park | San Francisco, California | Navy 34, New Mexico 19 |
| Fiesta Bowl | January 1, 2005 | Sun Devil Stadium | Tempe, Arizona | Utah 35, Pittsburgh 7 |
Awards
- Coach of the Year: Urban Meyer, Utah
- Offensive Player of the Year: QB Alex Smith, Jr, Utah
- Co-Defensive Players of the Year: LB Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State and DB Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah
- Freshman of the Year: WR Austin Collie, BYU
Pre-Season All Conference Team
| Offense | |
|---|---|
| Quarterback | Alex Smith, Jr, Utah |
| Running back | Darnell Stephens, Sr, Air Force DonTrell Moore, Jr, New Mexico |
| Wide receiver | David Anderson, Jr, Colorado State Todd Watkins, Jr, BYU |
| Tight end | Joel Dreessen, Sr, Colorado State |
| Offensive Line | Ryan Cook, Jr, New Mexico Trenton Franz, Sr, Wyoming Chris Kemoeatu, Sr, Utah Erik Pears, Sr, Colorado State Claude Terrell, Sr, New Mexico |
| Kicker | Deric Yaussi, Jr, Wyoming |
| Kick Returner | Joel Kurzdorfer, Sr, Air Force |
| Defense | |
|---|---|
| Defensive Line | Steve Fifita, Sr, Utah Zach Morris, Sr, Wyoming Marcus Parker, Jr, New Mexico Sione Pouha, Sr, Utah |
| Linebacker | Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State Brady Poppinga, Sr, BYU John Rudzinski, Sr, Air Force |
| Defensive back | Jamaal Brimmer, Sr, UNLV Aaron Francisco, Sr, BYU Brandon Payne, Sr, New Mexico Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah |
| Punter | Matt Payne, Sr, BYU |
All Conference Team
| Offense | |
|---|---|
| Quarterback | Alex Smith, Jr, Utah |
| Running back | Dominique Dorsey, Sr, UNLV DonTrell Moore, Jr, New Mexico |
| Wide receiver | Steve Savoy, So, Utah Todd Watkins, Jr, BYU |
| Tight end | Joel Dreessen, Sr, Colorado State |
| Offensive Line | Ryan Cook, Jr, New Mexico Trenton Franz, Sr, Wyoming Chris Kemoeatu, Sr, Utah Erik Pears, Sr, Colorado State Claude Terrell, Sr, New Mexico |
| Kicker | Deric Yaussi, Jr, Wyoming |
| Kick Returner | Hoost Marsh, Fr, Wyoming |
| Defense | |
|---|---|
| Defensive Line | Steve Fifita, Sr, Utah Zach Morris, Sr, Wyoming Marcus Parker, Jr, New Mexico Sione Pouha, Sr, Utah |
| Linebacker | Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State Brady Poppinga, Sr, BYU Nick Speegle, Sr, New Mexico |
| Defensive back | Jamaal Brimmer, Sr, UNLV Aaron Francisco, Sr, BYU Brandon Payne, Sr, New Mexico Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah |
| Punter | Matt Payne, Sr, BYU |
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