2003 USC Trojans football team
2003 USC Trojans football | |
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Associated Press National Champions
Rose Bowl Champions Pac-10 Champions |
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Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | #2 |
AP | #1 |
2003 record | 12–1 (7–1 Pac-10) |
Head coach | Pete Carroll |
Offensive coordinator | Norm Chow |
Captain | Keary Colbert |
Captain | Melvin Simmons |
Home stadium | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass) |
2003 Pacific-10 football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#1 USC $ | 7 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2003 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were named the Associated Press and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) National Champions but were denied a spot in the BCS National Championship Game due to controversy with the BCS selections for the national championship game.
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]
Contents
Recruiting
With the late arrival of highly touted quarterback John David Booty, who left high school a year early to attend USC, the Trojan's 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 five first round picks.[4]
- Will Poole (Round 4, Pick 102)
- Reggie Bush (Round 1, Pick 2)
- LenDale White (Round 2, Pick 45),
- Steve Smith (Round 2, Pick 51)
- Eric Wright (Finished career at UNLV, Round 2, Pick 53)
- Ryan Kalil (Round 2, Pick 59)
- Sedrick Ellis (Round 1, Pick 7)
- Sam Baker (Round 1, Pick 21)
- Lawrence Jackson (Round 1, Pick 28)
- Terrell Thomas (Round 2, Pick 63)
- John David Booty (Round 5, Pick 137)
- Thomas Williams (Round 5, Pick 155)
- Chauncey Washington (Round 7, Pick 213)
Schedule
The Trojans finished the season with a 12–1 record, 7–1 in the Pac-10.[1]
Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | ||
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August 30 | 3:00 PM | at #6 Auburn* | #8 | Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL | CBS | W 23–0 | 86,063 | ||
September 6 | 5:00 PM | BYU* | #5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | ABC | W 35–18 | 75,315 | ||
September 13 | 1:00 PM | Hawaii* | #4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | FSN | W 61–32 | 73,654 | ||
September 27 | 3:30 PM | at California | #3 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | FSN | L 31–34 3OT | 51,208 | ||
October 4 | 12:30 PM | at Arizona State | #10 | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ | ABC | W 37–17 | 56,527 | ||
October 11 | 7:00 PM | Stanford | #9 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | FSN | W 44–21 | 68,341 | ||
October 18 | 11:30 AM | at Notre Dame* | #4 | Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh) | NBC | W 45–14 | 80,795 | ||
October 25 | 12:30 PM | at Washington | #4 | Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA | ABC | W 43–23 | 72,015 | ||
November 1 | 4:00 PM | #6 Washington State | #3 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | ABC | W 43–16 | 82,478 | ||
November 15 | 4:00 PM | at Arizona | #2 | Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ | TBS | W 45–0 | 39,201 | ||
November 22 | 12:30 PM | UCLA | #2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA (Battle for the Victory Bell) | ABC | W 47–22 | 93,172 | ||
December 6 | 1:30 PM | Oregon State | #2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | ABC | W 52–28 | 73,864 | ||
January 1, 2004 | 1:30 PM | vs. #4 Michigan* | #1 | Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) | ABC | W 28–14 | 93,849 | ||
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time. |
Game notes
Auburn
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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.[5]
2003 team players in the NFL
- Marcell Allmond
- Kevin Arbet
- Collin Ashton
- Sam Baker
- Darnell Bing
- John David Booty
- William Buchanon
- Reggie Bush
- Dominique Byrd
- Matt Cassel
- Shaun Cody
- Keary Colbert
- Sedrick Ellis
- Matt Grootegoed
- Gregg Guenther
- Alex Holmes
- Ryan Kalil
- Norm Katnik
- Ryan Killeen
- David Kirtman
- Lawrence Jackson
- Winston Justice
- Jason Leach
- Matt Leinart
- Oscar Lua
- Tom Malone
- Fred Matua
- Chris McFoy
- Jason Mitchell
- Mike Patterson
- Will Poole
- Drew Radovich
- LaJuan Ramsey
- Jacob Rogers
- Frostee Rucker
- Dallas Sartz
- Steve Smith
- Matt Spanos
- Lofa Tatupu
- Terrell Thomas
- Kenechi Udeze
- Lenny Vandermade
- John Walker
- Chauncey Washington
- Lee Webb
- LenDale White
- Kyle Williams
- Mike Williams
- Thomas Williams
- Eric Wright
- Manuel Wright
- Justin Wyatt
References
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- ↑ 2003 USC FOOTBALL SIGNEES, USC Trojans - Official Site, Retrieved April 30, 2008.
- ↑ Forde, Pat (August 28, 2007) The Dash is off and running, ESPN.com.
- USC Football Archive (2003 Season), USC Athletic Department.
- 2003 NCAA Football Rankings, ESPN.com.