2003 Harvard Crimson football team

2003 Harvard Crimson football
Conference	Ivy League
Record	7–3 (4–3 Ivy)
Head coach	Tim Murphy (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Cecchini (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Doherty (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Captain	Dante Balestracci
Home stadium	Harvard Stadium
Seasons ←  2002 2004  →

2003 Ivy League football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 Penn $		7	–	0					10	–	0
Harvard		4	–	3					7	–	3
Brown		4	–	3					5	–	5
Yale		4	–	3					6	–	4
Dartmouth		4	–	3					5	–	5
Columbia		3	–	4					4	–	6
Princeton		2	–	5					2	–	8
Cornell		0	–	7					1	–	9
$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2003 Harvard Crimson football team was an American football team that represented Harvard University during the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Harvard tied for second in the Ivy League.

In their 10th year under head coach Tim Murphy, the Crimson compiled a 7–3 record and outscored opponents 317 to 221. Dante Balestracci was the team captain. ^[1]

The Crimson's 4–3 conference record placed them in a four-way tie for second in the Ivy League standings. Harvard outscored Ivy opponents 212 to 151. ^[2]

Harvard began the year unranked, but a six-game winning streak to start the season saw it enter the national top 25 in early October and climb as high as No. 16. November losses to two unranked opponents dropped the Crimson from the rankings, and they finished the year outside the top 25.

Harvard played its home games at Harvard Stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 20	at Holy Cross *		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 43–23	10,312	[3]
September 27	Brown		Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 52–14	9,460	[4]
October 4	No. 10 Northeastern *		Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 28–20	10,017	[5]
October 11	at Cornell	No. 23	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 27–0	6,123	[6]
October 18	Lafayette *	No. 22	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 34–27	8,326	[7]
October 25	Princeton	No. 20	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	W 43–40 OT	14,086	[8]
November 1	Dartmouth	No. 16	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	L 16–30	12,186	[9]
November 8	at Columbia	No. 23	Wien Stadium New York, NY	L 13–16	3,470	[10]
November 15	No. 8 Penn		Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	L 24–32	12,585	[11]
November 22	at Yale		Yale Bowl New Haven, CT (The Game)	W 37–19	53,136	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

Roster

2003 Harvard Crimson football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Ryan Fitzpatrick Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Timothy Murphy Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "Football Record Book: Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University . Retrieved June 20, 2020.
2. "Year-by-Year History". Ivy League Football Media Guide (PDF). Princeton, N.J.: Ivy League. 2017. pp. 40–41. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
3. May, Pete (September 21, 2003). "Fitzpatrick Hits the Books". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C13 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Blaudschun, Mark (September 28, 2003). "Fitzpatrick and Crimson Drive Home Their Points". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C15 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Vega, Michael (October 5, 2003). "NU Given the Old 1-2". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C9 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Harlan, Aaron (October 12, 2003). "Nothing New for Crimson". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C15 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Indrisano, Ron (October 19, 2003). "Crimson Are Perfectly Fine". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C22 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Powers, John (October 26, 2003). "Crimson Show Fight". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C18 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Chamberlain, Tony (November 2, 2003). "Green Crash Crimson's Stadium Party". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D15 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Denman, Elliott (November 9, 2003). "Crimson Take One on the Chin". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C16 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Jensen, Mike (November 16, 2003). "Penn Makes Up for Bad Memory, Beats Harvard". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pa. p. D5 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Hine, Tommy (November 23, 2003). "No-Delivery Zone; Missed Chances Haunt Yale". Hartford Courant . Hartford, Conn. pp. E5, E6 – via Newspapers.com.