A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 2004 Arizona Wildcats football | |
|---|---|
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| Conference | Pacific-10 |
| Record | 3–8 (2–6 Pac-10) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Mike Canales (1st season) |
| Offensive scheme | Pro-style |
| Defensive coordinator | Mark Stoops (1st season) |
| Base defense | 4–3 |
| Home stadium | Arizona Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 USC † $ | 8 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 California | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Arizona State | 5 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 0 | – | 8 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2004 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were coached by Mike Stoops in his first season with the Wildcats, after taking over the program after a disastrous 2003 season that led to the firing of former Arizona coach John Mackovic.
Arizona finished the season with a record of 3–8 (2–6 against Pac-10 opponents), which was a slight improvement from 2003. A major highlight of the year was an upset victory over rival Arizona State in the finale that showed signs that the program was returning to relevance.[1]
Previous season
The Wildcats completed the 2003 season with a 2–10 record, their worst in school history. After a 1–4 start, Mackovic was fired due to a combination of losing games and bad behavior towards players which led to unrest from the Arizona fan base (the Wildcats never had a winning season or a bowl appearance under Mackovic).[2] As Arizona searched for a new coach for 2004, Mike Hankwitz, the team's defensive coordinator at the time, coached the Wildcats for the rest of the year, and went 1–6.
Before the season
At the conclusion of the 2003 season, Arizona hired Stoops to take over the team and clean up the mess that was caused by Mackovic's troubles that had started late in the 2002 season.[3] Stoops, who coached the defense under his brother Bob at Oklahoma, was brought to Arizona in an attempt to bring the Wildcats back to their winning formula that was lost under Mackovic. Stoops referred to Arizona as a "filthy football program" due to Mackovic's issues and said that it was "so dirty that it needed to be cleaned up" in order for the team to win and to return them to prominence as they did in most of the 1980s and 1990s under coaches Larry Smith and Dick Tomey, and that he would make them contenders for the Rose Bowl as coach, which has been a main goal for the Wildcats since they joined the Pac-10 in 1978.[4][5]
Stoops would bring in a new coaching staff that included his other brother Mark, who would become the defensive coordinator.[6] He would spend the offseason by rebuilding the program, recruiting players, and building chemistry to the team as well as restoring honesty to a program that Mackovic could not do.[7] Also, to get prepared for the 2004 season, the Wildcats would introduce blue helmets that would worn during the season and it would be the first time since 1980 that they would not wear their traditional white helmets, with Stoops believing that blue helmets would help the team win as a good luck symbol.[8]
By the start of the preseason, fans felt that excitement was being brought to the program as a result of Stoops' rebuilding of the team, leading to an increase of ticket sales that had decreased in 2003 due to the Mackovic scandals. Although Arizona's schedule was somewhat difficult, but Stoops was confident that the Wildcats would compete.[9]
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 4 | 7:00 p.m. | Northern Arizona* | FSNAZ | W 21–3 | 49,741 | |
| September 11 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 17 Utah* |
| FSNAZ | L 6–23 | 52,790 |
| September 18 | 1:00 p.m. | Wisconsin* |
| FSN | L 7–9 | 50,275 |
| September 25 | 12:30 p.m. | Washington State |
| ABC | L 19–20 | 43,579 |
| October 9 | 3:30 p.m. | at UCLA | FSN | L 17–37 | 57,638 | |
| October 16 | 12:30 p.m. | at Oregon | ESPN Plus | L 14–28 | 58,237 | |
| October 23 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 7 California |
| FSN | L 0–38 | 52,049 |
| October 30 | 4:00 p.m. | Oregon State |
| FSNAZ | L 14–28 | 47,245 |
| November 6 | 1:30 p.m. | at Washington | FSN | W 23–13 | 63,225 | |
| November 13 | 8:15 p.m. | at No. 1 USC | FSN | L 9–49 | 80,167 | |
| November 26 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 18 Arizona State |
| FSN | W 34–27 | 55,095 |
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Roster
| 2004 Arizona Wildcats football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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Game summaries
Northern Arizona
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Arizona | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Arizona | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
The Wildcats began the Stoops era by hosting in-state foe Northern Arizona (also known as NAU) in the opener. Arizona's rebuilt and dynamic offense would start off hot and took an early lead before NAU got on the board with a field goal. The score remained at 7–3 for most of the game as both teams relied on defense. In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats would break the game open with a pair of touchdowns and gave Stoops his first win in his coaching debut.[11]
Utah
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 17 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 23 |
| Arizona | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
In their next game, Stoops and the Wildcats hosted Utah. The Utes came in the game ranked 17th, making it a tough test for Arizona. As the game fell on the third anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was a moment of silence before the game to commemorate the victims and honoring American soldiers fighting overseas.[12]
Utah would take control early and Arizona's offense sputtered at times. In the end, the Utes pulled away and Stoops lost for the first time as coach.[13] The Wildcats made several trips into Utah and only came up with two field goals, which was the first time since September 2003 that Arizona successfully made a field goal (which was against TCU, the last game prior to Mackovic getting fired). Utah would ultimately finish the year with a perfect 12–0 record.