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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 coachPete Carroll (3rd season)
Offensive coordinatorNorm Chow (3rd season)
CaptainKeary Colbert
CaptainMelvin Simmons
Home stadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum (c. 92,000, grass)
Seasons
← 2002
2004 →
2003 Pacific-10 football standings
v · d · e 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  
† – 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 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.

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. 8CBSW 23–086,063
September 65:00 p.m.BYU*No. 5ABCW 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. 3FSNL 31–34 3OT51,208
October 412:30 p.m.at Arizona StateNo. 10ABCW 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. 4NBCW 45–1480,795
October 2512:30 p.m.at WashingtonNo. 4ABCW 43–2372,015
November 14:00 p.m.No. 6 Washington StatedaggerNo. 3
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Los Angeles, CA
ABCW 43–1682,478
November 154:00 p.m.at ArizonaNo. 2TBSW 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. 1ABCW 28–1493,849
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries[]

Auburn[]

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
USC 10 0 6 7 23
Auburn 0 0 0 0 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. # Name Class
TE 86 Byrd, DominiqueDominique Byrd So
QB 10 Cassel, MattMatt Cassel Jr
WR 83 Colbert, KearyKeary Colbert Sr
TE 44 Guenther, GreggGregg Guenther So
TE 81 Holmes, AlexAlex Holmes Sr
C 62 Katnik, NormNorm Katnik Sr
RB 37 Kirtman, DavidDavid Kirtman So
QB 11 Leinart, MattMatt Leinart So
T 77 Rogers, JacobJacob Rogers Sr
G 78 Vandermade, LennyLenny Vandermade Jr
RB 35 Webb, LeeLee Webb Jr
WR 1 Williams, MikeMike Williams So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 8 Allmond, MarcellMarcell Allmond Sr
LB 59 Ashton, CollinCollin Ashton So
DT 84 Cody, ShaunShaun Cody So
LB 6 Grootegoed, MattMatt Grootegoed Jr
DB 27 Leach, JasonJason Leach Jr
DT 99 Patterson, MikeMike Patterson Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References[]

Template:College football national champion (championship game era) navbox

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