In their third season under head coach Carl S. Williams, the Quakers compiled a 12–0 record, shut out 11 of 12 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 222 to 4.

[1][2] There was no contemporaneous system in 1904 for determining a national champion.

However, Penn was retroactively named as the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, and Parke H. Davis, and as the co-national champion by the National Championship Foundation.

[3] Three Penn players, quarterback Vince Stevenson, fullback Andy Smith, and guard Frank Piekarski, were consensus picks on the 1904 All-America college football team.

[4] Other notable players included halfback Marshall Reynolds, end Garfield Weede, center Robert Grant Torrey, and tackle Thomas Alexander Butkiewicz.