2004 Navy Midshipmen football team

The 2004 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Paul Johnson. The Midshipmen finished the regular season with a 9–2 record, the first time since the 1963 season that Navy had won nine or more games in a season. Wins over Army and the Air Force Falcons secured Navy's second consecutive Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.^[1] Navy secured a berth in the 2004 Emerald Bowl when the Pacific-10 Conference did not have enough teams to fill its bowl obligations. The other tie-in was with the Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Midshipmen ended up playing the New Mexico Lobos. They won the game with a score of 34–19, finishing with a 14-minute, 26-play drive that set the record for the longest drive in a college football game.^[2] The win gave the Midshipmen a final record of 10–2, the first time since the 1905 season that the Midshipmen finished with ten or more wins.^[3]

2004 Navy Midshipmen football
Emerald Bowl champion
Emerald Bowl, W 34–19 vs. New Mexico
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
AP	No. 24
Record	10–2
Head coach	Paul Johnson (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Buddy Green (3rd season)
Base defense	Multiple
MVP	Aaron Polanco
Captains	Aaron Polanco Josh Smith
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2003 2005 →

2004 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 24 Navy			–						10	–	2
Notre Dame			–						6	–	6
Florida A&M			–						3	–	8
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	6:00 p.m.	Duke	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	HDNet	W 27–12	29,027
September 11		Northeastern	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	CN8	W 28–24
September 18	7:00 p.m.	at Tulsa	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK		W 29–0	23,658
September 25	1:30 p.m.	Vanderbilt	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	HDNet	W 29–26	32,809
September 30	7:45 p.m.	at Air Force	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	ESPN	W 24–21	44,279
October 16	12:00 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (rivalry)	CBS	L 9–27	76,166
October 23	1:30 p.m.	Rice	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	HDNet	W 14–13	31,117
October 30	1:30 p.m.	No. 3 (I-AA) Delaware	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	CN8	W 34–20	34,416
November 6	7:00 p.m.	at Tulane	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		L 10–42	21,484
November 20	1:30 p.m.	Rutgers	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	CSTV	W 54–21	33,615
December 4		vs. Army	Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	CBS	W 42–13
December 30	4:30 p.m.	vs. New Mexico	SBC Park San Francisco, CA (Emerald Bowl)	ESPN2	W 34–19	30,563
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]