2004 Alabama Crimson Tide football team The 2004 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama during the 2004 NCAA Division I - A football season . This was the team ' s 72nd season in the SEC . The Crimson Tide were led by head coach Mike Shula who was entering his second season as head coach . They began their season with trying to improve from a 4 – 9 ( 2 – 6 ) record from the 2003 season . The 2004 squad finished the season with a record of 6 – 6 following a loss to Minnesota in the Music City Bowl . The team began the 2004 season at 3 – 0 with blowout victories over , Mississippi , and . The Tide ' s starting quarterback Brodie Croyle was injured during the Western Carolina game and lost for the season . Without him struggled to find consistent offense against SEC opponents Arkansas and South Carolina . The team rebounded to have multiple blowouts victories in three of the next four games , only losing to rival Tennessee . The season ended on a three game slide , losing to rivals LSU and Auburn , also losing in the Music City Bowl to Minnesota . Alabama opened the 2004 season by defeating the Utah State Aggies 48 – 17 . Brian Bostick scored the first Alabama points of the game with his 28 - yard field goal . On the ensuing Aggies possession , Roman Harper intercepted a Travis Cox and returned it to the Utah State 21 - yard line . Two plays later , Brodie Croyle threw a 19 - yard touchdown pass to Clint Johnston to give the Crimson Tide a 10 – 0 lead . The Aggies responded later in the first with a 35 - yard Cox touchdown pass to Kevin Robinson to cut the score to 10 – 7 . In the second quarter , Kenneth Darby scored for Alabama on a 29 - yard run and Ben Chaet connected on a 44 - yard field goal for Utah State to make the halftime score 17 – 10 . Game notes . Utah State . On the third play of the second half , Simeon Castille intercepted a Cox pass and returned it 31 - yards for his first career touchdown . After the Alabama defense forced a punt on the ensuing Aggies drive , Croyle threw a 57 - yard touchdown strike to Keith Brown on the Crimson Tide ' s first offensive play of the second half to give them a 31 – 10 lead . After a 32 - yard Bostick field goal extended the Alabama lead to 34 – 10 , the Aggies responded with their final points of the game on a 21 - yard Cox touchdown pass to Chris Forbes . The Crimson Tide then closed the game with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns . The first came on an one - yard Tim Castille run and the second on a seven - yard Ray Hudson run in the 48 – 17 Alabama victory . Alabama opened conference play by defeating their long - time rival , the Ole Miss Rebels 28 – 7 . After a scoreless first , the Crimson Tide took a 14 – 0 halftime lead after scoring a pair of second quarter touchdowns . Tim Castille scored first on a one - yard run and Tyrone Prothro scored second on a 15 - yard Brodie Croyle touchdown pass . Alabama extended their lead to 21 – 0 in the third quarter when Ray Hudson scored hist first of two touchdowns on a 13 - yard Croyle pass . After the Rebels scored their only points of the game on a six - yard Eric Rice touchdown reception from Ethan Flatt , Alabama responded on the following drive with a 46 - yard Hudson touchdown run to make the final score 28 – 7 . In the game , Hudson ran for 116 yards , and D . J . Hall and Keith Brown became the first freshman receivers to start for Alabama since Ozzie Newsome in 1974 . Alabama won their third straight game to open the season against the I - AA Western Carolina Catamounts 52 – 0 . In the 2004 edition of the Iron Bowl , the Crimson Tide took a 6 – 0 lead at halftime over favored Auburn , but ultimately fell 21 – 13 to the Tigers . Alabama took a 6 – 0 halftime lead on field goals of 42 and 22 - yard by Brian Bostick . Auburn responded in the second half with 21 consecutive points to take a 21 – 6 lead . Touchdowns were scored by Cadillac Williams on a five - yard run , on a 32 - yard Jason Campbell pass to Courtney Taylor and on a two - yard Ronnie Brown run . Alabama scored their only touchdown late in the fourth on an 18 - yard Spencer Pennington touchdown pass to D . J . Hall to make the final score 21 – 13 after a failed onside kick . After finishing the regular season with an overall record of 6 – 5 , the Crimson Tide accepted an invitation to play in the Music City Bowl on December 4 . Their appearance was the second for Alabama in the game , marked the first all - time meeting against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the gridiron and a return to postseason play for the Crimson Tide following a two - year bowl ban imposed by the NCAA . Led by running back s Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney who each rushed for over 100 yards , Minnesota defeated Alabama 20 – 16 . Minnesota . The Crimson Tide scored first when Spencer Pennington threw a two - yard touchdown pass to Le ' Ron McClain for a 7 – 0 Alabama lead . Minnesota tied the game later in the first on a defensive touchdown . The score happened after Anthony Montgomery forced a Pennington fumble that was recovered in the endzone by Keith Lipka . The Gophers took a 17 – 7 lead in the second quarter after a five - yard Barber touchdown run and a 27 - yard Rhys Lloyd field goal . The Crimson Tide responded with a one - yard McClain touchdown run to cut the Minnesota lead to 17 – 14 at halftime . The second half was dominated by both defenses with Minnesota only managing to score on a 24 - yard Lloyd field goal in the third and Alabama only scoring on a safety in the fourth to make the final score 20 – 16 .