2004 Motor City Bowl

The 2004 Motor City Bowl, part of the 2004–05 NCAA football bowl games season, occurred on December 27, 2004 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
Team selection
The Toledo Rockets entered the game as the champions of the Mid-American Conference as they defeated Miami University on December 2, 2004 in the MAC Championship Game by a score of 35–27. This was Toledo's third trip to the bowl. They also appeared in 2001 and 2002. The Connecticut Huskies qualified for their first ever bowl appearance by finishing 7–4 and had a Big East Conference record of 3–3. Connecticut was invited to the game when the Big Ten could not provide a qualifying team.
Game summary
The announced attendance of 52,552 was, at the time, a record crowd for the Motor City Bowl. It has since been surpassed by both the 2006 and 2007 games.
First quarter
Larry Taylor received the opening kickoff for UConn at the eight-yard line and returned the ball 34 yards...