Auburn Football: The 2004 undefeated season, my story

SEC champions, and what should have been

Auburn hadn’t won an SEC championship outright since I began watching them in 1993. That ’93 team was on probation and Auburn lost to Peyton Manning a few years later. Tennessee played much better this time around than they had earlier in the season. They showed up to play.

Jason Campbell had a monstrous night. Campbell threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns. It was rare in this Borges offense for Campbell to put up 300 yards passing, especially with the backfield Auburn had.

Auburn took a 21-7 lead into halftime, but Tennessee made some adjustments, and with the help of a Robert Meachem touchdown and a Gerald Riggs 80 yard scoring run, the Volunteers tied the game 21-21.

Auburn struck back with a scoring drive that ended with Aromashodu scoring on a 53 yard touchdown pass to put Auburn ahead 28-21.

Auburn would go on to win 38-28, and then all there was left to do was wait for the polls.

To be fair, USC and Oklahoma had stayed ranked No. 1 and No. 2 all year. The way the BCS formula worked didn’t allow for that to change unless one of the two lost a game. There was already a controversy the season before with LSU splitting the national title with Oklahoma, and this did little to help the credibility of the BCS system.

Auburn would beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, 16-13. Had VT gotten one more possession, the game could have easily gone the other way. Frank Beamer is a legend, his special teams and defenses were among the best year in, year out, and this Sugar Bowl was no different. On paper, Auburn should have buried VT. But games aren’t played on paper.

The BCS would later strip USC of their title following the Reggie Bush investigation, and though USC throttled Oklahoma, Auburn could rightfully claim that national championship. But there’s a sense of integrity involved amongst the powers that be who decide those matters within the Auburn athletic department.

The lack of a championship that season does very little to blur the incredible memories.

After that season, Bradford, Andrew, and I would never live together again, nor would we ever go to another game together. I still talk to Andrew regularly and we remain good friends despite differences in our allegiances. We actually went to an Auburn softball game together a few weeks back. Bradford and his family reside along the Florida Gulf Coast and it’s been more than 10 years since I’ve seen him, but we will always have that 2004 season, and it will always be the most meaningful to me.

Next: Top Five Draft Steals From Auburn

War Eagle!