2003 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 2003 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Joe Paterno. It played its home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

2003 Penn State Nittany Lions football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
2003 record3–9 (1–7 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter
Defensive coordinatorTom Bradley
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
(Capacity: 107,282)
2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 Michigan $  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 4 Ohio State %  6 –2     11 –2  
No. 18 Purdue  6 –2     9 –4  
No. 8 Iowa  5 –3     10 –3  
No. 20 Minnesota  5 –3     10 –3  
Michigan State  5 –3     8 –5  
Wisconsin  4 –4     7 –6  
Northwestern  4 –4     6 –7  
Penn State  1 –7     3 –9  
Indiana  1 –7     2 –10  
Illinois  0 –8     1 –11  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Preseason

The offense returns five starters, including quarterback Zack Mills, who was on pace for a record-shattering season before injuring his left throwing arm, and with the emergence of Larry Johnson, the Nittany Lions practically stopped throwing the ball. But in addition to losing Johnson, who won the Maxwell Award, the Doak Walker Award, the Walter Camp Award, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, the offensive unit also loses its leading receiver Bryant Johnson and four starters on the offensive line. Top candidates to replace Johnson include junior Mike Gasparato and true freshmen Austin Scott and Tony Hunt. Defensive tackle Levi Brown was moved to left tackle to help shore up the offensive line.

Penn State started the season ranked No. 25 in the Coaches college football preseason poll and was unranked in the AP college football preseason poll.

Recruiting class

Schedule

Penn State did not play Big Ten teams Illinois and Michigan this year.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 303:30 p.m.Temple*
ESPN+W 23–10101,553
September 612:00 p.m.Boston College*
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ABCL 14–27106,445
September 138:00 p.m.at No. 18 Nebraska*
ABCL 10–1878,008
September 201:00 p.m.Kent State*
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
W 32–10‡102,078
September 2712:00 p.m.No. 24 Minnesota
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ESPNL 14–20106,735
October 412:00 p.m.Wisconsin
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN+L 23–30107,851
October 113:30 p.m.at No. 18 Purdue
ABCL 14–2859,720
October 2512:00 p.m.at No. 16 Iowa
ABCL 14–2670,397
November 13:30 p.m.No. 8 Ohio State
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCL 20–21108,276
November 812:00 p.m.at Northwestern
ESPN2L 7–1726,188
November 1512:00 p.m.Indiana
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ESPN+W 52–7106,465
November 2212:00 p.m.at Michigan State
ESPNL 10–4172,119
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

‡ The game was not televised but was webcast on ESPN.com.

Roster
2003 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 1 Terrell Golden Fr
QB 3 Chris Ganter  So
WR 6 Donnie Johnson  Fr
QB 7 Zack Mills Jr
RB 8 Rodney Kinlaw Fr
WR 9 Terrance Phillips  So
WR 11 Tony Johnson Sr
QB 12 Michael Robinson So
WR 13 Kinta Palmer  So
QB 14 Andy Kubic  Fr
WR 15 Mike Baird  So
WR 15 Brent Wise Fr
WR 16 Dan Corrado Fr
QB 19 Tom Lundquist  So
WR 19 Gerald Smith  Jr
RB 22 Austin Scott Fr
RB 23 Aric Heffelfinger  Fr
RB 24 Tony Hunt Fr
WR 26 Josh Hannum  Fr
RB 28 Chris Wilson  Fr
FB 30 BranDon Snow  Fr
WR 31 Ernie Terrell  So
RB 32 Mike Gasparato  Jr
TE 33 Mike Lukac  Sr
FB 36 Brian Fairchild  So
FB 42 Sean McHugh  Sr
RB 42 Ricky Upton  Sr
FB 45 Adam Senk  So
OL 52 Blase Iorio Fr
G 53 Steve Roach  Fr
G 54 Scott Davis  Jr
OL 57 Nick Albano Fr
G 59 Charles Rush  So
OL 60 Patick Weber Fr
C 61 David Costlow  Sr
OL 62 Nick Daise  Fr
OL 63 Dan Mazan Fr
OL 64 Chad Albright Fr
G 65 Robert Price  Fr
C 66 Lance Antolick  So
T 67 Levi Brown  Fr
T 68 John Wilson  So
C 70 Nick Marmo  Jr
G 71 Mark Farris  Fr
T 72 Lee Lispi Fr
OL 73 Joel Holler Fr
G 74 Tyler Reed  So
T 75 Chris McKelvy Sr
T 76 Damone Jones Sr
T 79 Chris Auletta Fr
WR 80 Scott Shirley  Sr
TE 81 Isaac Smolko  So
WR 81 Jason Stryker  Jr
WR 82 Vic Surma  Fr
WR 83 Ryan Scott  Jr
WR 84 Jamal Huff  So
WR 84 Brandan Perretta Fr
TE 88 Matt Kranchick  Sr
TE 89 Andrew Richardson  So
TE 93 Casey Williams  Sr
TE 98 Mike Pawlikowski  Jr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 1 Anwar Phillips  So
LB 2 Deryck Toles Sr
DB 4 Jason Ganter Fr
CB 5 Maurice Humphrey  Fr
S 10 Calvin Lowry  So
LB 13 Kevin Darling  Fr
S 14 Jim Kanuch  Fr
S 15 Yaacov Yisrael Sr
LB 16 Andy Ryland Sr
DE 17 Lavon Chisley  So
S 18 Andrew Guman  Jr
DB 20 Marcus Mills  So
LB 20 Tim Shaw So
CB 21 Alan Zemaitis So
CB 22 Darien Hardy Fr
DB 23 Matt Fontana Fr
CB 24 Nolan McCready  Fr
CB 25 Rich Gardner Sr
S 26 Vince Gliatta Fr
S 27 Chris Harrell Jr
S 29 Paul Cronin  So
CB 34 Gio Vendemia  So
DB 35 John Royse  So
LB 35 J.R. Zwierzynski  Fr
LB 38 Jimi Mitchell Jr
LB 39 Paul Posluszny Fr
LB 40 T.C. Cosby Jr
DT 41 Scott Paxson  So
DB 43 Adam Taliaferro Sr
LB 45 Pat Bedics Fr
DB 46 Curt Reese  So
LB 47 Gino Capone Sr
LB 48 Matt Pavelic Fr
LB 49 Dorian Burton  So
DL 50 Jamel Felder Fr
LB 51 Tim Johnson  Jr
DE 54 Amani Purcell Fr
DE 55 Matthew Rice  So
DL 67 Richard Cheek Fr
DT 69 Jason Robinson  Jr
DT 75 Lee Kuzemchak Fr
DT 85 Jay Alford  Fr
DE 86 Jeremiah Davis Jr
DE 87 John Bronson  Jr
DT 91 Tamba Hali  So
DT 92 Ed Johnson  Fr
LB 94 Derek Wake (C)  Jr
DL 95 Mike Sothern Fr
DE 96 Patrick Hall  Fr
DE 97 Greg Bauer So
DT 98 John Shaw Fr
LB 99 Sam Ruhe Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 4 Robbie Gould  Jr
P 36 Jeremy Kapinos  Fr
K 48 Nate Weltman Fr
P 49 Brandon Ream Fr
K 95 David Kimball Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 29, 2003

Game summaries

Temple
1 2 3 4 Total
Temple 0 3 0 7 10
Penn State 0 7 6 10 23

Penn State played four tailbacks to beat the Owls 23–10. Zack Mills was 7 of 16 for 79 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Michael Robinson, who started at tailback, led the team with 84 yards rushing. True freshman Austin Scott was next with 69 yards on a team-high 12 carries. Fifth-year senior Ricky Upton had 19 yards on four carries, and true freshman Tony Hunt had 12 yards on three carries. This would be the only game of 2003 in which Penn State never once trailed.

Boston College
1 2 3 4 Total
Boston College 21 3 3 0 27
Penn State 0 7 0 7 14

The Boston College Eagles jumped out to an early lead against a flat Penn State team, as the Eagles won 27–14. The Eagles went up 21–0 with 7:50 left in the first quarter, amassing 206 of its 383 total yards by the end of the first quarter. Zack Mills was 15 of 28 for 144 yards but was benched in favor of Michael Robinson in the third quarter. Robinson led the Lions to a touchdown but going only 4 of 11 for 41 yards. Penn State was inside the Boston College 30 five times and came away with only 14 points.

Nebraska
1 2 3 4 Total
Penn State 0 10 0 0 10
Nebraska 3 6 6 3 18

The Cornhuskers running game dominated Penn State, as the Huskers won 18–10. Nebraska rushed for 337 yards on 72 carries and held the ball twice as long as Penn State, who managed only 44 yards on 21 carries.

Kent State
1 2 3 4 Total
Kent State 10 0 0 0 10
Penn State 7 10 12 3 32

Austin Scott made his first career start as Penn State erased a 10-point deficit to beat the Golden Flashes 32–10. Scott rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries with three touchdowns. Fullback Sean McHugh added 49 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman cornerback Maurice Humphrey made his first appearance at receiver and produced three receptions for 37 yards. Michael Robinson was used strictly as a quarterback, finishing 2 of 9 for 29 yards, alternating with Zack Mills who finished 10 of 20 for 99 yards.

Minnesota
1 2 3 4 Total
Minnesota 14 3 0 3 20
Penn State 0 14 0 0 14

Michael Robinson got his first significant playing time under center, in relief of an injured Zack Mills whose left knee was sprained in the second quarter and did not return, but it wasn't enough to beat the Golden Gophers as the Lions lost 20–14. Robinson finished 16 of 27 for 178 yards but with two interceptions. He also had 42 yards rushing on 12 carries and a touchdown.

See also: 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team and Governor's Victory Bell

Wisconsin
1 2 3 4 Total
Wisconsin 7 10 6 7 30
Penn State 3 6 7 7 23

Penn State's special teams broke down as the Badgers won 30–23. The Lions special teams allowed a punt returned for a touchdown, fumbled a punt that led to another touchdown, had two missed field goals and a missed extra point. The defense couldn't stop Wisconsin's running game, allowing 234 yards on the ground, 119 from Wisconsin's third-stringer Booker Stanley. Overshadowed was Michael Robinson's superb performance in his first start at quarterback. Robinson finished 22 of 43 for 379 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. His 379 passing yards ranked second on Penn State's all-time list at the time.

Purdue
1 2 3 4 Total
Penn State 0 14 0 0 14
Purdue 7 10 3 8 28

The Boilermakers defense held the Penn State offense to only 204 total yards as Purdue won 28–14. Michael Robinson, starting at quarterback for the second straight week, was held to only 98 yards passing on 10 of 32 attempts. Purdue, known mostly as a passing team, rushed for 234 yards, compared to Penn State's 125 yards rushing. Tony Hunt led the team with 47 yards on nine carries.

Iowa
1 2 3 4 Total
Penn State 7 0 7 0 14
Iowa 0 12 14 0 26

The Hawkeyes defense dominated the Penn State offense as Iowa goes on to win 26–14. The Lions led after the first quarter when safety Yaacov Yisrael returned an interception 83 yards for a touchdown. Penn State and starting quarterback Michael Robinson started their first three possessions in Iowa territory but couldn't move the ball and had a fumble returned that set up Iowa's first touchdown. Robinson was replaced by Zack Mills, who went 14 of 25 for 138 yards and a touchdown in the final three quarters, but the team failed to mount a serious comeback.

Ohio State
1 2 3 4 Total
Ohio State 7 0 7 7 21
Penn State 7 10 0 3 20

Zack Mills regained the starting position, but it wasn't enough as the Buckeyes defeated the Lions 21–20. Mills was 27 of 43 for 253 yards, becoming the school's all-time leader in completions with 406, passing Tony Sacca. He also moved past Todd Blackledge into fourth place in passing yards with 4,973. Mills also moved into second place in total offense with 5,482 yards. Converted cornerback Maurice Humphrey had seven receptions for 64 yards, and little-used Terrance Phillips had his first career reception and finished with two catches for 47 yards. On defense, Alan Zemaitis returned an interception 78 yards for a touchdown. Kickoff specialist David Kimball made the first field goal of his career, replacing Robbie Gould in all kicking roles.

See also: 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Northwestern
1 2 3 4 Total
Penn State 0 7 0 0 7
Northwestern 0 0 0 17 17

The Nittany Lions, in control most of the game, couldn't hold off the Wildcats as the Wildcats scored 17 points in the final seven minutes to win 17–7. Zack Mills finished 22 of 36 for 230 yards passing and an interception but also rushed for Penn State's lone score. Maurice Humphrey led Penn State with eight receptions for 97 yards but dropped two passes including one that would have been a touchdown. Michael Robinson started at tailback and finished with 15 rushes for 47 yards, five receptions for 55 yards, and was 1 for 1 for 11 yards passing. Fullback Sean McHugh led the team in rushing with 79 yards on 10 carries.

The defense forced three Wildcat turnovers. Paul Posluszny made eight tackles, including one for a loss and a crucial stop on fourth-and-1. Yaacov Yisrael led the Lions with 15 tackles forced a fumble.

Indiana
1 2 3 4 Total
Indiana 7 0 0 0 7
Penn State 14 7 31 0 52

On senior day Penn State scored on offense, defense, and special teams, as they rolled over the Hoosiers 52–7. After the Hoosiers jumped to a 7–0 lead, Penn State piled on 52 unanswered points. Zack Mills was 12 of 19 for 173 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Michael Robinson started at tailback and rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown. Robinson was also 2 of 3 passing for 87 yards and a touchdown. Senior Tony Johnson had three receptions, all for touchdowns, totaling 47 yards.

On special teams, Robbie Gould kicked a 37-yard field goal. Yaacov Yisrael also blocked a punt, that Andrew Guman recovered and returned seven yards for a touchdown. Linebacker Paul Posluszny also returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown.

Michigan State
1 2 3 4 Total
Penn State 3 0 0 7 10
Michigan State 7 14 7 13 41

Robbie Gould gave the Lions a 3–0 lead, but it was all Michigan State Spartans after that en route to a 41–10 victory over the Nittany Lions. The Lions defense could not stop the Spartans, as Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker completed 29 of 50 for 357 yards and four touchdowns. Zack Mills finished 11 of 24 for 114 yards, becoming Penn State's career leader in total offense and also moved into second place on the school's passing yardage list.

See also: Land Grant Trophy

Awards

Watchlists

Players
  • Dave Costlow
    Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American[4]
    First-team CoSIDA Academic All-District[5]
  • Gino Capone
    First-team CoSIDA Academic All-District[5]
  • Michael Robinson
    Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-District[5]
  • Gio Vendemia
    Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-District[5]
  • Yaacov Yisrael
    Second-team All-Big Ten (conference coaches selection)[6]
  • Alan Zemaitis
    Second-team All-Big Ten (conference media selection)[6]

Post season

Penn State finished the season with a 3–9 record, 1–7 in the Big Ten, Paterno's worst ever at Penn State. It was the third losing season in the past four, and only Paterno's fourth losing season since joining the coaching staff in 1950. Nine losses were the most ever for a Penn State team, breaking the record set by the 1931 2–8 team. The season ended without any wins in road games, which hadn't occurred since 1936.

Despite the losing record, Penn State claimed second place in football attendance for the third consecutive season, averaging 105,629 through seven home games, ranking in the top four for the 13th consecutive year. The Ohio State game drew Penn State's largest home crowd of 108,276, the seventh largest crowd ever in Beaver Stadium.[7]

The team's second-leading receiver Maurice Humphrey, after a promising season at wide receiver was expelled from school and convicted of three counts of simple assault. Humphrey would not play another down for Penn State.

NFL draft

Four Nittany Lions were drafted in the 2004 NFL Draft.

RoundPickOverallNamePositionTeam
3rd2992Rich GardnerCornerbackTennessee Titans
6th29194Matt KranchickTight endPittsburgh Steelers
7th28229David KimballPlacekickerIndianapolis Colts
7th40241Sean McHughTight endTennessee Titans

All-star games
GameDateSitePlayers
65th Blue–Gray Football ClassicDecember 25, 2003Veterans Stadium, Troy, AlabamaTony Johnson, Matt Kranchick, Chris McKelvy, Deryck Toles
58th Hula BowlJanuary 17, 2004War Memorial Stadium, Wailuku, HawaiiGino Capone, Yaacov Yisrael
1st Las Vegas All-American ClassicJanuary 17, 2004Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NevadaDave Costlow, Sean McHugh
55th Senior BowlJanuary 24, 2004Ladd–Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AlabamaRich Gardner
6th Gridiron ClassicJanuary 31, 2004The Villages Polo Stadium, The Villages, FloridaDeryck Toles

See also

References
  1. "Capone and Wake named to Butkus Award Watch List". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. August 21, 2003. Archived from the original on April 26, 2005. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  2. "Penn State's Gould named to Lou Groza Award Watch List". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. August 6, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  3. "Quarterback Zack Mills Named To Davey O'Brien Award Watch List For Third Time". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. July 29, 2003. Archived from the original on April 26, 2005. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  4. "Dave Costlow Selected To Academic All-America Football Team". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. December 1, 2003. Archived from the original on August 19, 2004. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  5. "2003 Academic All-District Football Team" (PDF). College Sports Information Directors of America. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  6. "2003 All-Big Ten Conference Football Team" (PDF). Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  7. "Penn State again ranks second in NCAA football attendance". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. February 12, 2004. Archived from the original on May 3, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.