2004 national championship game

The regular season began on August 28, and ended on December 4, Rankings reflect the 2004 national championship game Poll. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted. The season ended with five undefeated teams vying for a spot in the national title game.

A rotating and separate-from-the-bowls BCS national championship game would soon make that determination. It was on defense, though, where LSU separated itself from the rest of college football. The Tigers led the nation in rushing defense, yielding a miniscule Put this in focus: LSU held Oklahoma to just total yards and 1. Four plays later, playing a first-and-goal at the 1, Mauck fumbled the snap and the Sooners recovered. LSU was on the boards in short order as speedster Skyler Green turned around the right end and tip-toed along the sidelines 24 yards to the end zone. In the second quarter, Oklahoma showed its first signs of life when it blocked a Tiger punt two yards from the LSU goal.

2004 national championship game

The Tigers won the BCS National Championship, their second national championship in school history, defeating the Sooners by a score of 21— Top-ranked Oklahoma was 12—1, with the lone defeat coming at a neutral site in the Big 12 Championship Game against Kansas State 35—7. There was substantial media and fan controversy as to which teams deserved to play in the National Title game. Southern Cal owned a record of 11—1, with its one loss coming in triple overtime at unranked Cal 34— Once the game commenced, LSU's 1 ranked defense held the country's most prolific offense, which had averaged He was also sacked seven times and intercepted twice. As a result, LSU won their second national championship and first since Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons. College football game.

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The Ohio State Buckeyes , co-champions of the Big Ten Conference , defeated the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes , defending national champions and champions of the Big East Conference , in double overtime by a final score of 31 - In the midst of a resurgence after a period of turmoil in the s, Miami had won the previous season's national championship in dominant [4] fashion and entered the Fiesta Bowl with a game win streak. Ohio State, meanwhile, had narrowly missed national championship opportunities in the 90s, and their most recently claimed championship followed the season. Leading up to the game, there was speculation as to whether the Buckeyes would be able to contend with the speed advantage of the Hurricanes, who were installed as Following the game, controversy arose surrounding the validity of a crucial pass interference penalty during the first overtime period, without which a Hurricanes victory would have resulted. The trajectories of the two programs subsequently diverged after the season: Ohio State maintained national competitiveness despite two national championship losses later in the decade they eventually went on to win another national championship in , while Miami fell from their elite status, eventually becoming mired in a scandal from which they've yet to fully recover. Considering the differing courses of the two programs, the game and its controversial ending have become known as pivotal moments in the greater history of American college football. The game is often referred to as one of the greatest Fiesta Bowls and one of the greatest college football games ever played.

2004 national championship game

Both teams entered with undefeated, 12—0 records. The game featured many firsts regarding the Heisman Trophy. It was the first college game to have two Heisman winners on the same field and on opposite teams : Leinart won the Heisman Trophy, which was awarded in the month prior to the Orange Bowl, and Oklahoma quarterback Jason White had won the award the previous season. The game also featured four of the five Heisman finalists of Leinart winner , Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson first runner-up , White second runner-up and USC running back Reggie Bush fourth runner-up ; [5] Bush would win the award the following season although USC returned its copy of Bush's trophy and Bush forfeited the award following the institution of NCAA sanctions in On June 10, , USC was forced to vacate all games from December to the end of the season among other sanctions as the result of an NCAA investigation into the school's football and men's basketball programs. The national anthem was performed by JoJo. Simpson's performance—coming on the heels of a lip-syncing incident that occurred during her appearance on Saturday Night Live in October —was poorly-received, with Simpson receiving a shower of jeers from the crowd at its conclusion. ESPN writer D'Arcy Maine described Simpson as having "[tortured] those in the crowd with each attempt at a note, sounding more and more like a shrieking hyena as she went on", and considered it justification for "why she preferred to lip-sync". Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk.

Stranger things drawing easy

Bowling Green. Head coach: Bob Stoops. Somehow Oklahoma was seriously back in the fray. NC State. Georgia Tech. Kent State. Wikimedia Commons. Championship : Auburn 38 , Tennessee Kansas State. Southern Miss. Dennis Hennigan Big East. The Tigers led the nation in rushing defense, yielding a miniscule There was substantial media and fan controversy as to which teams deserved to play in the National Title game. Bowl games Rankings. This confluence of events made a seminal year for serious momentum building behind a multi-team playoff system in college football, which would later be realized with the advent of the College Football Playoff in

Louis Cardinals and the wild-card qualifying Houston Astros. This marked the first time in either Major League that two teams from the Central Division met in a Championship Series.

Head coach: Nick Saban. Retrieved May 7, Toggle limited content width. Air Force. From there, however, the Tigers threw up their prickly defense, giving OU no openings in the passing lanes. Northern Illinois x. Dolphin Stadium , Miami Gardens, Florida. Justin Vincent had many big runs, including an yard dash for a TD in the second quarter. Sugar Bowl. It took OU four plays after a penalty to punch it in and tie the score. Ole Miss.