2003 USC Trojans football team

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 by the BCS selections for the national championship game.

2003 USC Trojans football
AP Poll national champion
Pac-10 champion
Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 28–14 vs. Michigan
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 1
2003 record12–1 (7–1 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorNorm Chow (3rd season)
Captains
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass)
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 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]

Players

USC's offensive players included:

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 five first-round picks.[4]

2004 NFL Draft:

2006 NFL Draft:

2007 NFL Draft:

2008 NFL Draft:

Schedule

The Trojans finished the season with a 12–1 record, 7–1 in the Pac-10.[5]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 303:00 p.m.at No. 6 Auburn*No. 8
CBSW 23–086,063
September 65:00 p.m.BYU*No. 5
ABCW 35–1875,315
September 131:00 p.m.Hawaii*No. 4
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
FSNW 61–3273,654
September 273:30 p.m.at CaliforniaNo. 3
FSNL 31–34 3OT51,208
October 412:30 p.m.at Arizona StateNo. 10
ABCW 37–1756,527
October 117:00 p.m.StanfordNo. 9
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)
FSNW 44–2168,341
October 1811:30 a.m.at Notre Dame*No. 4
NBCW 45–1480,795
October 2512:30 p.m.at WashingtonNo. 4
ABCW 43–2372,015
November 14:00 p.m.No. 6 Washington StateNo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 43–1682,478
November 154:00 p.m.at ArizonaNo. 2
TBSW 45–039,201
November 2212:30 p.m.UCLANo. 2
ABCW 47–2293,172
December 61:30 p.m.Oregon StateNo. 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
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

Auburn
1 234Total
• USC 10 067 23
Auburn 0 000 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.[6]

Roster
2003 USC Trojans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
TE 86 Dominique Byrd So
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
T 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
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

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, USC Trojans - Official Site, Retrieved April 30, 2008.
  5. "2003 FINAL USC Football Statistics - University of Southern California Official Athletic Site". Usctrojans.cstv.com. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  6. Forde, Pat (August 28, 2007) The Dash is off and running, ESPN.com.
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