This is a three part series looking at Utah football over the past 5 years, part 2 focuses on the 2004 undefeated season.. Part 1 can be read here.

Urban Meyer's first season in Salt Lake City was a success. Not only did Utah win their first outright conference championship in ages, the program hit the 10-win pinnacle for the first time since the 1994 season. The Utes strong finish, two consecutive shutouts against BYU and Southern Mississippi in the Liberty Bowl, capped off one of the best season's in Utah history.

Perfect

The summer of 2004 was met not only by heat, but nearly blind optimism as fans were talking of an undefeated season and a possible BCS bowl bid. And while Urban Meyer tried to restrain those predictions, no one could deny the buzz and excitement surrounding the Utes heading into the 2004 season.

Utah would kick off the 2004 season against Texas A&M live on ESPN. If the Utes were going to have a test in the 2004 season, this was the game most of the media pundits and fans pointed to. Instead of a close contest between two solid programs, Utah would go on to utterly dominate the Aggies. The win, a 41-21 thumping, was an embarrassing loss for Texas A&M and an explosive win for Utah that would catapult them toward their perfect season.

Utah's defense kept Reggie McNeal on his toes, but it was the offense that gave Utah fans the show

The preseason buzz prior to the Aggies game was met with results beyond the expectations of most Utah fans and even the national media. The game propelled Utah into the BCS talks and it seemed as if the Utes were destined for an undefeated run.

A week later, the Utes rolled into Tucson, Arizona where they faced first year head coach Mike Stoops and his Arizona Wildcats. The Desert Storm defense actually gave Utah's offense trouble, however it was the Utes defense that prevailed in a 23-6 game, keeping Arizona out of the end zone the entire night.

Two dominate wins over BCS teams continued to turn heads and the Utah season rolled on. Wins piled up as success rang throughout the Wasatch Front, but with all the attention being tossed Utah's way, there was still doubt. Doubt because the Utes played in the average at best Mountain West Conference. Some pundits questioned whether the Utes had the ability to sustain the success, but beyond that a few wondered if Utah was a legitimate a top-6 BCS team.

All those doubts were washed away when the Utes dominated North Carolina in Salt Lake City on October 16th.

Heading into that game, North Carolina was fresh off a stunning victory over rival and top-25 North Carolina State. They were a powerful ACC team with a tough schedule that was most likely the reason for their mediocre record. That's what made Utah's dominating win over them that much more impressive because, as it turned out, it was their worst loss of the season. Not only that, North Carolina would go on to stun Miami the very next week. The Utes 46-16 win ended any doubt that Utah could compete with the big boys of the BCS. The Utes had gone 3-0 against the BCS by a combined score of 110-43.

Utah's spread option bewildered North Carolina

The North Carolina game was the turning point for an already successful season. It was Utah's coming out party offensively and the team wouldn't have a close game again. They put up 63 points on UNLV and Colorado State, 52 on their rival BYU and 51 on the road against San Diego State. The Utes not only put together their most dominate season in school history, they put together one of the most dominate seasons in college football history. Air Force would prove to be Utah's closest game and that was a game Utah won by 14 points.

Holy War of Epic Proportions

The 2004 season came to an end against hated rival BYU in Salt Lake City. All that stood between Utah and the BCS was the Cougars, a team that had been put in the position of Utah only a few years prior in 2001. The game was so big that ESPN GameDay found their way to Utah for the first time in school history. It was also only the second time in Mountain West history that GameDay was hosted on a Mountain West Conference campus. And even though it was below freezing and snow had begun to fall, hundreds of Utah fans still made it to the 8:00 AM taping.

Lee Corso had no problem picking Utah over BYU

The stage was set, the excitement palpable and the Utes ultimately ready for their one shining moment. A capacity crowd packed Rice-Eccles Stadium on that cold, November night. And while snow flurries filled the evening, the Fiesta atmosphere made most Utah fans forget the cold.

Cold? Sure, but it's party time, baby!

But there was still a game to be played and BYU wasn't to be taken lightly. Even though the Cougars were limping into the match with a 5-5 record, this was the Holy War and they were very dangerous.

The game was close early, with Utah only building a 7 point lead heading into the locker room at the half. However a string of events to start the 2nd half slowly put BYU away and Utah started building their way to a perfect season. And with one minute left, it was clear Utah would be on their way to the BCS and the celebration began.

Utah fans storm the field after Utah's 52-21 victory over BYU. The Utes ran their record to 11-0 and became the first non-BCS team in college football history to play in a BCS bowl

Utah was on their way to Tempe, but the success and subsequent Fiesta Bowl for Utah would be bittersweet for two reasons. Urban Meyer decided to bolt Utah for Florida and the Utes were stuck playing an 8 win, 4 loss Pittsburgh Panthers team in the Fiesta Bowl.

A Good Day for a Fiesta

Utah's season was coming to an end and the Utes were ready to wrap it up against Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. Thousands of Utah fans flocked down to Arizona and packed Sun Devil Stadium for the big game and the Utes perfect season would finally culminate in a dominate victory over Big East Champion Pittsburgh.

Utah's option was too much for Pittsburgh's defense and after a slow start, the Utes began picking apart the Panthers. But while it was Utah's offense that got the accolades, it was Kyle Whittingham's defense that stole the show.

Utah held Pittsburgh to their lowest point total since the 2002 season, while also setting a Fiesta Bowl sack record at 9 and completely dominating Panther quarterback Tyler Palko.  

Tyler Palko was sacked 9 times by Utah's dominating defense

The Utes would go on to win 35-7 and wrap up their perfect season. The ending was fitting, as the Utes beat their opponent with relative ease, something they did the entire year. The 12 wins were the most in Utah history and the undefeated finish the first since Utah went 8-0 in 1930.

Utes celebrate their Fiesta Bowl Championship

As quickly as it all started, the dream season had come to a close. Urban Meyer bolted for Florida, Mike Sanford, Utah's offensive coordinator, would depart for UNLV and Alex Smith decided to join the NFL after being invited to New York for the annual Heisman Trophy presentation.

Alex Smith was invited to New York for the 2004 Heisman Trophy presentation and though he lost, he became the first Ute ever to do so

Kyle Whittingham was promoted to Utah's head coach, while Utah saw Morgan Scalley, Paris Warren, Marty Johnson and Chris Kemoeatu graduate and Steve Savoy and Alex Smith leave early for the NFL. All played huge roles in Utah's success and it was fairly obvious that the 2005 Utes would look nothing like their 2004 counterparts.

Kyle Whittingham became Utah's new head coach and had some big shoes to fill in his first season

Living up to the 2004 season for Kyle Whittingham and the 2005 Utes was not going to be an easy task. In fact, it was probably damn near impossible to replicate the experience and excitement of the 12-0 season. Kyle Whittingham had his work cut out for him because not only was he replacing such a monumental figure like Urban Meyer, he was doing so with inexperienced talent. 2005 would prove to be not only a transition year for Utah football, but a rebuilding year as well.