2003 USC Trojans football team

Last updated

2003 USC Trojans football
USC Trojans logo.svg
AP Poll national champion
FWAA national champion
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 28–14 vs. Michigan
Conference Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 1
Record12–1 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Norm Chow (3rd season)
Captains
Home stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass)
Seasons
←  2002
2004  →
2003 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 1 USC $  7 –1   12 –1  
No. 9 Washington State  6 –2   10 –3  
Oregon  5 –3   8 –5  
California  5 –3   8 –6  
Oregon State  4 –4   8 –5  
Washington  4 –4   6 –6  
UCLA  4 –4   6 –7  
Arizona State  2 –6   5 –7  
Stanford  2 –6   4 –7  
Arizona  1 –7   2 –10  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. They won their first national championship since 1978 as they were named the Associated Press and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) national champions. However, the Trojans were denied a spot in the BCS National Championship Game by the BCS selections for the national championship game.

Contents

The regular season ended with three one-loss teams in BCS contention: Oklahoma, LSU and USC. USC ended the regular season ranked #1 and LSU #2 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. USC lost one triple-overtime game at California, which finished 8–6; LSU had a 12-point home loss against a Florida team that went 8–5; Oklahoma, which had been ranked #1 for most of the season, fell to #3 after suffering a 35–7 defeat in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game to Kansas State, which finished 11–4. Controversy erupted when the BCS computers selected Oklahoma–LSU as the BCS title game. During the bowl games, USC had a convincing 28–14 win over #4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl while LSU beat Oklahoma 21–14 in the Sugar Bowl (designated the BCS title game). USC remained #1 in the final AP Poll with 48 of the 65 votes, and LSU was ranked, by contractual obligation, #1 in the final Coaches' Poll, though three coaches did not follow instructions and voted USC #1 in that poll as well. [1]

Recruiting

With the late arrival of highly touted quarterback John David Booty, who left high school a year early to attend USC, the Trojans' 2003 recruiting class was considered by some to be the best in the country. [2] [3]

Its legacy included many NFL Draft picks over several years, including four first-round picks. [4]

2006 NFL Draft:

2007 NFL Draft:

2008 NFL Draft:

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 303:00 p.m.at No. 6 Auburn *No. 8
 CBS W 23–086,063
September 65:00 p.m. BYU *No. 5
 ABC W 35–1875,315
September 131:00 p.m. Hawaii *No. 4
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
 FSN W 61–3273,654
September 273:30 p.m.at California No. 3
FSNL 31–34 3OT51,208
October 412:30 p.m.at Arizona State No. 10
ABCW 37–1756,527
October 117:00 p.m. Stanford No. 9
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
FSNW 44–2168,341
October 1811:30 a.m.at Notre Dame *No. 4
 NBC W 45–1480,795
October 2512:30 p.m.at Washington No. 4
ABCW 43–2372,015 [5]
November 14:00 p.m.No. 6 Washington State Dagger-14-plain.pngNo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 43–1682,478 [6]
November 154:00 p.m.at Arizona No. 2
 TBS W 45–039,201
November 2212:30 p.m. UCLA No. 2
ABCW 47–2293,172
December 61:30 p.m. Oregon State No. 2
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 52–2873,864
January 1, 20041:30 p.m.vs. No. 4 Michigan *No. 1
ABCW 28–1493,849
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP 84 (6)4 (4)4 (2)3 (2)109553222221 (42)1 (48)
Coaches 854 (1)3 (1)3 (1)109443222221 (37)2 (3)
BCS Not released74223223Not released

Game summaries

Auburn

1234Total
•USC1006723
Auburn00000
Scoring summary
112:38USC Mike Williams 5 yard pass from Matt Leinart (Ryan Killeen kick)USC 7-0
13:21USCRyan Killeen 28 yard field goalUSC 10-0
311:50USCRyan Killeen 42 yard field goalUSC 13-0
37:22USCRyan Killeen 35 yard field goalUSC 16-0
413:51USC Hershel Dennis 14 yard run (Ryan Killeen kick)YSC 23-0

USC opened the season visiting Auburn University: the Tigers were also ranked in the top 10 and had been named a pre-season favorite to be the national champion by at least one major news organization. In his first start, quarterback Matt Leinart led the Trojans on a dominating 23–0 performance. [7]

Roster

2003 USC Trojans football team roster
PlayersCoaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 86 Dominique Byrd So
RB 5 Reggie Bush Fr
QB 10 Matt Cassel Jr
WR 83 Keary Colbert Sr
TE 44 Gregg Guenther So
TE 81 Alex Holmes Sr
C 62 Norm Katnik Sr
RB 37 David Kirtman So
QB 11 Matt Leinart So
OT 77 Jacob Rogers Sr
G 78 Lenny Vandermade Jr
RB 35 Lee Webb Jr
WR 1 Mike Williams So
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 8 Marcell Allmond Sr
LB 59 Collin Ashton So
DT 84 Shaun Cody So
LB 6 Matt Grootegoed Jr
DB 27 Jason Leach Jr
DT 99 Mike Patterson Jr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
  • Redshirt.svg Redshirt

Roster

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References

  1. ↑ Miller, Ted (May 20, 2008). "BCS system leaves long trail of wounded victims". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  2. ↑ Newberg, Jamie (May 22, 2003). "Upon further review ..." SI.com. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  3. ↑ "USC wins on recruiting trail by grabbing California talent". USA Today . February 6, 2003.
  4. ↑ 2003 USC FOOTBALL SIGNEES Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine , USC Trojans - Official Site, Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  5. ↑ Korte, Tim (October 26, 2003). "Leinert excels as USC cruises". Sunday Register-Guard. (Eugene, Oregon). Associated Press. p. D6.
  6. ↑ Fox, Tom (November 3, 2003). "Washington State drubbed by USC". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. p. 1B.
  7. ↑ Forde, Pat (August 28, 2007) The Dash is off and running, ESPN.com.
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