2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled a 10–3 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 503 to 285.[1] The team made an appearance in the Sun Bowl. The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was ranked 17th in the final USA Today/AFCA Coaches poll and 20th in the final Associated Press poll. This was the most recent season in which Minnesota defeated the Wisconsin Badgers and received Paul Bunyan's Axe until 2018.

2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 31–30 vs. Oregon
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 20
Record10–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Co-offensive coordinatorMitch Browning (4th as OC, 7th overall season)
Co-offensive coordinatorTony Petersen (4th as OC, 5th overall season)
Defensive coordinatorGreg Hudson (1st as DC, 3rd overall season)
CaptainAsad Abdul-Khaliq, Dan Kwapinski, Ben Utecht, Eli Ward
Home stadiumHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Seasons
← 2002
2004 →
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  
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
The 2003 Gopher-Wolverine game.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 306:00 pmTulsa*W 49–1036,623
September 67:00 pmTroy State*
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
  • Minneapolis, MN
ESPN PlusW 48–731,393
September 131:00 pmat Ohio*ESPN PlusW 42–2020,227
September 207:00 pmLouisiana–Lafayette*
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 48–1434,929
September 2711:00 amat Penn StateNo. 24ESPNW 20–14106,735
October 411:00 amat NorthwesternNo. 21ESPN PlusW 42–1723,539
October 107:00 pmNo. 20 MichiganNo. 17
ESPNL 35–3862,374
October 1811:00 amNo. 15 Michigan StateNo. 25
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
  • Minneapolis, MN
ESPN2L 38–4438,778
October 2511:00 amat IllinoisESPN PlusW 36–1046,407
November 11:00 pmIndianaNo. 24
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 55–745,398
November 811:00 amWisconsinNo. 24
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
ESPNW 37–3459,543
November 1511:00 amat No. 20 IowaNo. 19ESPN2L 22–4070,397
December 311:00 pmvs. Oregon*No. 24CBSW 31–3049,894
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Roster

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2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 8 Asad Abdul-Khaliq Sr
RB 21 Marlon Barber III Jr
QB 3 Bryan Cupito Fr
C 61 Greg Eslinger Fr
WR 2 Paris Hamilton Jr
WR 84 Aaron Hosack Sr
RB 22 Laurence Maroney Fr
WR 33 Logan Payne Fr
RB 29 Amir Pinnix Fr
WR 88 Micah Rucker Fr
G 68 Mark Setterstrom So
TE 89 Matt Spaeth Fr
FB 44 Thomas Tapeh Sr
TE 82 Ben Utecht Sr
Defense }
Pos. # Name Class
DT 95 Anthony Montgomery So
DT 51 Darrell Reid Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 16 Rhys Lloyd Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Game summaries

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Wisconsin

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Wisconsin at #24/18 Minnesota
1 234Total
Wisconsin 3 10147 34
Minnesota 10 14310 37

References

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  1. ^ "2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.