2003 Saint Francis Cougars football team

The 2003 Saint Francis Cougars football team represented the University of Saint Francis, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the 2003 NAIA football season. They were led by head coach Kevin Donley, who served his 6th year as the first and only head coach in the history of Saint Francis football. The Cougars played their home games at Cougar Stadium and were members of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) Mideast League (MEL). The Cougars finished in 1st place in the MSFA MEL division, and they received an automatic bid to the 2003 postseason NAIA playoffs.

2003 Saint Francis Cougars football
NAIA Playoff Semifinalist MSFA (MEL) champion
Conference	Mid-States Football Association
Division	Mideast League
Record	12–1 (6–0 MSFA (MEL))
Head coach	Kevin Donley (6th season)
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

2003 Mid-States Football Association standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mideast League
No. 4 Saint Francis (IN) x^		6	–	0					12	–	1
No. 22 Walsh		5	–	1					8	–	3
Geneva		4	–	2					7	–	4
Quincy		3	–	3					5	–	6
Urbana		2	–	4					3	–	8
Taylor		1	–	5					2	–	8
Malone		0	–	6					2	–	8
Midwest League
No. 15 McKendree ^		5	–	2					8	–	3
No. 19 Trinity International x		5	–	2					8	–	3
No. 9 St. Ambrose x^		5	–	2					8	–	4
No. 21 Saint Xavier x		5	–	2					7	–	4
Olivet Nazarene x		5	–	2					6	–	4
William Penn		2	–	5					2	–	8
Iowa Wesleyan		1	–	6					1	–	9
St. Francis (IL)		0	–	7					1	–	9
x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

Schedule

(12-1 overall, 6-0 conference)

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 13	Tiffin*		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN	W 48–31
September 20	at William Penn*		Oskaloosa, IA	W 49–14
September 27	St. Ambrose*		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN	W 45–40
October 4	Geneva		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN	W 49–16
October 11	at Butler*		Indianapolis, IN	W 47–16
October 18	at Urbana		Urbana, OH	W 38–23
October 25	Taylor		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN	W 48–14
November 1	at Malone		Canton, OH	W 36–14
November 8	Quincy		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN	W 34–13
November 15	at Walsh		North Canton, OH	W 41–24
November 22	Georgetown*		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN (NAIA First Round)	W 34–23
November 29	St. Ambrose*		Cougar Stadium Fort Wayne, IN (NAIA Quarterfinal)	W 41–14
December 6	at No. 1 Carroll*	No. 2	Helena, MT (NAIA Semifinal)	L 14–38
*Non-conference game Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
NAIA Coaches' Poll	11	12	12	11	7	7	7	5	5	5	5	5