2004 – 05 NCAA football bowl games The 2004 - 05 NCAA college football bowl season was a series of 32 post - season games ( including the Bowl Championship Series ) played in December 2004 and January 2005 for Division I - A football teams and their all - stars . The post - season began with the New Orleans Bowl on December 14 , 2004 , and concluded on January 29 , 2005 , with the season - ending Senior Bowl . Non - BCS bowls . Of the 59 Division I - A football teams with winning records , 56 were invited to the various bowl games . This season , bowl officials had more difficulty than usual filling their slots . Because the regular season was only 11 games , teams had to finish at least 6 - 5 to qualify . Teams that were allowed under NCAA rules to play a 12th regular - season game in return for playing at Hawaii had to finish at least 7 - 5 . Four conferences - the Big Ten , Big 12 , Pac - 10 , and SEC - all failed to produce enough bowl - eligible teams to fill their contracted bowl slots . In addition , a massive brawl between Clemson and South Carolina players during their November 20 game , less than 24 hours following the Pacers – Pistons brawl during a National Basketball Association game , led both schools to announce that they would not go to any bowl game as a self - imposed punishment . Both schools were otherwise bowl - eligible , thus forcing bowl organizers to scramble even more to fill their slots . In addition , Utah ' s unexpected entry into the BCS caused further shuffling of normal bowl tie - ins . The main beneficiary of this unexpected chaos was the Mid - American Conference , which received five bowl bids instead of its contracted two . The only bowl - eligible team willing to accept an invitation that was left out of this season ' s bowl games was another MAC school , Akron . The Zips would make their first bowl appearance the next season . Many of these teams , including almost all of the teams from minor conferences , participated in bowls in December . Three schools made their first - ever bowl appearance this season : UAB ( Hawaii Bowl ) , UConn ( 2004 Motor City Bowl ) , and ( , the school was known as " Troy State " at that time ) . Of these three , only UConn won its game . The bowl season kicked off on December 14 with the fourth annual New Orleans Bowl , one of two bowl games played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans . Dustin Almond passed for 249 yards and a touchdown , and rushed for a touchdown as well , as Southern Miss Golden Eagles ( Conference USA ) defeated the North Texas Mean Green ( Sun Belt Conference ) 31 - 10 . The first of two bowl games at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando , Florida was the Champs Sports Bowl , held on December 21 . It featured the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ( ACC ) and the Syracuse Orange ( Big East ) . Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball passed for two touchdowns and ran for another , while the Yellow Jackets defense recorded a touchdown off of an interception and a safety . Georgia Tech romped , 51 - 14 . The Bowling Green Falcons ( MAC ) met the Memphis Tigers ( C - USA ) on December 22 in Mobile , Alabama in the GMAC Bowl . In a meeting of high - powered offenses , Memphis ' s Danny Wimprime threw for 324 yards and 4 touchdowns , but was outdone by his counterpart Omar Jacobs , who had 365 yards and 5 touchdowns . Bowling Green won , 52 - 35 . The Fort Worth Bowl , held on December 23 at Amon G . Carter Stadium in the titular city , matched a departing C - USA team with a future member of that conference . The Cincinnati Bearcats , which left C - USA for the Big East Conference after the 2004 - 05 season , played the Marshall Thundering Herd , which joined C - USA from the MAC for 2005 - 06 . Cincinnati quarterback Gino Guidugli returned from a broken hand to throw for two touchdowns , and the Bearcats defense held Marshall to 134 yards of total offense in a 32 - 14 win . The loss broke the Thundering Herd ' s streaks of 20 consecutive winning seasons and five winning bowl appearances ( in nonconsecutive years ) . The first matchup of the bowl season that pitted a team from a BCS conference against a non - BCS team was the Las Vegas Bowl , held at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney , Nevada on December 23 . The UCLA Bruins ( Pac - 10 ) played the Wyoming Cowboys ( Mountain West Conference ) , with UCLA the heavy favorite . The underdog Cowboys took an early 10 - 0 lead , but the Bruins stormed back to take a 21 - 10 lead going into the fourth quarter . The Cowboys scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a trick play , and capped off the first major upset of the bowl season with a touchdown pass from Corey Bramlet to John Wadkowski with 57 seconds left . The 24 - 21 Wyoming win was the Cowboys ' first bowl victory since 1968 . On December 24 , the Hawaii Warriors ( WAC ) played the Hawaii Bowl on their home field , Aloha Stadium in Honolulu for the third time in the bowl ' s three - year existence . The Warriors faced a first - time bowl participant in the UAB Blazers ( C - USA ) . In an offensive shootout that saw both quarterbacks ( Hawaii ' s Timmy Chang and UAB ' s Darrell Hackney ) throw for over 400 yards , the homestanding Warriors won 59 - 40 . The Warriors ' Chad Owens caught two of Chang ' s four touchdown passes and returned a punt for a TD . Chang finished his career as the first Division I - A quarterback to throw for over 17 , 000 yards in his career , and also finished with career records for pass attempts , completions , and total offense . On December 27 , the second matchup between BCS and non - BCS teams took place in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise , Idaho . The Fresno State Bulldogs ( WAC ) played the Virginia Cavaliers ( ACC ) . UVa went out to a 21 - 7 second - quarter lead , but the Bulldogs stormed back to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter . The Cavaliers retook the lead early in the fourth quarter on a rushing touchdown by Wali Lundy , but Bulldogs quarterback Paul Pinegar threw a 3 - yard TD pass to Jason Fairman with 19 seconds left ; the ensuing extra point tied the game at 31 , leading to the first overtime of the 2004 - 05 bowl season . In the overtime , the Cavaliers had the ball first and kicked a field goal . On the Bulldogs ' first play in overtime , Pinegar threw his fifth TD pass of the day , connecting with Stephen Spach to give the Bulldogs a 37 - 34 upset win . The other bowl on December 27 , the Motor City Bowl held at Ford Field in Detroit , was also a BCS / non - BCS matchup . The UConn Huskies made their first - ever bowl appearance in their second year in Division I - A and first as a member of the Big East . They faced the MAC champion Toledo Rockets , which were playing little more than an hour ' s drive from their campus . Rockets quarterback Bruce Gradowski , affected by a broken hand suffered in the MAC championship game , was ineffective before being benched at halftime . However , the Huskies were effective enough that a healthy Gradowski may not have made a difference ; UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky threw for two TDs with no interceptions , and return specialist Larry Taylor had 157 return yards , including a punt return for a TD . UConn won 39 - 10 , giving the BCS its first win in three tries against non - BCS teams this season . On December 28 in Shreveport , Louisiana , another BCS / non - BCS matchup took place in the Independence Bowl between the Iowa State Cyclones ( Big 12 ) and the Miami ( Ohio ) RedHawks ( MAC ) . Iowa State went out to a 10 - 0 lead in the second quarter , but Miami scored a touchdown late in that quarter to reduce the Cyclones ' halftime lead to 10 - 7 . The RedHawks scored a TD to take a 13 - 10 lead in the third quarter , but missed the extra point . The Cyclones ' Ryan Kock scored the winning TD early in the fourth quarter , and the Cyclones defense held on for the 17 - 13 win . Two Cyclones , quarterback Bret Meyer and running back Stevie Hicks , rushed for over 100 yards each . RedHawks receiver Michael Larkin extended his NCAA record of consecutive games with a reception to 50 . This was the last game for RedHawks head coach Terry Hoeppner , who took the head job at Indiana . The second bowl on December 28 , the Insight Bowl held at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix , Arizona , the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks , was the second of the 2004 - 05 bowl season to pit two BCS member teams . The Notre Dame Fighting Irish , the only independent BCS member , took on the Oregon State Beavers from the Pac - 10 . The Beavers never trailed in the game , and easily defeated the Irish 38 - 21 . Beavers quarterback Derek Anderson threw for 359 yards and four touchdown passes , with no interceptions . Insight Bowl . The game was a rematch of the 2001 Fiesta Bowl , played at the nearby Sun Devil Stadium , with a similar result ( Oregon State blowout victory ) . On December 29 , the Colorado Buffaloes ( Big 12 ) took on the UTEP Miners ( WAC ) in the Houston Bowl at Reliant Stadium in the host city . The Miners led for most of the game , but Buffaloes quarterback Joel Klatt threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter to lead CU to a 33 - 28 win . Klatt finished 24 - for - 33 for 333 yards . Miners QB Jordan Palmer , younger brother of 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer , threw for 328 yards and two TDs , but only completed two of his last 12 passes , finishing 22 - for - 42 with two interceptions . In the other game on December 29 , the Alamo Bowl held at the Alamodome in San Antonio , the Ohio State Buckeyes ( Big Ten ) took on the Oklahoma State Cowboys ( Big 12 ) , in a game which matched two schools whose initials spell " OSU " . This was also Ohio State ' s first December bowl since the 1993 Holiday Bowl . The Buckeyes defense set the tone for the game early , intercepting Cowboys quarterback Donovan Woods during the game ' s first possession . Justin Zwick , starting at quarterback in place of the suspended Troy Smith , threw a touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez three plays later , giving the Buckeyes a lead that they never relinquished . The Buckeyes won 33 - 7 . In the first of four games on December 30 , the Boston College Eagles , which left the Big East in July 2005 to join the ACC , played one of its future conference rivals , the North Carolina Tar Heels , in the Continental Tire Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte , North Carolina . Eagles quarterback Paul Peterson earned MVP honors by going 24 - for - 33 for 236 yards and two TDs before breaking his leg in the fourth quarter . Andre Callender added 174 rushing yards for the Eagles . The game was close for the first three quarters , and tied three times , but the Eagles pulled away to win their fifth consecutive bowl game and final game as a Big East member 37 - 24 . The second game on December 30 , the Emerald Bowl held at SBC Park in San Francisco , pitted the Navy Midshipmen ( independent ) against the New Mexico Lobos ( MWC ) . After the Lobos jumped to an early 7 - 0 lead , Navy QB Aaron Polanco took over the game , rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for a fourth . The Midshipmen defense performed well in the clutch , forcing two turnovers in the first half that led to TDs and making a successful goal - line stand in the third quarter . After the stand , the Midshipmen offense then went on a 26 - play drive that lasted nearly 15 minutes , ending with a field goal , that sealed Navy ' s 34 - 19 win . The Midshipmen finished the season 10 - 2 , their first 10 - win season since 1905 . The Emerald Bowl is now known as the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and is sponsored by Kraft Foods Group , Inc . In the third game on December 30 ( also the second of three in California ) , the Holiday Bowl was held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego , pitting the Pac - 10 ' s California Golden Bears and the Big 12 ' s Texas Tech Red Raiders . Cal , edged out for a BCS bowl berth by Texas in the last week of the regular season , was out to prove that it deserved a BCS berth . The Bears played well at first , finishing the first quarter with a 14 - 7 lead . However , the second and third quarters belonged to the Red Raiders , who outscored the Bears 31 - 3 in those periods , going on to score the biggest upset of the bowl season with a 45 - 31 win . Raiders QB Sonny Cumbie torched the Bears defense for 520 passing yards , going 40 - for - 60 with three TDs and no interceptions . The brightest spot for Cal was running back J . J . Arrington , who ran for 173 yards and a touchdown , making him only the third Pac - 10 runner to reach 2 , 000 yards rushing in a season . The last game of December 30 was the Silicon Valley Football Classic at Spartan Stadium in San José . The Northern Illinois Huskies ( MAC ) , playing in their first bowl game in 21 years , faced the Troy State Trojans from the Sun Belt , a school that joined NCAA Division I - A in 2001 and were playing in their first bowl game ever . The Trojans opened strong , scoring two touchdowns , a pass and a run by D . T . McDowell , in the first quarter to build a 14 - 0 lead . The Huskies came back , tying the score by the end of the first quarter with rushing touchdowns by Garrett Wolfe and Josh Haldi , then building a 34 - 14 lead in the fourth quarter . The Trojans attempted a comeback , with McDowell running in another touchdown , but failed on their next possession on fourth and goal , and the Huskies were able to run out the clock to complete a 34 - 21 win . This would be the last game ever for this bowl , as poor attendance due to a driving rainstorm , a rarity of December in the Bay Area , along with bad publicity as neither the Pac - 10 or WAC had teams with the necessary winning records and other negative press led the NCAA to strip the Silicon Valley Football Classic of its certification on April 20 , 2005 . The first game on December 31 , the Music City Bowl held at The Coliseum in Nashville , matched the Alabama Crimson Tide ( SEC ) and Minnesota Golden Gophers ( Big Ten ) . The first quarter was one of the sloppiest in recent years , with the two teams turning the ball over five times ( Minnesota three times , Alabama twice ) . On the first play of the second quarter , the Gophers took a 14 - 7 lead on a touchdown run by Marion Barber III and never trailed again . Late in the fourth quarter , the Gophers , then leading 20 - 14 , took a deliberate safety on a punt from their own end zone . On the ensuing possession , the Tide drove to the Gophers ' 15 - yard - line , but their threat ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down . The Gophers then ran out the clock for the 20 - 16 win . Barber ran for 187 yards , and fellow Gophers running back Laurence Maroney ran for 105 . Alabama , which was second in the nation in total defense going into the game , had not given up a 100 - yard game to an opposing rusher this season . The next game on New Year ' s Eve , the Sun Bowl , held at the stadium of the same name in El Paso , Texas , pitted the Arizona State Sun Devils against the Purdue Boilermakers in what would be the sole Big Ten / Pac - 10 matchup on the bowl schedule . The first half of the game was a defensive struggle , with the Sun Devils taking a 3 - 2 lead into the locker room . The offensive fireworks began on the first play from scrimmage of the second half , with Boilermakers QB Kyle Orton connecting with Brian Hare on an 80 - yard TD pass . The Sun Devils answered with a Sam Keller TD pass to Derek Hagan to retake the lead . This set the stage for a wild fourth quarter that featured four lead changes , two of them in the last two minutes of the game . Purdue got the ball with 1 : 55 remaining and trailing 20 - 16 ; Orton took the Boilermakers down the field in four plays and 33 seconds , completing the drive with a 6 - yard TD pass to Charles Davis . The Sun Devils then took only four plays to move the ball 80 yards , ending in a 19 - yard Keller TD pass to Rudy Burgess with 43 seconds left . The ensuing extra point gave the Devils a 27 - 23 lead . Purdue was unable to move the ball in the remaining seconds , sealing the Devils ' win . The third game on December 31 , and the last of the bowl season to feature two non - BCS schools , was the Liberty Bowl , held in the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis . One of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season pitted the two top - ranked offenses in NCAA Division I - A . The Louisville Cardinals ( C - USA ) led the nation in scoring and total yardage per game ; their opponents , WAC champion the Boise State Broncos , were second in both categories . The Broncos also took their undefeated regular season record and Division I - A ' s then - longest winning streak of 22 games into the contest . In a wild game that saw five lead changes , the Cardinals won 44 - 40 , ending the Broncos ' streak , despite a season - high four turnovers . The Cardinals racked up 564 yards of total offense , surpassing the 500 - yard mark for the ninth time this season . Starting Louisville QB Stefan LeFors threw for two touchdowns , ran for a third , and made the key block allowing a fourth touchdown to score , but also had an interception run back for a TD . The Broncos went into the game averaging 511 yards per game on offense , but could only manage 281 . This was the last game for Louisville in C - USA ; in July 2005 , they joined the BCS as a new member of the Big East . The final game on December 31 was the Peach Bowl , held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta . It matched the Florida Gators of the SEC with one of their two bitter in - state rivals , the Miami Hurricanes from the ACC . The Hurricanes did most of their damage on special teams and defense , returning a blocked field goal and a punt for touchdowns , and intercepting Gators QB Chris Leak twice . Miami won 27 - 10 , extending their winning streak against Florida to six games and giving ' Canes senior QB Brock Berlin ( a former Florida player ) a 5 - 0 record as a starter against Miami ' s two major in - state rivals ( Florida and Florida State ) . The Cotton Bowl Classic , held in the stadium of the same name in Dallas on January 1 , matched the Tennessee Volunteers ( SEC ) and the Texas A & M Aggies ( Big 12 ) . On the game ' s seventh play from scrimmage , Vols QB Rick Clausen , a third - stringer for most of the season , completed a short pass to C . J . Fayton , who promptly turned the reception into a 57 - yard touchdown to give the Vols an early lead . Clausen passed for two more TDs with no interceptions , Vols running back Gerald Riggs racked up 102 yards and a TD on the ground , and the Vols defense pressured the Aggies into five turnovers . Tennessee ended with a 38 - 7 win , their most one - sided bowl win ever . Also on New Year ' s Day , the Outback Bowl was held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa , Florida . The game matched the Georgia Bulldogs and the Wisconsin Badgers in the first of two Big Ten - SEC New Year ' s Day contests . The first 20 minutes of the game were mostly a defensive battle , with the Badgers taking a 6 - 3 lead . Georgia QB David Greene threw a TD pass in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a lead they never relinquished . He added a second TD pass in the third quarter , but had an interception run back for a Badgers TD in the fourth . Thomas Brown added 111 rushing yards and a TD for the Bulldogs , and Lombardi Award winner David Pollack forced a key Badgers fumble with one of his three sacks . The Bulldogs held on for a 24 - 21 win , extending Greene ' s NCAA record for wins by a starting quarterback to 42 . The third bowl game on January 1 was the Gator Bowl , held at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville , Florida . It matched the Florida State Seminoles ( ACC ) and the West Virginia Mountaineers ( Big East ) . Longtime Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden was facing his former school for the first time since the two met in this game in 1982 . The ' Noles went out to an early lead when Leon Washington ran 69 yards for a TD ; he finished with 195 yards rushing on only 12 carries . However , inconsistent Seminoles QB Chris Rix helped keep the Mountaineers in the game , throwing two interceptions and fumbling three times , losing one , in the first half . Rix eventually settled down , leading the Seminoles on two touchdown drives in the second half . Lorenzo Booker added 101 yards rushing for the Seminoles . The Mountaineers ran for 238 yards against the nation ' s top rushing defense , led by 134 yards and two TDs by Kay - Jay Harris . However , special teams miscues hurt the Mountaineers . In the first half alone , a return man fumbled away a kickoff , two different kickers missed extra points , a kickoff was booted out of bounds , and the Mountaineers faked a field goal but failed to convert the first - down run . Even more tellingly , the Mountaineers were unsuccessful in the red zone ; they advanced the ball past the Seminoles 20 five times , but could only score a TD and a field goal . The Seminoles pulled away to a 30 - 18 win , saving them from an unprecedented third straight bowl loss and giving Bowden his 18th bowl victory , one shy of Joe Paterno ' s record of 19 . The fourth bowl game on January 1 , the second of the bowl season held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando , and the other Big Ten vs . SEC contest on New Year ' s Day was the Capital One Bowl , featuring the Iowa Hawkeyes and the LSU Tigers . The Hawkeyes scored on their first possession , with QB Drew Tate burning an LSU blitz by completing a pass to Clinton Solomon that turned into a 57 - yard touchdown play . This gave Iowa a lead that it did not give up until the game ' s last minute . The Hawkeyes defense largely bottled up the Tigers ' running game , except for a 74 - yard TD run by Alley Broussard in the second quarter , and Iowa had a 24 - 12 lead early in the fourth . Freshman QB JaMarcus Russell came off the bench for LSU and connected with Skyler Green for two fourth - quarter TD passes , the last of which gave LSU a 25 - 24 lead with 46 seconds left . After a failed 2 point conversion , Iowa got the ball back , and Tate completed two passes , but a penalty pushed the Hawkeyes back to their own 44 with 14 seconds left . Tate threw long to Warren Holloway , who was open because of an LSU coverage breakdown , and Holloway scored the winning touchdown with no time remaining . No extra point was attempted , and Iowa won 30 - 25 . The result spoiled Nick Saban ' s last game as LSU head coach ; he left to become head coach of the Miami Dolphins . With the loss , Saban ' s record fell to 30 - 1 when leading at the half with LSU , who also became the first defending BCS national champion to lose a non - BCS bowl the following year . The Rose Bowl , held on January 1 in the stadium of the same name in Pasadena , California , pitted the Big Ten champions , the Michigan Wolverines , and the Texas Longhorns from the Big 12 . Utah ' s unexpected entry into the BCS games , combined with Texas leapfrogging Cal in the final BCS rankings , plus the fact that Pac - 10 champion Southern California was playing in the Orange Bowl for the National Championship made it impossible for the Rose Bowl to maintain its traditional Big Ten – Pac - 10 match - up for only the third time since 1947 . Bowl Championship Series games . Rose Bowl . Nonetheless , the match - up promised to be highly entertaining , as well as historic . It matched Michigan , the winningest college football program of all time , and Texas , the third - winningest , for the first time ever . The 2271 games played by the two teams mark the most games ever played by two teams before they met for the first time . It was also the Longhorns ' first trip ever to the Rose Bowl , and the game itself proved to be a record - setting performance as well . In all , 16 Rose Bowl individual or team records were set or tied during the game , as well as numerous team and conference records . The game proved to be an offensive showcase . Longhorns QB Vince Young had 372 yards of total offense , rushing for 192 yards and four TDs and passing for 180 yards and a fifth TD , setting new Rose Bowl record for most total touchdowns . He became the first Texas quarterback to throw for over 1000 yards and rush for over 1000 yards in a single season . Together with Doak Walker Award - winning running back Cedric Benson , the two became the first Texas duo to each run for 1000 yards in the same season . Wolverines freshman QB Chad Henne threw for four TDs , tying both the Michigan and Rose Bowl single - game record . Three of Henne ' s TDs went to All - American receiver and Fred Biletnikoff Award winner Braylon Edwards . Edwards set a Rose Bowl record for touchdown passes caught in a game , and also set Michigan and Big Ten records for career touchdown receptions ( 39 ) . Another Wolverines receiver , Steve Breaston , amassed 310 all - purpose yards , breaking a Rose Bowl record set by O . J . Simpson in 1969 . By midway through the third quarter , the teams had been tied at 7 , 14 , and 21 , but the Wolverines took a 31 – 21 lead going into the fourth quarter . In that quarter , Young ran for TDs before and after a Michigan field goal , giving the Longhorns a 35 – 34 lead . The Wolverines retook the lead with 3 : 04 remaining on Garrett Rivas ' third field goal of the day . On the ensuing possession , Young led the ' Horns into position for a 37 - yard field goal with 2 seconds left . Michigan took both of its remaining timeouts in an attempt to " ice " Texas kicker Dusty Mangum . He finally put a wobbly kick through the uprights as time expired , giving the Longhorns a 38 - 37 win . The thrilling come - from - behind fourth quarter victory marked their sixth such victory of the year . The game was won on the final play for the first time in Rose Bowl history , and only the third time in Longhorns history . The final game on January 1 was the Fiesta Bowl , held at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe , Arizona ( suburban Phoenix ) . It matched the Pittsburgh Panthers , the Big East champions and the Mountain West champion Utah Utes . This was another historic matchup , as Utah became the first school from outside the BCS membership to appear in a BCS game . It was also the swan song for Utes head coach Urban Meyer , who left after the game to take the head coaching job at Florida . Fiesta Bowl . The matchup was fairly controversial , though not because of the Utes ' presence ; in their 11 - 0 regular season , they had defeated three schools from BCS conferences , two of which participated in bowl games , by an average of 22 points . No opponent came within two touchdowns of the Utes . The controversy surrounded the presence of Pittsburgh , or more to the point , the Big East , in the BCS pool . The Panthers finished 8 - 3 in a conference that had just lost its two strongest programs ( Miami - Florida and Virginia Tech ) to the ACC — a tiebreaker among four teams granted Pittsburgh the Big East championship . However , the BCS is still contractually obligated to place the Big East champion in one of its bowls . Utah ' s vaunted offense started the game slowly , but the Utes nonetheless went into halftime leading 14 - 0 . The tone for the game was initially set by the Utes defense , which mercilessly pressured Panthers QB Tyler Palko , and special teams , which blocked a Pittsburgh field goal attempt and nearly blocked a punt . In the third quarter , the Utah offense came alive , with QB Alex Smith , a Heisman Trophy finalist who became the top overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft , throwing two TD passes and connecting on a hook and lateral that ended in a Paris Warren TD . By the end of that quarter , the Utes led by their final margin of 35 - 7 . The win capped off a fairy - tale 12 - 0 season , Utah ' s first perfect season since 1930 , and sent Meyer off to his new job in Gainesville with a historic win . Smith went 29 - for - 37 passing for 328 yards and three TDs with no interceptions , and also led the Utes in rushing with 68 yards . Warren caught 15 passes for 180 yards and a TD , as well as scoring on the pass - and - lateral play . The Utes defense sacked Palko nine times . In the second game of the bowl season held at the Superdome in New Orleans , the SEC champion Auburn Tigers took on the Virginia Tech Hokies , the ACC champions in the Sugar Bowl on January 3 . Sugar Bowl . Despite finishing the regular season 12 - 0 and winning the SEC , Auburn was not able to crack the top two in the BCS rankings , shutting the Tigers out of the BCS title game . Their main hope for a split national championship ( as happened the season before with LSU and Southern California ) was to score a resounding win over the Hokies and hope that Oklahoma unimpressively defeated Southern California in the Orange Bowl the following evening . Auburn would then have to hope that enough voters in the AP media poll switch their votes from Oklahoma to give the Tigers the AP title . The Tigers had a chance to blow the game open in the first half , but were unable to score a touchdown in three trips inside the Hokies ' 10 - yard line , settling for three field goals from John Vaughn . Auburn ' s defense was more than up to the challenge from the Hokies , shutting them out in the first half . Tech did not help itself , as Jesse Allen dropped an easy touchdown reception on fourth - and - goal at the Auburn 1 in the second quarter . Auburn finally drove for a TD on the first possession of the second half , and kept their 16 - 0 lead into the fourth quarter . However , two second - half turnovers kept the Hokies in the game , and their offense finally awakened in the fourth quarter . Tech QB Bryan Randall threw two TD passes to Josh Howard , the last an 80 - yard bomb , in the fourth quarter , cutting the Auburn lead to 16 - 13 . The Hokies then attempted an onside kick , but the Tigers recovered and chose to run out the clock to instead of trying to score again . This preserved the Tigers ' perfect 13 - 0 season ; however , it effectively ended Auburn ' s faint hopes for a split national championship . Tigers QB Jason Campbell was the game ' s MVP , completing 11 of his 16 pass attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown . However , he was intercepted once . For the Hokies , Randall went 21 - for - 38 passing for 299 yards and two TDs , but was intercepted twice . In the final major bowl game of the BCS , the Orange Bowl , played on January 4 , 2005 , the top - ranked Southern California Trojans , the Pac - 10 Champions , were able to obtain the National Championship title with a huge 55 - 19 victory over the second - ranked and Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners . Orange Bowl . An Orange Bowl record five touchdown passes were thrown by Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart , and 38 points were scored by the Trojans in the first 20 minutes of the first half alone to effectively seal the victory . The game was billed as the Game of the Century by many . It was the first time that two teams went wire - to - wire ranked # 1 and # 2 . USC came into the game as a slight underdog after opening as a 3 point favorite . Most of the experts predicted an Oklahoma win , calling the Trojans thin at all positions except for all - purpose threat Reggie Bush . The Sooners looked to prove the experts correct by driving the field on their first possession for a 7 - 0 lead . The Trojans tied the score 7 - 7 on a spectacular diving catch by Tight End Dominique Byrd . It looked like it would be a classic back - and - forth battle until a key turnover turned the tide to USC for good . USC had just punted to Oklahoma and got a good roll inside Oklahoma ' s 10 yard line . Inexplicably , Senior Mark Bradley tried to pick up the ball and promptly fumbled it away . Lendale White scored on the next play and USC never looked back . From that point on , Matt Leinart was on fire as was his primary target , Sophomore WR Steve Smith . Smith caught 3 TD passes on the night , also an Orange Bowl record . Oklahoma continued turning the ball over as the Trojan defense proved too tough all night . Freshmam RB sensation Adrian Peterson was held to well under 100 yards , despite having been the first freshman to finish second in the Heisman balloting . Many fans left after the third quarter at which point the score was 48 - 10 , USC . After the Trojans took a 55 - 10 lead , Oklahoma got a safety on USC QB Matt Leinart . The Sooners followed it up with a short drive for the final points . USC Sanctions . On June 10 , 2010 , the NCAA placed Southern California on a probation period of four years , with two years without any bowl game appearances , and forfeiture of all games in which Reggie Bush ( an ineligible player because of accepting payments from an agent ) participated in beginning in Dec . 2004 , and therefore , includes the Orange Bowl BCS National Championship game . On June 6 , 2011 the NCAA officially vacated Southern California ' s Orange Bowl BCS National Championship game win . All - Star Games . Gridiron Classic . In the Gridiron Classic , the first of the four post - BCS bowl games played January 15 , 2005 at The Villages retirement center in Lady Lake , Florida , Marcus Randall ( quarterback for LSU ) ran seven out of eleven passes for 88 yards as he led the South squad to a win over the North by the score of 24 - 21 . Randall was also declared the game ' s Most Valuable Player . East - West Shrine Game . The 80th East - West Shrine Game , played January 15 , 2005 ( just after the Gridiron Classic ) at SBC Park in San Francisco , saw two Louisville Cardinal teammates , Stefan LeFors and J . R . Russell , propel the East squad to a 45 - 27 win over the West team . The two teams combined for 1 , 013 yards of offense in the highest - scoring Shrine Game since 1979 . LeFors was named the MVP for the offense , while Alex Green ( from Duke ) won the MVP for the defense . Las Vegas All - American Classic . The 4th edition of the Las Vegas All - American Classic was played January 22 , 2005 in Las Vegas , Nevada . The West won the game by a score of 21 - 16 over the East . Hula Bowl . A total 92 of the best seniors in college football were represented in the January 22 , 2005 version of the Hula Bowl game played in Wailuku , Hawaii . Michigan State ' s Ronald Stanley scored with two defensive touchdowns to help win the game for the East over the West by the score of 20 - 13 . For his efforts , Stanley won Most Valuable Player . This was the first time since 1996 that the Hula Bowl used the East and West squads format . Senior Bowl . In the Senior Bowl , the final game of the 2004 - 2005 college football season , Kansas State ' s Darren Sproles , Akron ' s Charlie Frye , and Ohio State ' s Mike Nugent led the North to a 23 - 13 victory over the South in the annual bowl game played January 29 , 2005 , in Mobile , Alabama . Frye won the Most Valuable Player honors for his completion of 10 to 12 passes and making possible a 22 - yard touchdown at the game ' s conclusion to seal the victory for the North . Nugent scored three field goals from 25 , 36 , and 41 yards , respectively , while Sproles earned the North ' s defensive player of the game for five carries gaining 55 yards . Leroy Hill of Clemson earned the defensive player honors for the South team . Conference Standings . In the list of teams that played in the minor bowl games as well as the BCS , winners are marked in bold and losers are " marked in italics " . The list is sorted by winning percentage , then by number of competing teams , and finally alphabetically by conference name .