2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Alamo Bowl champion
Alamo Bowl, W 17–3 vs. Michigan State
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 19
Record	10–3 (5–3 Big 12)
Head coach	Frank Solich (6th season; regular season); Bo Pelini (interim; bowl game);
Offensive coordinator	Barney Cotton (1st season)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Bo Pelini (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Frank Solich and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. After the Colorado game, Solich was fired as head coach. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini served as interim head coach for the Alamo Bowl.

2003 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 14 Kansas State x$	6	–	2	11	–	4
No. 19 Nebraska	5	–	3	10	–	3
Missouri	4	–	4	8	–	5
Kansas	3	–	5	6	–	7
Colorado	3	–	5	5	–	7
Iowa State	0	–	8	2	–	10
South Division
No. 3 Oklahoma x%	8	–	0	12	–	2
No. 12 Texas	7	–	1	10	–	3
Oklahoma State	5	–	3	9	–	4
Texas Tech	4	–	4	8	–	5
Texas A&M	2	–	6	4	–	8
Baylor	1	–	7	3	–	9
Championship: Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	2:30 pm	No. 24 Oklahoma State		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ABC	W 17–7	78,058
September 6	11:30 am	Utah State*	No. 23	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	FSN	W 31–7	77,284
September 13	7:00 pm	Penn State*	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ABC	W 18–10	78,008
September 25	6:45 pm	at Southern Miss*	No. 15	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN	W 38–14	36,125
October 4	12:30 pm	Troy State*	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE		W 30–0	77,825
October 11	6:00 pm	at Missouri	No. 10	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)	TBS	L 24–41	68,349
October 18	11:30 am	Texas A&M	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	FSN	W 48–12	77,604
October 25	11:30 am	Iowa State	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	PPV	W 28–0	77,483
November 1	11:00 am	at No. 16 Texas	No. 12	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 7–31	83,308
November 8	2:30 pm	at Kansas	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)	FSN	W 24–3	50,107
November 15	2:30 pm	Kansas State	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 9–38	78,014
November 28	11:00 am	at Colorado	No. 25	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–22	53,434
December 29	8:00 pm	vs. Michigan State*	No. 22	Alamodome San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	W 17–3	56,229
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1]

Roster and coaching staff

2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`71`	Jake Andersen	Jr
TE		Matt Ankerson	Fr
C	`65`	Greg Austin	Fr
WR	`38`	Brandon Biodrowski	Jr
WR	`19`	Andy Birkel	Fr
OL		Aaron Burbach	Fr
G	`59`	Brett Byford	Fr
QB	`12`	Joe Dailey	Fr
FB	`4`	Judd Davies (C)	Sr
IB	`1`	Josh Davis	Sr
G	`67`	Darren DeLone	Jr
WR		Dan Erickson	Fr
G	`78`	Mike Erickson	Jr
WR	`28`	Isaiah Fluellen	RFr
QB	`17`	Garth Glissman	So
IB	`30`	Tierre Green	Fr
G	`72`	Tim Green	Sr
FB	`6`	DeAntae Grixby	Sr
C	`58`	Justin Haney	RFr
IB	`36`	Ben Hansen	Fr
TE	`11`	Matt Herian	So
TE		Sean Hill	Fr
IB	`9`	David Horne	So
OT	`51`	Richie Incognito	So
WR	`31`	Joel Jackson	Jr
TE		Patrick Johnson	Fr
TE	`47`	Dusty Keiser	Jr
WR	`49`	Tyler Kenney	RFr
TE	`46`	John Knopp	So
G	`75`	Brandon Koch	So
FB	`45`	Steve Kriewald	Jr
WR		Chris LeFlore	Fr
WR	`10`	Mark LeFlore	So
G	`66`	Jermaine Leslie	RFr
WR	`13`	Tim Liley	Sr
C	`63`	Jack Limbaugh	Sr
QB	`15`	Brett Lindstrom	Sr
OT	`74`	Newton Lingenfelter	RFr
OT	`76`	Chris Loos	Sr
QB	`5`	Jammal Lord (C)	Sr
C	`64`	Kurt Mann	RFr
WR	`18`	Mike McLaughlin	So
FB	`30`	Grant Miller	RFr
IB	`21`	Robin Miller	Sr
QB		Zach Miller	Fr
TE	`81`	Josh Mueller	Fr
WR	`84`	Grant Mulkey	RFr
G	`61`	Brian Nelson	Sr
WR	`24`	Jack O'Holleran	Jr
TE	`86`	Adam O'Rourke	RFr
WR	`8`	Ryan Ommert	Sr
OL		Charlie Peacock	Fr
TE	`82`	Phil Peetz	Sr
TE	`85`	J.B. Phillips	Fr
OT	`56`	Gary Pike	So
WR	`2`	Ross Pilkington	So
WR	`25`	Kade Pittman	Fr
OT	`69`	Nick Povendo	Jr
IB	`22`	Cory Ross	So
TE		Andy Sand	Fr
G	`54`	Carson Schott	So
WR	`14`	Matt Schroeder	So
OT	`70`	Ryan Schuler	Fr
TE	`83`	Chris Septak	Jr
C	`79`	Josh Sewell	Sr
TE	`80`	Alex Shada	Jr
FB		Scott Siegel	Fr
OL		Jeff Speichinger	Fr
WR	`35`	Dusty Stamer	Jr
WR	`17`	Seth Starkebaum	RFr
QB	`16`	Mike Stuntz	Jr
G	`55`	Junior Tagoa'i	Sr
OT	`57`	Cory Timm	RFr
FB	`41`	Dane Todd	RFr
OT	`68`	Dan Vili Waldrop	Sr
OT	`53`	Cody Volk	Sr
OT	`73`	Sam Wells	Jr
WR	`20`	Kiffin Wigert	Jr
FB	`34`	Andy Wingender	Sr
TE	`44`	Matthew Woodward	So
WR	`3`	Ben Zajicek	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`96`	Titus Adams	So
RCB	`27`	Willie Amos	Jr
MIKE	`61`	Peter Atha	So
NT	`59`	Ryon Bingham	Sr
CB	`16`	Cole Biodrowski	So
SS	`21`	Philip Bland	Jr
DE	`34`	Stewart Bradley	RFr
LCB	`12`	Titus Brothers	Fr
DT	`65`	Chris Bryant	RFr
WILL	`39`	Chad Buller	Sr
SS	`14`	Daniel Bullocks	So
FS	`20`	Josh Bullocks	So
FS	`36`	Dan Burrow	Jr
LCB	`4`	Terrell Butler	Sr
DE	`90`	Adam Carriker	RFr
BUCK	`11`	Ira Cooper	Jr
CB	`6`	Donald DeFrand	So
BUCK	`48`	Charlie Denman	So
DB		Ben Eisenhart	Fr
DT	`97`	Seppo Evwaraye	So
NT	`62`	Anthony Fisher	RFr
FS	`15`	Tyler Fisher	So
WILL	`41`	Jared Franzluebbers	So
DB		Travis Gingery	Fr
NT	`99`	Brandon Greeson	RFr
CB	`26`	Kevin Guse	Sr
NT	`73`	Jared Helming	So
BUCK	`2`	T.J. Hollowell	Sr
WILL	`40`	Lannie Hopkins	Jr
CB	`29`	Kellen Huston	Jr
WILL	`49`	Adam Ickes	So
DE	`88`	Trevor Johnson (C)	Sr
DT	`94`	Patrick Kabongo	Sr
DT	`95`	Nathan Krug	So
BUCK	`43`	Kristopher Lewin	RFr
NT	`70`	Jason Lohr	Sr
DE		Kevin Luhrs	Fr
FS	`32`	Derek Matteo	Jr
DE	`50`	Jeff McBride	Jr
WILL	`13`	Corey McKeon	Fr
RCB	`1`	Lornell McPherson	Jr
DE	`44`	Jay Moore	RFr
DE	`57`	Wali Muhammad	So
DE	`56`	Trevor Neemann	Fr
NT	`63`	Matt O'Shea	So
DE	`98`	Chris Patrick	Fr
FS	`31`	Jerrell Pippens	Sr
DE		Andy Poulosky	Fr
MIKE	`53`	Mitch Reeves	RFr
DE		Thomas Rice	Fr
RCB	`28`	Pat Ricketts	Sr
SS	`24`	Brandon Rigoni	RFr
CB	`30`	Joey Robison	So
BUCK	`51`	Bo Ruud	Fr
MIKE	`38`	Barrett Ruud	Jr
MIKE	`42`	Steve Safranek	Sr
CB	`8`	Andrew Shanle	RFr
DT	`76`	Matt Shrader	Jr
SS	`23`	Shane Siegel	So
MIKE	`54`	Chad Sievers	Jr
DT	`66`	Le Kevin Smith	So
DT	`74`	Brandon Teamer	Fr
DE	`5`	Benard Thomas	Jr
CB	`10`	Fred Thorne	Sr
SS	`25`	Blake Tiedtke	So
DE	`93`	Tyler Toline	Jr
MIKE	`35`	Curt Tomasevicz	Sr
LCB	`3`	Fabian Washington	So
CB	`33`	Seth White	Sr
SS	`9`	Delrick Williams	Sr
WILL	`7`	Demorrio Williams (C)	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
PK	`22`	Sandro DeAngelis	Jr
PK	`27`	David Dyches	Fr
PK	`32`	Dale Endorf	Sr
P		Tyler Kester	Fr
P	`37`	Sam Koch	So
P	`19`	Kyle Larson	Sr
PK		Eric Lueshen	Fr
PK		Jared Nielsen	Fr
LS		Jake Peetz	Fr

Head coach

Frank Solich
   6th season
   25th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Turner Gill
   1st season as AHC/QB coach
   12th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Barney Cotton
   1st season as OC/OL coach
   1st year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Bo Pelini
   1st season as DC/LB coach
   1st year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Ohio State
Tim Albin
   1st season as RB/PG coach
   1st year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Northwestern Oklahoma
Ron Brown
   1st season as WR coach
   17th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Brown
Scott Downing
   1st season as TE/ST coach
   4th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Sterling
Jeff Jamrog
   1st season as DL/DE coach
   6th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Marvin Sanders
   1st season as Sec coach
   1st year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Jimmy Williams
   1st season as LB coach
   1st year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska
Boyd Epley
   35th season as S&C coach
   35th year at Nebraska
   Alma mater: Nebraska

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 16, 2011

Depth chart

Defense

FS
Josh Bullocks
Jerrell Pippens
⋅

WEAK	MIDDLE	STRONG
Demorrio Williams	Barrett Ruud	T.J. Hollowell
Chad Buller	Chad Sievers	Ira Cooper
⋅	⋅	⋅

SS
Daniel Bullocks
Shane Siegel
⋅

CB
Fabian Washington
Terrell Butler
⋅

DE	DT	DT	DE
Benard Thomas	Ryon Bingham	Le Kevin Smith	Trevor Johnson
Titus Adams	Patrick Kabongo	Brandon Teamer	Adam Carriker
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

CB
Pat Ricketts
Lornell McPherson
⋅

Offense

WR
Mark LeFlore
Jack O'Holleran Tim Liley
⋅

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Richie Incognito	Mike Erickson	Josh Sewell	Jake Andersen	Dan Vil Waldrop
Nick Povendo	Tim Green	Kurt Mann	Brandon Koch	Darren DeLone
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

TE
Matt Herian
Phil Peetz
Dusty Keiser

WR
Ross Pilkington
Isaiah Fluellen
⋅

QB
Jammal Lord
Joe Dailey
⋅

RB
Cory Ross Josh Davis
David Horne
⋅

FB
Judd Davies
Steve Kriewald
⋅

Special teams
PK David Dyches
P Kyle Larson
KR Josh Davis
PR Josh Davis

Game summaries

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma State	7	0	0	0	7
• Nebraska	3	0	14	0	17

Date: August 30
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 2:37 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 78,058
TV announcers (ABC): Brad Nessler (Play-by-play), Bob Griese (Color) & Lynn Swann (Sideline)

Utah State

Utah State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Utah State	7	0	0	0	7
• Nebraska	6	9	13	3	31

Date: September 6
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 11:40 a.m. CST
Game attendance: 77,284
TV announcers (FSN): Joel Meyers (Play-by-play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Penn State

Penn State at Nebraska [box score]

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

Date: September 13
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 7:07 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 78,008
TV announcers (ABC): Brad Nessler (Play-by-play), Bob Griese (Color) & Lynn Swann (Sideline)

Southern Miss

Nebraska at Southern Miss [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	17	0	14	7	38
Southern Miss	0	7	0	7	14

Date: September 25
Location: M. M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Game start: 6:45 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 36,125
TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico (Play-by-play), Lee Corso (Color), Kirk Herbstreit (Color) & Dr. Jerry Punch (Sideline)

Troy State

Troy State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Troy State	0	0	0	0	0
• Nebraska	3	7	13	7	30

Date: October 4
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 12:30 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 77,825

Missouri

Nebraska at Missouri [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	7	3	14	0	24
• Missouri	7	7	0	27	41

Date: October 11
Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri
Game start: 6:10 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 68,349
TV announcers (TBS): Ron Thulin (Play-by-play), Charles Davis (Color), Erin Andrews (Sideline) & Craig Sager (Sideline)

Texas A&M

Texas A&M at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas A&M	3	0	3	6	12
• Nebraska	20	0	14	14	48

Date: October 18
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 11:40 a.m. CST
Game attendance: 77,604
TV announcers (FSN): Bill Land (Play-by-play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Iowa State

Iowa State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Iowa State	0	0	0	0	0
• Nebraska	21	7	0	0	28

Date: October 25
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 11:40 a.m. CST
Game attendance: 77,483
TV announcers (PPV): Dave Armstrong (Play-by-play), Eric Crouch (Color) & Bill Doleman (Sideline)

Texas

Nebraska at Texas [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nebraska	0	0	0	7	7
• Texas	7	7	3	14	31

Date: November 1
Location: Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas
Game start: 11:10 a.m. CST
Game attendance: 83,308
TV announcers (ABC): Gary Thorne (Play-by-play), David Norrie (Color)

Kansas

Nebraska at Kansas [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	3	7	7	7	24
Kansas	0	3	0	0	3

Date: November 8
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas
Game start: 2:40 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 50,107
TV announcers (FSN): Bill Land (Play-by-play), Gary Reasons (Color) & John Rhadigan (Sideline)

Kansas State

Kansas State at Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Kansas State	7	0	10	21	38
Nebraska	0	7	0	2	9

Date: November 15
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Game start: 2:36 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 78,014
TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger (Play-by-play), Gary Danielson (Color) & Jack Arute (Sideline)

Colorado

Nebraska at Colorado [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Nebraska	7	14	0	10	31
Colorado	7	9	6	0	22

Date: November 28
Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Game start: 11:10 a.m. CST
Game attendance: 53,434
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson (Play-by-play), Dan Fouts (Color) & Todd Harris (Sideline)

Michigan State

Michigan State vs Nebraska [box score]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan State	3	0	0	0	3
• Nebraska	3	14	0	0	17

Date: December 29
Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Game start: 8:05 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 56,229
TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico (Play-by-play), Lee Corso (Color), Kirk Herbstreit (Color) & Dr. Jerry Punch (Sideline)

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	RV	RV*	23	18	15	15	12	10	19	14	12	19	18	23	25	23	22	19
Coaches Poll	RV	RV	24	18	15	11	8	7	14	11	9	16	15	23	23	21	21	18
BCS	Not released									11	9	18	17	22	23	21	20	Not released

After the season

Nebraska finished in 2nd place in the Big 12 North Division and tied for 4th conference-wide, with a final record of 10–3 (5–3). Prior to the season, Head Coach Frank Solich was feeling pressure to perform after a 7–7 (3–5) record the previous year (the first non-winning season since 1961), and had significantly revamped his coaching staff for 2003.

Despite the sweeping changes and the improvements they brought, which helped Nebraska to another 9-win season, Solich was fired at the conclusion of the regular season. Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini was named Interim Head Coach and led the Huskers to a 17–3 Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State. When new Head Coach Bill Callahan was announced in later weeks, most of the existing assistants (including Pelini) were also fired.

Pelini would later return as Callahan's replacement in 2008.

Awards

^[2]

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Josh Bullocks, Kyle Larson
All-America honorable mention	Richie Incognito, Demorrio Williams
All-Big 12 1st team	Josh Bullocks, Matt Herian, Richie Incognito, Kyle Larson, Demorrio Williams
All-Big 12 2nd team	Ryon Bingham, Barrett Ruud
All-Big 12 3rd team	Fabian Washington
All-Big 12 honorable mention	Daniel Bullocks, Josh Davis, Mike Erickson, Isaiah Fluellen, T. J. Hollowell, Trevor Johnson, Jammal Lord, Josh Sewell, Dan Vili Waldrop

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 2003 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.^[3]

Name	Team
Titus Adams	New York Jets
Ryon Bingham	San Diego Chargers
Stewart Bradley	Philadelphia Eagles
Daniel Bullocks	Detroit Lions
Josh Bullocks	New Orleans Saints
Adam Carriker	St. Louis Rams
Josh Davis	New York Jets
Aaron Golliday	Scottish Claymores
T. J. Hollowell	New York Giants
Richie Incognito	St. Louis Rams
Trevor Johnson	New York Jets
Patrick Kabongo	Detroit Lions
Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens
Kyle Larson	Cincinnati Bengals
Jammal Lord	Houston Texans
Jay Moore	San Francisco 49ers
Chris Patrick	New York Giants
Jerrell Pippens	Chicago Bears
Andy Poulosky	Sioux City Bandits
Cory Ross	Baltimore Ravens
Barrett Ruud	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bo Ruud	New England Patriots
Le Kevin Smith	New England Patriots
Fabian Washington	Oakland Raiders
Demorrio Williams	Atlanta Falcons

References

^ "Football - 2003 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
^ "2003 Husker Honors". Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
^ "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[1] "Football - 2003 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 14, 2009.

[2] "2003 Husker Honors". Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[3] "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]