# 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.

## 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
* Offensive Player of the Year: QB Alex Smith, Jr, Utah
* Co-Defensive Players of the Year: LB Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State and DB Morgan Scalley, Sr, Utah
* Freshman of the Year: WR Austin Collie, BYU

## 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 |