2004 Auburn Football: Unbeaten And Uncrowned

In this new era of the 12-team playoff, it’s impossible for the unbeaten champion of a major conference to be denied the chance to play for a national title. Even in the 10-year era of the four-team playoff (2014-23), it would have been difficult to fathom. It gets even more difficult for a modern audience to grasp an undefeated SEC champion not getting the chance to play for a title, regardless of the system. Yet, that’s what happened to the 2004 Auburn Tigers.

Auburn came into the 2004 season seeking its major bowl appearance since 1988. The last time the program even shared the SEC title was a year later, in 1989.

In other words, since the conference moved to playing a championship game in 1992, Auburn had never won their league and only won the SEC’s Western Division twice. Their best season, the 11-0 year of 1994, came when the Tigers were on NCAA probation.

Tommy Tuberville was in his sixth year as head coach, and while he had posted a nice 38-24 record from 1999-2003, there was no sign of impending greatness when the ’04 college football season began. Auburn was ranked #17 in the initial polls.

A defense that was best in the nation lifted the Tigers. Carlos Rodgers won the Jim Thorpe Award as the top secondary player in the country. Safety Junior Rosegreen was All-SEC, as was defensive tackle Tommy Jackson.

The running game was a potent two-pronged attack. Cadillac Williams rolled up over 1,100 yards and was a second-team All-American. The versatile Ronnie Brown added over 900 more rushing yards and mixed in 34 pass receptions. An offensive line led by another second-team All-American, Marcus McNeil, paved the way.

Jason Campbell, an eventual first-round pick of the Washington Redskins, orchestrated it at all at quarterback. Campbell was efficient, completing 70 percent of his passes. He could stretch the field, averaging 10.0 yards-per-attempt. Both figures were the best in the SEC, and he was the all-conference QB. Courtney Taylor, who averaged over 17 yards per catch, was his top target.

Auburn opened with a 31-0 tuneup win over UL-Monroe and then went on the road and hammered a bad Mississippi State team 43-14. The first real test would come at home on September 18. LSU, the defending co-national champion, ranked #5 in the country, and coached by Nick Saban, were coming to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

It would be a defensive fight. LSU scored early, but the missed extra point loomed large. Auburn hung in the game, with Cadillac gaining 75 yards and Brown rushing for 67. But they couldn’t find the end zone and still trailed 9-3 late in the fourth quarter. Finally, Campbell found Taylor on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:14 to play. Auburn had a 10-9 win and moved into the national top 10.

After crushing The Citadel 33-3, Auburn had another test with a big-time opponent. They were going to Knoxville to play 10^th-ranked Tennessee. And, for as big as the LSU win had been, this first Saturday in October, was when the 2004 edition of Auburn football really made its statement.

Brown ran in for a touchdown from nine yards out and Campbell tossed an early TD. The Tigers led the Vols 14-3 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, it was Cadillac running for a TD, while Campbell threw another touchdown pass. It was 31-3 by halftime and the rout was on. Rosegreen had a monster day defensively, intercepting four passes. Campbell finished 16/23 for 252 yards. Cadillac racked up 95 yards on the ground. The 34-10 final vaulted Auburn up to #6 in the polls.

A 52-7 beatdown of Louisiana Tech moved the Tigers to #4, and a 38-10 pummeling of mediocre Arkansas pushed Auburn to the 3-spot the polls.

The system that existed at the time called for the #1 and #2 teams to play in a pre-determined bowl game (the Orange in 2004) for the national championship. USC, who had shared the title with LSU a year ago, was #1. Oklahoma was #2. The Trojans and Sooners were blowing out scoreboard lights each week. It was unlikely that Auburn would win any vote that came down to “style points.” They needed either USC or Oklahoma to lose. And the Tigers needed to keep taking care of business themselves.

Auburn did the latter, closing out October with a 42-10 win over Kentucky, and a 35-14 smashing of another bad team in Ole Miss. Those wins wrapped up the Western Division title. November could be about playing for national position and hoping for a break.

Eighth-ranked Georgia, with eventual SEC Defensive Player of the Year (and future ESPN Gameday analyst) David Pollack came to town. Auburn was dominant. Cadillac finished with 101 yards, running for one touchdown and even throwing for one. Campbell completed 18/22 passes for 189 yards. The defense didn’t allow any points until the game was decided with a couple minutes left. The final was 24-6.

Alabama, with Saban still four years in the future, was an average team at 6-4. Auburn’s workmanlike 21-13 win came as no surprise. The Tigers had completed an undefeated regular season 11-0.

But their national hopes were dimming. USC and Oklahoma were both still winning. The Trojans didn’t have to play a conference championship game in the old Pac-12 and would close the season on December 4 against a so-so UCLA squad. Oklahoma was a heavy favorite to defeat Colorado in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Auburn not only needed an upset in one of those two games, they couldn’t take their own foot off the gas—a rematch with now 15^th-ranked Tennessee awaited in Atlanta.

The Tigers exploded out of the gates and built a quick 14-0 lead. They were having uncharacteristic problems defensively though and allowed 228 rushing yards. The Vols clawed their way back into a 21-21 tie by late in the third quarter.

What Auburn was doing was controlling the clock—they would end with a 31-9 edge in first downs, a mind-blowing disparity given how competitive the game was. And that ability to control flow eventually led to big plays. Campbell hit Devin Aromashodu on a 53-yard strike to get a 28-21 lead. Later, Campbell found Ben Obamanu on a 43-yard TD pass to seal the 38-28 win.

USC got a tougher fight than expected, but survived UCLA. Oklahoma blew out Colorado. Auburn would conclude the regular season #3 and headed for the Sugar Bowl to play ACC champion Virginia Tech.

The Tigers mostly controlled the game against the Hokies but repeatedly bogged down in the red zone. Three first-half trips inside the 10-yard line ended in field goals. The good news is that the defense was back in form and Virginia Tech’s offense was going nowhere. A short touchdown pass by Campbell extended the lead to 16-0. Tech made one last push and closed to 16-13 with two minutes left, but it ended there.

Auburn’s undefeated and uncrowned season was complete. They watched along with the rest of the country when USC completely obliterated OU for the national title. Whether the Tigers would have fared any better against the Trojan attack led by Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, and coached by Pete Carroll, is a fair question. And it’s unfortunately a question that Auburn fans and players never got to have answered.

Even so, 2004 was still a special year for Auburn. They returned to the top of the SEC. And while this was the high point of Tuberville’s tenure, he won 29 more games over the next three years. And in 2010, Cam Newton came to town and finally gave Auburn that long-sought national championship.