2004 Mountain West Conference football season

The 2004 Mountain West Conference football season was the sixth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference. It was the last season of the conference's original eight-team line up, as Texas Christian University (TCU) had agreed to join the conference for the 2005 season. Utah won the conference championship in 2004, the Utes' third title since the league began in 1999. On the strength of their perfect 11–0 record in the regular season, Utah became the first team from a BCS non-AQ conference to be invited to a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl when they accepted an invitation to play Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.

Utah Utes fans rush the field and carry the goalpost after defeating rival BYU, completing a perfect regular season, and becoming the first BCS Buster by clinching a spot in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl (hence the sombrero).

UCLA vs. Wyoming in the 2004 Las Vegas Bowl

2004 Mountain West Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I-A
Sport	football
Number of teams	8
2005 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	QB Alex Smith, Utah
Picked by	San Francisco 49ers, 1st overall
Regular season
Season champions	Utah
Runners-up	New Mexico
Top scorer	Steve Savoy (102 points)

2004 Mountain West Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Utah $		7	–	0					12	–	0
New Mexico		5	–	2					7	–	5
BYU		4	–	3					5	–	6
Wyoming		3	–	4					7	–	5
Air Force		3	–	4					5	–	6
Colorado State		3	–	4					4	–	7
San Diego State		2	–	5					4	–	7
UNLV		1	–	6					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl games

Bowl	Date	Stadium	City	Result
Las Vegas Bowl	December 23, 2004	Sam Boyd Stadium	Las Vegas	Wyoming 24, UCLA 21
Emerald Bowl	December 30, 2004	SBC Park	San Francisco	Navy 34, New Mexico 19
Fiesta Bowl	January 1, 2005	Sun Devil Stadium	Tempe, Arizona	Utah 35, Pittsburgh 7

Awards

• Coach of the Year: Urban Meyer, Utah^[1]
• Offensive Player of the Year: QB Alex Smith, Jr, Utah^[1]
• Co-Defensive Players of the Year: LB Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State and DB Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah^[1]
• Freshman of the Year: WR Austin Collie, BYU^[2]

Pre-Season All Conference Team

Offense
Quarterback	Alex Smith, Jr, Utah
Running back	Darnell Stephens, Sr, Air Force DonTrell Moore, Jr, New Mexico
Wide receiver	David Anderson, Jr, Colorado State Todd Watkins, Jr, BYU
Tight end	Joel Dreessen, Sr, Colorado State
Offensive Line	Ryan Cook, Jr, New Mexico Trenton Franz, Sr, Wyoming Chris Kemoeatu, Sr, Utah Erik Pears, Sr, Colorado State Claude Terrell, Sr, New Mexico
Kicker	Deric Yaussi, Jr, Wyoming
Kick returner	Bo Nagahi, Sr, Utah

Defense
Defensive line	Steve Fifita, Sr, Utah Zach Morris, Sr, Wyoming Marcus Parker, Jr, New Mexico Sione Pouha, Sr, Utah
Linebacker	Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State Brady Poppinga, Sr, BYU John Rudzinski, Sr, Air Force
Defensive back	Jamaal Brimmer, Sr, UNLV Aaron Francisco, Sr, BYU Brandon Payne, Sr, New Mexico Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah
Punter	Matt Payne, Sr, BYU

All Conference Teams

First-team:

Offense
Quarterback	Alex Smith, Jr, Utah
Running back	Dominique Dorsey, Sr, UNLV DonTrell Moore, Jr, New Mexico
Wide receiver	Steve Savoy, So, Utah Todd Watkins, Jr, BYU
Tight end	Joel Dreessen, Sr, Colorado State
Offensive Line	Ryan Cook, Jr, New Mexico Trenton Franz, Sr, Wyoming Chris Kemoeatu, Sr, Utah Erik Pears, Sr, Colorado State Claude Terrell, Sr, New Mexico
Kicker	Deric Yaussi, Jr, Wyoming
Kick returner	Hoost Marsh, Fr, Wyoming

Defense
Defensive line	Steve Fifita, Sr, Utah Zach Morris, Sr, Wyoming Marcus Parker, Jr, New Mexico Sione Pouha, Sr, Utah
Linebacker	Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State Brady Poppinga, Sr, BYU Nick Speegle, Sr, New Mexico
Defensive back	Jamaal Brimmer, Sr, UNLV Aaron Francisco, Sr, BYU Brandon Payne, Sr, New Mexico Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah
Punter	Matt Payne, Sr, BYU

Second-team:

Offense
Quarterback	John Beck, So, BYU
Running back	Curtis Brown, So, BYU Marty Johnson, Sr, Utah
Wide receiver	David Anderson, Jr, Colorado State Paris Warren, Sr, Utah
Tight end	John Wadkowski, Jr, Wyoming
Offensive Line	Jon Wilson, Jr, Air Force Scott Young, Sr, BYU Mike Kracalik, Sr, San Diego State Joel Critchfield, Sr, UNLV Jesse Boone, Jr, Utah
Kicker	Matt Payne, Sr, BYU
Kick returner	Jovon Bouknight, Jr, Wyoming

Defense
Defensive line	Shaun Nua, Sr, BYU Patrick Goodpaster, Sr, Colorado State Blake Lobel, Sr, San Diego State Dusty Hoffschneider, Jr, Wyoming
Linebacker	Matt McCoy, Jr, San Diego State Ryan Claridge, Sr, UNLV Adam Seward, Sr, UNLV
Defensive back	Josh Bazinet, Sr, New Mexico Gabriel Fulbright, Jr, New Mexico Eric Weddle, So, Utah Derrick Martin, So, Wyoming
Punter	Adam Brooks, Jr, Wyoming

^[3]

References

1. Facer, Dirk (November 29, 2004). "All-MWC football: Honors all around". Deseret News. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
2. "Collie named MWC Freshman of the Year". BYU Cougars Athletics. November 29, 2004. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
3. "Football All-Mountain West Teams and Superlative Awards" (Press release). Mountain West Conference.