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
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
W 52–16
90,018
10–23–2004
Mississippi State
#19
Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS
JP
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 [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
Eastern Michigan
3
7
0
10
20
• Florida
7
21
21
0
49
Tennessee [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
Florida
7
14
0
7
28
• Tennessee
7
7
0
16
30
Kentucky [ ]
by Quarter
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 [ ]
by Quarter
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 [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
• LSU
0
14
3
7
24
Florida
14
7
0
0
21
Date: October 9 Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida
Middle Tennessee State [ ]
by Quarter
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 [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
Florida
0
14
10
7
31
• Mississippi St
7
10
7
14
38
Following this loss, head coach Ron Zook was fired, but allowed to coach the remainder of the season.
Georgia [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
Florida
0
0
7
10
17
• Georgia
7
7
3
7
24
Vanderbilt [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
• Florida
7
7
0
10
24
Vanderbilt
10
7
0
0
17
South Carolina [ ]
by Quarter
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 [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
• Florida
7
3
0
10
20
Florida St
0
3
0
10
13
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 [ ]
by Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
Florida
0
3
7
0
10
• Miami (FL)
7
10
7
3
27
Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was interim head coach for the bowl game.
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
See also [ ]
References [ ]
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 [ ]