2004 Music City Bowl The 2004 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl ( presented by Bridgestone ) was held on December 31 , 2004 , in Nashville , Tennessee at The Coliseum . The game featured the Alabama Crimson Tide , of the SEC , and the Minnesota Golden Gophers , of the Big Ten . The game was ultimately won by Minnesota , 20 – 16 . Alabama was led by head coach Mike Shula and entered a game with a 6 – 5 record , as the team ended their 2004 regular season by losing three of their final four games . The Crimson Tide offense was led by quarterback Spencer Pennginton , who was a backup at the beginning of the season , but was put into the starting role when Brodie Croyle was injured versus Western Carolina . Pennington led the Crimson Tide to a 3 – 4 record as a starter and was the starting quarterback in the bowl game . Alabama also entered to the second - ranked overall defense in the country . Glen Mason led the Golden Gophers into the bowl game , who also had a 6 – 5 record . The Golden Gophers ended their 2004 regular season by losing five of their final six games after a 5 – 0 start . The Minnesota offense was led by two 1 , 000 - yard rushers in Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III , the latter of which would be named MVP of the bowl game . The two running back s combined for 2 , 617 yards and twenty - three touchdowns . Game . First quarter . Minnesota began the first drive of the game at their own 20 – yard line following a touchback on the opening kickoff . Alabama quickly forced a turnover as Marion Barber III fumbled the ball , which Freddie Roach recovered and returned to the Minnesota 2 – yard line . On their first play , Alabama quarterback Spencer Pennington completed a 2 – yard touchdown pass to Le ' Ron McClain , and following a Brian Bostick PAT , the Crimson Tide took an early 7 – 0 lead . On their next two drives , Minnesota quarterback Bryan Cupito threw two interceptions , which Roman Harper and Anthony Madison intercepted , respectively . Following the interception by Madison , Alabama began their drive at the 2 – yard line . The Crimson Tide offense moved the ball only four yards before Spencer Pennington fumbled the ball . Keith Lipka recovered the fumble and returned it for a 1 – yard touchdown , Minnesota and Alabama were back level at 7 – 7 . Following a return by Tyrone Prothro on the kickoff , Alabama began at their own 15 – yard line . The offense quickly picked up a first down after a 14 – yard pass from Pennington to D . J . Hall . After the first down , the Crimson Tide offense stalled before Prothro fumbled the ball , recovered by Minnesota defensive back Justin Fraley . Running backs Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney quickly moved the ball forty - two yards in the final 2 : 54 to the Alabama 5 – yard line before the end of the first quarter . Second quarter . On the first play of the second quarter , Marion Barber rushed up the middle for a 5 – yard touchdown . Following the PAT from Rhys Lloyd , Minnesota took a 14 – 7 lead . Alabama began their first drive of the second quarter at the 35 – yard line following the kickoff . The Crimson Tide offense was quickly stifled as Pennington was sacked for an 8 – yard loss on the first play . After two more plays , the offense only gained three yards before a Bo Freeland punt to the Minnesota 31 – yard line . As usual , the Minnesota offense struck to their ground game as Barber and Maroney combined for sixty yards on ten carries to get the ball to the Alabama 9 – yard line . After an incomplete pass and two penalties , the Golden Gophers finished the drive with a 26 – yard field goal from Rhys Lloyd , extending their lead to 17 – 7 . On their second drive of the quarter , Alabama began at their own 27 – yard line . Le ' Ron McClain caught a 7 – yard pass on the first play as the Alabama offense steadily moved down field to the 46 – yard line . On a 2nd - and - 6 , Spencer Pennington completed a 40 – yard pass to wide receiver Keith Brown as the offense moved the ball to the Minnesota 6 – yard line . On a 3rd - and - goal situation , Minnesota ' s defense gave the Alabama offense an automatic first down , placing the ball at the 2 – yard line . After a 1 – yard rush , McClain ran into the endzone for a 1 – yard touchdown as Alabama trailed 17 – 14 with less than three minutes left in the fist half . After conservative play - calling by Minnesota , the Golden Gophers punted the ball to Alabama with only twenty - eight seconds remaining . After a 15 – yard penalty on Minnesota , the Alabama offense moved to the 31 – yard line . Spencer Pennington completed two quick passes to Matt Caddell and D . J . Hall , moving the ball to the Minnesota 47 – yard line . After a timeout , Pennington completed yet another pass Keith Brown to the 37 – yard line . On the final play before halftime , Pennington lateral led the ball to Tyrone Prothro for a 13 – yard gain . The offense ran out of time , and failing to score , Alabama trailed 17 – 14 at halftime . Third quarter . Minnesota kicked off to begin the third quarter , which Tyrone Prothro returned to the 26 – yard line . Once again , the Alabama offense struggled to move the ball and was forced to punt . Minnesota ' s first drive began on their own 25 – yard line . Laurence Maroney ran for ten yards on the first two plays of the drive , giving Minnesota a first down . Two plays later , Marion Barber broke off a 25 – yard run to move the ball to the Alabama 23 – yard line . After three more rushes by Barber and two incomplete passes , Rhys Lloyd kicked a 25 – yard field goal to give Minnesota a six point lead . For the remainder of the quarter , both offenses struggled to move the ball . Both teams combined for four punts and one turnover in the final 10 : 10 of the third quarter . Fourth quarter . Following another stalled drive for both offenses , Minnesota started a drive at Alabama ' s 48 – yard line . Both Maroney and Barber split the carries again , gradually moving the ball downfield over the next 6 : 26 to the 14 – yard line . Rhys Lloyd missed a 31 – yard line to end Minnesota ' s drive , his sixth missed field goal of the season . Down 20 – 14 , the Alabama offense started at their own 14 – yard line following the missed field goal . Spencer Pennington completed a 23 – yard pass to D . J . Hall , moving the ball to the 43 – yard line . Three incomplete passes followed , forcing Alabama to punt once again . Minnesota took over at their own 10 – yard line and failed to gain a first down , forcing a punt . However , Alabama tackled the Rhys Lloyd in the endzone , gaining two points from the safety , and bringing themselves within four points at 20 – 16 . Following the safety , Minnesota was forced to give Alabama the ball on a free kick . On the first three plays , Pennington completed three passes , giving Alabama a first down at the Minnesota 19 – yard line . On the next three plays , the Pennington threw two incomplete passes , and a short , 4 – yard completion to Matt Caddell . On 4th - and - 6 , Pennington threw another incompletion , turning the ball over on downs . Minnesota started their final drive with just 1 : 26 left . As Alabama had used all three of their timeouts in the second half , Minnesota quarterback Bryan Cupito only needed to take a knee twice to run out the remainder of the clock , giving Minnesota a 20 – 16 win for their seventh victory of the season . The loss sent Alabama to a . 500 record at 6 – 6 , losing their final three games .