2004 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2004 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their eighth year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, placing eighth in the Big Ten. Minnesota was invited to the Music City Bowl, where the Golden Gophers defeated Alabama. The team played home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

2004 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Music City Bowl champion
Music City Bowl, W 20–16 vs. Alabama
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–5 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Glen Mason (8th season)
Co-offensive coordinators	Mitch Browning (5th season) Tony Petersen (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Hudson (2nd season)
Captains	Greg Eslinger Justin Fraley Rian Melander Darrell Reid
Home stadium	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Seasons ← 2003 2005 →

2004 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Michigan $+		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 8 Iowa +		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 17 Wisconsin		6	–	2					9	–	3
Northwestern		5	–	3					6	–	6
No. 20 Ohio State		4	–	4					8	–	4
Purdue		4	–	4					7	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	4					5	–	7
Minnesota		3	–	5					7	–	5
Penn State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Illinois		1	–	7					3	–	8
Indiana		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	8:00 pm	Toledo*	No. 25	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	W 63–21	45,144
September 11	2:30 pm	Illinois State*	No. 22	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN Plus	W 37–21	34,006	[1]
September 18	9:00 pm	at Colorado State*	No. 22	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	ESPN2	W 34–16	33,501
September 25	8:00 pm	Northwestern	No. 19	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	W 43–17	44,657
October 2	7:00 pm	Penn State	No. 18	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Governor's Victory Bell)	ESPN Plus	W 16–7	50,386	[2]
October 9	11:00 am	at No. 14 Michigan	No. 13	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	ESPN	L 24–27	111,518
October 15	11:00 am	at Michigan State	No. 19	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN	L 17–51	72,383
October 23	1:00 pm	Illinois		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 45–0	46,526
October 30	12:00 pm	at Indiana	No. 24	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		L 21–30	22,282
November 6	2:30 pm	at No. 5 Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	ABC	L 14–38	83,069
November 13	11:00 am	No. 19 Iowa		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	ESPN	L 27–29	64,719
December 31	11:00 am	vs. Alabama*		The Coliseum Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl)	ESPN	W 20–16	66,089
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

2004 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 21 Marion Barber III Jr QB 3 Bryan Cupito So C 61 Greg Eslinger Jr WR 2 Paris Hamilton Sr RB 22 Laurence Maroney So WR 84 Logan Payne So RB 29 Amir Pinnix  Fr WR 88 Micah Rucker  Fr RB 24 Gary Russell Fr G 68 Mark Setterstrom Jr TE 89 Matt Spaeth So WR 82 Ernie Wheelwright  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 23 Dominique Barber Fr DT 95 Anthony Montgomery Jr DE 51 Darrell Reid Sr DE 91 William VanDeSteeg Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 16 Rhys Loyd Sr LS 44 Robert McGarry IV Fr	Head coach Glen Mason Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt