American college football season
The 2003 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season . Coached by Nick Saban , the LSU Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana . The Tigers compiled an 11–1 regular season record and then defeated the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game , Afterward, LSU was invited to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national title. LSU won the BCS National Championship Game , the first national football championship for LSU since 1958 .
The 2003 college football regular season ended with three one-loss teams in BCS contention: the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, and USC Trojans . USC ended the regular season ranked No. 1 and LSU No. 2 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll . Media controversy ensued when the BCS computer-based selection system chose LSU and Oklahoma as the participants in the BCS title game, largely based on an assessment of the relative difficulty of the three teams' 2003 schedules. During the bowl games, LSU beat No. 3 Oklahoma 21–14 in the Sugar Bowl (designated as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2003–04 season), while USC defeated the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines 28–14 in the Rose Bowl . LSU was ranked No. 1 in the final Coaches' Poll (which was contractually obligated to rank the BCS champion No. 1) while USC remained No. 1 in the final AP Poll, resulting in a non-consensus national title - the last time this has happened.
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance August 30 7:00 p.m. Louisiana–Monroe * No. 14 W 49–789,148 September 6 9:00 p.m. at Arizona * No. 13 TBS W 59–1346,110 September 13 7:00 p.m. Western Illinois * No. 12 Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA W 35–787,164 September 20 2:30 p.m. No. 7 Georgia No. 11 CBS W 17–1092,251 September 27 8:00 p.m. at Mississippi State No. 7 ESPN2 W 41–645,835 October 11 2:30 p.m. Florida No. 6 Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry ) CBS L 7–1992,077 October 18 6:45 p.m. at South Carolina No. 10 ESPN2 W 33–782,525 October 25 7:00 p.m. No. 17 Auburn No. 9 ESPN W 31–792,085 November 1 7:00 p.m. Louisiana Tech * No. 7 Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA PPV W 49–1091,879 November 15 6:45 p.m. at Alabama No. 3 ESPN W 27–383,818 November 22 2:30 p.m. at No. 15 Ole Miss No. 3 CBS W 17–1462,552 November 28 1:30 p.m. Arkansas No. 3 CBS W 55–2492,213 December 6 8:00 p.m. vs. No. 5 Georgia No. 3 CBS W 34–1374,913 January 4, 2004 7:15 p.m. vs. No. 3 Oklahoma * No. 2 ABC W 21–1479,342 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final AP 14 13 12 11 7 6 6 10 9 7 4 3 3 3 3 2 (21) 2 (17) Coaches 15 13 11 10 7 6 6 10 9 8 4 3 3 3 3 2 (18) 1 (60) BCS Not released 12 7 7 4 4 3 3 2 Not released
(LSUSports.net Official Roster) Quarterbacks
Running backs
H-Backs
Fullbacks
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Center
Offensive line
Defensive line
Defensive end
Defensive tackle
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Cornerbacks
Safeties
Punters
Kickers
Long snappers
1 2 3 4 Total LA-Monroe 0 0 0 7 7 • LSU 0 21 21 7 49
[ 2]
1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 17 21 7 14 59 Arizona 0 0 0 13 13
[ 3]
Western Illinois was ranked No. 1 in I-AA and played the Tigers close, only down 13–7 in the 3rd quarter. The Tigers had fumbled twice in the red zone, missed an extra point and a field goal and botched a punt. QB Matt Mauck had a career game to extend the lead in the second half. He set career highs with 305 yards passing and four touchdowns, giving LSU its first 3–0 start in five years.
1 2 3 4 Total W Illinois 0 0 7 0 7 • LSU 6 7 15 7 35
Scoring summary Q1 08:18 LSU Michael Clayton 10 yd pass from Matt Mauck (Ryan Gaudet kick failed) LSU 6–0 Q2 0:42 LSU Shyrone Carey 1 yd run (Chris Jackson kick) LSU 13–0 Q3 10:08 WIU Terrence Hall 3 yd pass from Russ Michna (Justin Langan kick) LSU 13-7 Q3 5:00 LSU Skyler Green 8 yd pass from Matt Mauck (Matt Mauck rush) LSU 21–7 Q3 2:26 LSU Skyler Green 40 yd pass from Matt Mauck (Chris Jackson kick) LSU 28-7 Q4 8:29 AUB D. Henderson 16 yd pass from Matt Mauck (Chris Jackson kick) LSU 35–7
[ 4] [ 5]
1 2 3 4 Total Georgia 3 0 0 7 10 • LSU 0 7 3 7 17
Scoring summary Q1 6:20 UGA Billy Bennett 33 yard field goal UGA 3–0 Q2 3:10 LSU Shyrone Carey 21 yard run (Ryan Gaudet kick) LSU 7–3 Q3 6:23 LSU Ryan Gaudet 47 yard field goal LSU 10–3 Q4 4:25 UGA Tyson Browning 93 yard pass from David Greene (Billy Bennett kick) Tie 10–10 Q4 1:22 LSU Skyler Green 34 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Ryan Gaudet kick)LSU 17–10
[ 6]
1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 7 17 10 7 41 Mississippi St 0 0 0 6 6
[ 7]
1 2 3 4 Total • Florida 10 3 6 0 19 LSU 7 0 0 0 7
[ 8]
1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 6 13 7 7 33 South Carolina 0 0 7 0 7
[ 9]
1 2 3 4 Total Auburn 0 0 0 7 7 • LSU 21 0 10 0 31
Scoring summary Q1 13:01 LSU Devery Henderson 64 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Ryan Gaudet kick)LSU 7–0 Q1 7:43 LSU Michael Clayton 18 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Ryan Gaudet kick)LSU 14–0 Q1 2:58 LSU Alley Broussard 5 yard run (Ryan Gaudet kick) LSU 21–0 Q3 8:28 LSU Ryan Gaudet 33 yard field goal LSU 24–0 Q3 3:46 LSU Devery Henderson 16 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Ryan Gaudet kick) LSU 31–0 Q4 6:10 AUB Anthony Mix 6 yard pass from Jason Campbell (Philip Yost kick) LSU 31–7
[ 10]
1 2 3 4 Total Louisiana Tech 0 3 7 0 10 • LSU 28 21 0 0 49
[ 11]
1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 10 7 7 3 27 Alabama 0 0 0 3 3
Scoring summary Q1 10:34 LSU Chris Jackson 20 yard field goal LSU 3–0 Q1 9:16 LSU Michael Clayton 23 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Chris Jackson kick)LSU 10–0 Q2 2:03 LSU Eric Edwards 3 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Chris Jackson kick) LSU 17–0 Q3 9:15 LSU Alley Broussard 4 yard run (Chris Jackson kick) LSU 24–0 Q4 10:11 LSU Chris Jackson 33 yard field goal LSU 27–0 Q4 6:39 ALA Brian Bostick 27 yard field goal LSU 27–3
[ 12]
1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 3 7 0 7 17 Ole Miss 7 0 0 7 14
Scoring summary Q1 13:54 MISS Travis Johnson 6 yard interception return (Jonathan Nichols kick) MISS 7–0 Q1 6:44 LSU Chris Jackson 45 yard field goal MISS 7–3 Q2 2:42 LSU Michael Clayton 9 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Chris Jackson kick)LSU 10–7 Q4 14:50 LSU Devery Henderson 53 yard pass from Matt Mauck (Chris Jackson kick)LSU 17–7 Q4 10:51 MISS Brandon Jacobs 10 yard pass from Eli Manning (Jonathan Nichols kick)LSU 17–14
[ 13]
1 2 3 4 Total Arkansas 10 7 0 7 24 • LSU 10 24 21 0 55
[ 14]
SEC Championship Game [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 8 9 7 10 34 Georgia 0 3 10 0 13
[ 15]
1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 0 7 0 7 14 • LSU 7 7 7 0 21
Scoring summary Q1 11:38 LSU Skyler Green 24 yard run (Ryan Gaudet kick)LSU 7–0 Q2 7:31 OKLA Kejuan Jones 1 yard run (Trey DiCarlo kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 4:21 LSU Justin Vincent 18 yard run (Ryan Gaudet kick)LSU 14–7 Q3 14:13 LSU Marcus Spears 20 yard interception return (Ryan Gaudet kick)LSU 21–7 Q4 11:01 OKLA Kejuan Jones 1 yard run (Trey DiCarlo kick) LSU 21–14
LSU Tigers in the 2004 NFL Draft [ edit ] https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/2004.htm Archived 2007-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
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National championships in bold