2004 Liberty Bowl (Quebec Independence)

The 2004 Liberty Bowl was the college football championship for the 2003 season. The match up pitted favorite #1 Ole Miss against #7 Temple. Highly regarded as one of college football's greatest games, the underdog and upstart Temple Owls upset the Rebels 36-35 in overtime to prevent the Rebels from winning 3 national championships in a row.

Bracket
1 - Ole Miss Rebels

2 - Arkansas Razorbacks

3 - Texas Longhorns

4 - USC Trojans

5 - Rutgers Scarlet Knights

6 - Wake Forest Demon Deacons

7 - Temple Owls

8 - Oklahoma Sooners

Ole Miss Rebels
Winning two national champions in a row, in '02 and '03, the Rebels returned a majority of their starters in '04 and were once against favorites to win the national champion. Under head coach David Cutcliffe The Rebels opened the season with a 36 game winning streak, not losing since the Cotton Bowl in 2001.

Star quarterback Eli Manning was returning for his senior season and led a high-powered Rebel offense. Manning commonly through wide reciever Triandos Luke, who ended the 2003 season with the most TD catches in the SEC. The running game was led by senior Rick Razzano alongside productive freshmen BenJarvus Green-Ellis, both of whom ran for over 1,000 yards during the season.

The Rebels opened the season at #1 and never looked back. The only close call came in Week 3 against #12 Arkansas, but after 3 close quarters the Rebels managed to blast the Razorbacks away with two Manning TD passes. The Rebels would defeat Alabama and Georgia with ease, before blasting rival Mississippi State 45-3 in the 100th Egg Bowl. The Rebels would defeat one loss #12 Florida in the SEC championship, and Manning would throw 4 TD passes in addition to two Razzano rushing TDs to give the rebels the victory 48-10.

Ole Miss dominated Oklahoma in the first round of playoffs, then met the USC Trojans in a rematch of last year's title game. In perhaps the second most exciting game of the season, the Rebels defeated the Trojans in a back and forth match 27-23, with Manning throwing the game winning touchdown with only :26 left on the clock. The Rebels, now with a record-setting 51 wins in a row, were heading to Nashville, Tennessee for the national championship.