The 2004–05 NCAA football bowl games were a series of 32 post-season games (including the Bowl Championship Series) played 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, 2004, and concluded on January 29, 2005, with the season-ending Senior Bowl.
A total of 28 team-competitive games, and five all-star games, were played. For the first time in three years, the 56 available bowl slots were filled by teams with winning records, as no teams with non-winning seasons (6–6, or .500) were invited to participate in bowl games.
Schedule -Non-BCS BowlsDateTimeGameSiteMatchupRef. Dec 14 7:30 PM New Orleans Bowl Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA Southern Miss 31, North Texas 10 Dec 21 7:45 PM Champs Sports Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL Georgia Tech 51, Syracuse 14 Dec 22 8:00 PM GMAC Bowl Ladd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL Bowling Green 52, Memphis 35Dec 23 6:30 PM Fort Worth Bowl Amon G. Carter StadiumFort Worth, TX Cincinnati 32, Marshall 14 9:45 PM Las Vegas Bowl Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV Wyoming 24, UCLA 21 Dec 24 7:00 PM Hawaii Bowl Aloha StadiumHonolulu, HI Hawaii 59, UAB 40Dec 27 2:00 PM MPC Computers Bowl Bronco StadiumBoise, ID Fresno State 37, No. 18 Virginia 34 5:30 PM Motor City Bowl Ford FieldDetroit, MI Connecticut 39, Toledo 10Dec 28 6:30 PM Independence Bowl Independence StadiumShreveport, LA Iowa State 17, Miami (OH) 13 9:45 PM Insight Bowl Bank One BallparkPhoenix, AZ Oregon State 38, Notre Dame 21Dec 29 4:30 PM Houston Bowl Reliant StadiumHouston, TX Colorado 33, UTEP 28 8:00 PM Alamo Bowl AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX No. 24 Ohio State 33, Oklahoma State 7Dec 30 1:00 PM Continental Tire Bowl Ericsson StadiumCharlotte, NC No. 25 Boston College 37, North Carolina 24 4:30 PM Emerald Bowl SBC ParkSan Francisco, CA Navy 34, New Mexico 19 8:00 PM Holiday Bowl Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA No. 23 Texas Tech 45, No. 4 California 31 11:00 PM Silicon Valley Football Classic Spartan StadiumSan Jose, CA Northern Illinois 34, Troy 21Dec 31 12:00 PM Music City Bowl The ColiseumNashville, TN Minnesota 20, Alabama 16 2:00 PM Sun Bowl Sun BowlEl Paso, TX No. 21 Arizona State 27, Purdue 23 3:30 PM Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN No. 7 Louisville 44, No. 10 Boise State 40 7:30 PM Peach Bowl Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA No. 13 Miami (FL) 27, No. 20 Florida 10Jan 1 11:00 AM Outback Bowl Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL No. 8 Georgia 24, No. 16 Wisconsin 21 11:00 AM Cotton Bowl Cotton BowlDallas, TX No. 15 Tennessee 38, No. 22 Texas A&M 7 12:30 PM Gator Bowl Alltel StadiumJacksonville, FL No. 17 Florida State 30, West Virginia 18 1:00 PM Capital One Bowl Florida Citrus BowlOrlando, FL No. 11 Iowa 30, No. 12 LSU 25BCS BowlsJan 1 5:00 PM Rose Bowl Rose BowlPasadena, CA No. 6 Texas 38, No. 13 Michigan 37 8:30 PM Fiesta Bowl Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ No. 5 Utah 35, No. 19 Pittsburgh 7 Jan 3 8:00 PM Sugar Bowl Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA No. 3 Auburn 16, No. 9 Virginia Tech 13 Jan 4 8:00 PM Orange Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) Pro Player StadiumMiami Gardens, FL No. 1 USC 55, No. 2 Oklahoma 19 Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game. All times are in Eastern Time.
Non-BCS 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 Hawaii had to finish at least 7–5.
Four conferences – the Big Ten, 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, less than 24 hours following the Pacers–Pistons brawl during a National Basketball Association game, led both schools to announce that they would not go to any bowl game as a self-imposed punishment. Both schools were otherwise bowl-eligible, thus forcing bowl organizers to scramble even more to fill their slots. In addition, Utah's unexpected entry into the BCS caused further 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 another MAC school, Akron. The Zips would make their first bowl appearance the next season.
Three schools made their first-ever bowl appearance this season: UAB (Hawaii Bowl), UConn (2004 Motor City Bowl), and Troy State (Silicon Valley Football Classic). Of these three, only UConn won its game. For the first time since the 1968–1969 bowl season Nebraska did not go to a bowl game.
Records shown are pre-bowl.
New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss (6–5) 31, North Texas (7–4) 10 The bowl season kicked off on December 14 with the fourth annual New Orleans Bowl, one of two bowl games played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Dustin Almond passed for 249 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for a touchdown as well, as Southern Miss Golden Eagles (Conference USA) defeated the North Texas Mean Green (Sun Belt Conference) 31–10.
Champs Sports Bowl
Georgia Tech (6–5) 51, Syracuse (6–5) 14 The first of two bowl games at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida was the Champs Sports Bowl, held on December 21. It featured the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (ACC) and the Syracuse Orange (Big East). Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, while the Yellow Jackets defense recorded a touchdown off of an interception and a safety. Georgia Tech romped, 51–14.
GMAC Bowl
Bowling Green (8–3) 52, Memphis (8–3) 35 The Bowling Green Falcons (MAC) met the Memphis Tigers (C-USA) on December 22 in Mobile, Alabama in 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.
Fort Worth Bowl
Cincinnati (6–5) 32, Marshall (6–5) 14 The Fort Worth Bowl, held on December 23 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in the titular city, matched a departing C-USA team with a future member of that conference. The Cincinnati Bearcats, which left C-USA for the Big East Conference after the 2004–05 season, played the Marshall Thundering Herd, which joined C-USA from the MAC for 2005–06. 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).
Las Vegas Bowl
Wyoming (6–5) 24, UCLA (6–5) 21 The first matchup of the bowl season that pitted a team from a BCS AQ conference against a BCS non-AQ conference team was the Las Vegas Bowl, held at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada on December 23. The UCLA Bruins (Pac-10) played the Wyoming Cowboys (Mountain West Conference), with UCLA the 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.
Hawaii Bowl
Hawaii (7–5) 59, UAB (7–4) 40 On December 24, the Hawaii Warriors (WAC) played the Hawaii Bowl on their home field, Aloha Stadium in Honolulu for the third time in the bowl's three-year existence. The Warriors faced a first-time bowl participant in the UAB Blazers (C-USA). In an offensive shootout that saw both quarterbacks (Hawaii'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.
MPC Computers Bowl
Fresno State (8–3) 37, Virginia (8–3) 34 On December 27, the second matchup between BCS AQ and BCS non-AQ conference teams took place in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. The Fresno State Bulldogs (WAC) played the Virginia Cavaliers (ACC). 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.
Motor City Bowl
UConn (7–4) 39, Toledo (9–3) 10 The other bowl on December 27, the Motor City Bowl held at Ford Field in Detroit, was also a BCS AQ conference vs. BCS non-AQ conference matchup. The UConn Huskies made their first-ever bowl appearance in their second year in Division I-A and first as a member of the Big East. They faced the MAC champion Toledo Rockets, which were playing little more than an hour's drive from their 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 BCS AQ conferences their first win in three tries against BCS non-AQ conference teams this season.
Independence Bowl
Iowa State (8–4) 17, Miami (Ohio) (8–4) 13 On December 28 in Shreveport, Louisiana, another BCS AQ/non-AQ matchup took place in the Independence Bowl between the Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12) and the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (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 took the head job at Indiana.
Insight Bowl
Oregon State (6–5) 38, Notre Dame (6–5) 21 The second bowl on December 28, the Insight Bowl held at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, was the second of the 2004–05 bowl season to pit two BCS AQ member teams. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the only independent with BCS automatic qualifying privileges, 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.