2004 Louisville Cardinals football team

2004 Louisville Cardinals football
Conference USA champion Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 44–40 vs. Boise State
Conference	Conference USA
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 6
Record	11–1 (8–0 C-USA)
Head coach	Bobby Petrino (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Paul Petrino (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Mike Cassity (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

2004 Conference USA football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Louisville $		8	–	0					11	–	1
Memphis		5	–	3					8	–	4
Southern Miss		5	–	3					7	–	5
Cincinnati		5	–	3					7	–	5
UAB		5	–	3					7	–	5
TCU		3	–	5					5	–	6
Tulane		3	–	5					5	–	6
South Florida		3	–	5					4	–	7
Houston		3	–	5					3	–	8
East Carolina		2	–	6					2	–	9
Army		2	–	6					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2004 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team, led by Bobby Petrino in his second year at the school, played their home games in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. They finished 11–1 and were the Conference USA champions with a perfect 8–0 conference record in their last season before leaving to join the Big East Conference. They were invited to and won the Liberty Bowl, defeating Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State 44–40.

Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2003 season with a 9–4 record, losing to Miami (OH) in the 2003 GMAC Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:30 pm	Kentucky*		Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky (Governor's Cup)	ESPN	W 28–0	42,681
September 11	1:00 pm	at Army		Michie Stadium West Point, New York	WDRB	W 52–21	28,130
September 25	1:30 pm	at North Carolina*	No. 24	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, North Carolina	ESPN+	W 34–0	49,000
October 2	3:00 pm	East Carolina	No. 22	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	ESPN+	W 59–7	40,220
October 14	7:30 pm	at No. 3 Miami (FL)*	No. 17	Orange Bowl Miami	ESPN	L 38–41	63,715
October 22	8:00 pm	USF	No. 17	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	ESPN	W 41–9	42,032
November 4	7:30 pm	at Memphis	No. 14	Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee (rivalry)	ESPN	W 56–49	52,384
November 10	7:30 pm	TCU	No. 12	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	ESPN2	W 55–28	40,107
November 20	5:00 pm	at Houston	No. 10	Robertson Stadium Houston, Texas	ESPN+	W 65–27	20,176
November 27	2:30 pm	Cincinnati	No. 9	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky (The Keg of Nails)	ESPN2	W 70–7	37,617
December 4	2:30 pm	at Tulane	No. 8	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	ESPN+	W 55–7	22,169
December 31	3:30 pm	vs. No. 10 Boise State*	No. 8	Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee (Liberty Bowl)	ESPN	W 44–40	58,355
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

2004 Louisville Cardinals coaching staff
Name	Position
Bobby Petrino	Head coach
Greg Nord	Assistant head coach / tight ends / running backs coach
Mike Cassity	Defensive coordinator / safeties coach
Paul Petrino	Offensive coordinator / wide receivers coach
Jeff Brohm	Quarterbacks coach
Reggie Johnson	Inside Linebackers coach
Tony Levine	Outside linebackers coach / special teams coordinator
Mike Summers	Offensive line Coach
Joe Whitt Jr.	Cornerbacks coach / recruiting coordinator
Kevin Wolthausen	Defensive line Coach

Game summaries

At Miami (FL)

See also: 2004 Miami Hurricanes football team

#18 Louisville at #3 Miami (FL)

1 2 3 4 Total Louisville 7 17 7 7 38 • Miami (FL) 7 0 14 20 41 Date: October 14 Location: Orange Bowl Game start: 7:30 p.m. EST Source: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 5:22 MIA Greg Olsen 9-yard pass from Brock Berlin (Jon Peattie kick) MIA 7–0 1 1:53 LOU Lionel Gates 1-yard run (Arthur Carmody kick) Tied 7–7 2 14:56 LOU Arthur Carmody 31-yard field goal LOU 10–7 2 10:03 LOU Tiger Jones 12-yard pass from Stefan LeFors (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 17–7 2 1:29 LOU Lionel Gates 17-yard pass from Stefan LeFors (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 24–7 3 9:51 MIA Roscoe Parrish 14-yard pass from Brock Berlin (Jon Peattie kick) LOU 24–14 3 6:42 LOU Tiger Jones 22-yard pass from Stefan LeFors (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 31–14 3 4:08 MIA Akieem Jolla 11-yard pass from Brock Berlin (Jon Peattie kick) LOU 31–21 4 14:53 MIA Jon Peattie 24-yard field goal LOU 31–24 4 12:03 MIA Jon Peattie 32-yard field goal LOU 31–27 4 8:11 MIA Devin Hester 78-yard punt return (Jon Peattie kick) MIA 34–31 4 4:30 LOU Lionel Gates 1-yard run (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 38–34 4 0:49 MIA Frank Gore 1-yard run (Jon Peattie kick) MIA 41–38

Liberty Bowl

Main article: 2004 Liberty Bowl

See also: 2004 Boise State Broncos football team

#10 Boise State vs. #7 Louisville

1 2 3 4 Total Boise St 10 21 3 6 40 • Louisville 14 7 14 9 44 Date: Friday December 31 Location: Liberty Bowl Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST Source: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 10:49 BSU Tyler Jones 48-yard field goal BSU 3–0 1 9:09 LOU Gary Barnidge 6-yard pass from Stefan LeFors (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 7–3 1 0:59 BSU Andy Avalos 92-yard interception return (Tyler Jones kick) BSU 10–7 1 0:46 LOU Harry Douglas 65-yard run (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 14–10 2 13:12 LOU Broderick Clark 30-yard pass from Brian Brohm (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 21–10 2 8:52 BSU Brad Lau recovered offensive fumble in end zone (Tyler Jones kick) LOU 21–17 2 8:38 BSU T.J. Acree 19-yard pass from Jared Zabransky (Tyler Jones kick) BSU 24–21 2 0:15 BSU Jared Zabransky 1-yard run (Tyler Jones kick) BSU 31–21 3 9:05 BSU Tyler Jones 42-yard field goal BSU 34–21 3 6:06 LOU J.R. Russell 14-yard pass from Stefan LeFors (Arthur Carmody kick) BSU 34–28 3 2:17 LOU Stefan LeFors 1-yard run (Arthur Carmody kick) LOU 35–34 4 10:51 BSU Jon Helmandollar (pass failed) BSU 40–35 4 6:48 LOU Eric Shelton 1-yard run (pass failed) LOU 41–40 4 1:10 LOU Arthur Carmody 19-yard field goal LOU 44–40