2003 California Golden Bears football team

The 2003 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach Jeff Tedford, the Golden Bears compiled an 8–6 record (5–3 against Pac-10 opponents), finished in a tie for third place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 457 to 341.[1][2]

2003 California Golden Bears football
Insight Bowl champion
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
2003 record8–6 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGeorge Cortez (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorBob Gregory (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
(Capacity: 67,537)
2003 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
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 team was led by a junior college transfer student Aaron Rodgers who was named the starting quarterback in the fifth game of the season, against Illinois.[3] In his second start, Rodgers led the team to a 21–7 halftime lead against USC (then ranked No. 3) before being replaced due to injury in the second half by Reggie Robertson.[4] The Bears won in triple overtime, 34–31.[5] Cal defeated Virginia Tech, 52–49, in the 2003 Insight Bowl, as Rodgers passed for 394 yards and was named game MVP. During the 2003 season, Rodgers tied Cal's, at the time, season record with five 300-yard games and set a Cal record for the lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.43%.[6]

The team's statistical leaders included Rodgers with 2,903 passing yards, Adimchinobe Echemandu with 1,195 rushing yards, and Geoff McArthur with 1,504 receiving yards.[7]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 236:45 p.m.vs. No. 7 Kansas State*
ESPNL 28–4250,823
August 301:00 p.m.Southern Miss*
HDNetW 34–233,552
September 63:00 p.m.Colorado State*
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
FSNL 21–2334,096
September 114:45 p.m.at Utah*
ESPNL 24–3146,768
September 209:00 a.m.at Illinois*
ESPN+W 31–2458,363
September 273:30 p.m.No. 3 USC
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
FSNW 34–31 3OT51,208
October 42:00 p.m.Oregon State
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
L 21–3539,150
October 1812:30 p.m.at UCLA
ABCL 20–23 OT53,825
October 2512:30 p.m.Arizona
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 42–1433,249
November 112:30 p.m.at Arizona State
W 51–2348,452
November 87:00 p.m.at Oregon
TBSL 17–2157,511
November 1512:30 p.m.Washington
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 54–738,576
November 2212:30 p.m.at Stanford
ABCW 28–1667,950
December 265:00 p.m.vs. Virginia Tech*
ESPNW 52–4942,364
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

[8]

Game summaries

vs. Kansas State
California vs. #7 Kansas State
1 234Total
Golden Bears 7 7014 28
• Wildcats 10 1787 42
See also: 2003 Kansas State Wildcats football team and BCA Classic


USC
#3 USC at California
1 234OT2OT3OTTotal
USC 7 0143070 31
• California 7 1403073 34
  • "They always take us lightly", said receiver Jonathan Makonnen, who had seven catches for 104 yards. "They really don't respect us. They're a talented team, but they were kind of lackadaisical out there."
  • "I'm not knocking Leinart or their running backs, but I didn't see a whole lot of firepower from them", said Echemandu, the first player to rush for 100 yards against USC in 16 games. "Mike Williams is basically their whole offense."
  • The loss was USC's last until the 2006 National Championship Game, in which Texas snapped USC's 34-game win streak.
  • Aaron Rogers was the starter as Cal's quarterback, but due to injury he was replaced in the second half by Reggie Robertson.[4]

Washington
1 234Total
Washington 0 700 7
• California 13 20714 54

[9]

Stanford
California at Stanford
1 234Total
• California 0 0721 28
Stanford 10 006 16
  • CAL: Aaron Rodgers 26/37, 359 Yds
  • CAL: Geoff McArthur 16 Rec, 245 Yds (single game record – Dameane Douglas, 1998)
  • CAL: bowl eligible for first time since 1996

Roster
2003 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense 60 Jonathon Murphy OL 6-5 315 SO SQ 10-3-83 Hanford (Hanford HS) 61 Ryan O'Callaghan OL 6-7 330 SO 1V 7-19-83 Redding (Enterprise HS)
Pos.#NameClass
QB 8 Aaron Rodgers So
RB 18 Adimchinobe Echemandu Sr
RB 30 J. J. Arrington Jr
OL 63 Mark Wilson Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
S 20 Matt Giordano Jr
DB 21 Donnie McCleskey So
CB 22 Tim Mixon  Fr
DE 90 Ryan Riddle Jr
DE 91 Monte Parson Sr
DT 99 L. P. Ladouceur Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2003-12-13

References
  1. "2003 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 166. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. "Player Bio:Aaron Rodgers". University of California. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  4. "Cal-USC Postgame Quotes". Cal Athletics. September 27, 2003. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  5. "Cal fans storm field after win". ESPN. September 27, 2003. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  6. "Cal Records". University of California. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  7. "2003 California Golden Bears Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  8. 2011 California football information guide
  9. "California 54, Washington 7". ESPN. November 15, 2003. Retrieved December 28, 2014.


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