2003 Southeastern Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 7 Georgia xy		6	–	2					11	–	3
No. 15 Tennessee x		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 24 Florida x		6	–	2					8	–	5
South Carolina		2	–	6					5	–	7
Vanderbilt		1	–	7					2	–	10
Kentucky		1	–	7					4	–	8
Western Division
No. 2 LSU xy$#		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 13 Ole Miss x		7	–	1					10	–	3
Auburn		5	–	3					8	–	5
Arkansas		4	–	4					9	–	4
Alabama		2	–	6					4	–	9
Mississippi State		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: LSU 34, Georgia 13
# – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

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	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 49–7	89,148
September 6	9:00 p.m.	at Arizona*	No. 13	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	TBS	W 59–13	46,110
September 13	7:00 p.m.	Western Illinois*	No. 12	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		W 35–7	87,164
September 20	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Georgia	No. 11	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (College GameDay)	CBS	W 17–10	92,251
September 27	8:00 p.m.	at Mississippi State	No. 7	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 41–6	45,835
October 11	2:30 p.m.	Florida	No. 6	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	CBS	L 7–19	92,077
October 18	6:45 p.m.	at South Carolina	No. 10	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ESPN2	W 33–7	82,525
October 25	7:00 p.m.	No. 17 Auburn	No. 9	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Tiger Bowl)	ESPN	W 31–7	92,085
November 1	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	PPV	W 49–10	91,879
November 15	6:45 p.m.	at Alabama	No. 3	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 27–3	83,818
November 22	2:30 p.m.	at No. 15 Ole Miss	No. 3	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Magnolia Bowl)	CBS	W 17–14	62,552
November 28	1:30 p.m.	Arkansas	No. 3	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Golden Boot)	CBS	W 55–24	92,213
December 6	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Georgia	No. 3	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game) (College GameDay)	CBS	W 34–13	74,913
January 4, 2004	7:15 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Oklahoma*	No. 2	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) (College GameDay)	ABC	W 21–14	79,342
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ 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 12 Marcus Randall 15 Matt Flynn 18 Matt Mauck 4 JaMarcus Russell 8 Ty Barrett 19 Michael Harrison Running backs 22 Torey Bennett 2 Shyrone Carey 23 Jason Spadoni 25 Justin Vincent 10 Joseph Addai 32 Barrington Edwards 22 Alley Broussard H-Backs Fullbacks 24 Tyler Olivier 49 Michael Ricks 35 Brandon Nowlin 40 Shawn Jordan 44 Kevin Steltz 11 Jason Lile Wide receivers 86 Junior Joseph 13 Steve Mares 14 Michael Clayton 9 Devery Henderson 87 Blain Bech 4 Michael Russo 81 Dwayne Bowe 85 Craig Davis 17 Bennie Brazell 38 Gino Giambelluca 8 Terrell Clayton 80 Schirra Fields 5 Skyler Green 42 Andre Gill 1 Amp Hill		Tight ends 47 Eric Edwards 82 David Jones 84 Andrew Wright 83 Kory Hebert 88 Demetri Robinson 89 Keith Zinger Center 59 Doug Planchard 55 Ben Wilkerson 61 Jimmy Courtenay Offensive line 65 Steve Arflin 62 Brandon Hurley 69 Garett Wibel 75 Brian Johnson 71 Nate Livings 68 Terrell McGill 72 Stephen Peterman 67 Bradley Sowa 74 Josh Dicharry 64 Rudy Niswanger 62 Harold Bicknell 73 Will Arnold 66 Jerry Sevin 76 Andrew Whitworth 63 Mac McLachlan 60 Rodney Reed 78 Paris Hodges 77 Peter Dyakowski Defensive line 59 Leo Desselle Defensive end 79 Sean Merrill 84 Marcus Spears 52 Ryan Willis 96 Carnell Stewart 97 Brandon Washington 94 Marquise Hill 48 Kirston Pittman 53 Tory Collins		Defensive tackle 98 Torran Williams 92 Bryce Wyatt 50 Jarrod Carter 89 Timothy Binion 90 Melvin Oliver 95 Kyle Williams 93 Chad Lavalais Linebackers 99 Jason LeDoux 45 Willie Demps 35 Mark Martin 19 Darius Ingram 63 Patrick McGibboney 57 Dave Peterson 34 Dorsett Buckels 27 Eric Alexander 40 Barrett Dupuy 52 Joey Noto 47 Dustin Adams[1] 35 Micah Metrailer 91 Alonzo Manuel 56 Kenneth Hollis 42 Phillip Maxwell 46 Cameron Vaughn 58 Lionel Turner 51 Dominic Cooper 54 Brian West 55 Chris McCauley 7 Adrian Mayes Defensive backs 37 Daniel Francis 38 Vernon Russell, Jr. 6 Ryan Gilbert 28 Jeff Cook 39 Troy Hankton 9 Corey Meredith 28 Greg Hercules 44 Patrick Babinecz 30 LaRon Landry 33 Jonathan Zenon 26 Nick Child 31 Jessie Daniels 41 Marcques Lewis		Cornerbacks 13 Corey Webster 24 Keron Gordon 29 Travis Daniels 1 Ronnie Prude 21 Randall Gay Safeties 8 Jack Hunt 43 Chad White Punters 16 Ross Cockrell 80 Donnie Jones 36 Patrick Fisher Kickers 35 Andre Boagni 6 Colt David 41 Chris Jackson 39 Ryan Gaudet Long snappers 86 Steve Damen 70 Gant Petty

1 2 3 4 Total LA-Monroe 0 0 0 7 7 • LSU 0 21 21 7 49 Date: August 30 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 17 21 7 14 59 Arizona 0 0 0 13 13 Date: September 6 Location: Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona Game start: 7:00 p.m. MST Television network: TBS

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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 Date: September 13 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 87,164 Game weather: 79 deg F, Wind E 5–10, 74% humidity

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1 2 3 4 Total Georgia 3 0 0 7 10 • LSU 0 7 3 7 17 Date: September 20 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 2:30 p.m. CDT TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Todd Blackledge and Jill Arrington

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1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 7 17 10 7 41 Mississippi St 0 0 0 6 6 Date: September 27 Location: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Mississippi Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total • Florida 10 3 6 0 19 LSU 7 0 0 0 7 Date: October 11 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 6 13 7 7 33 South Carolina 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 18 Location: Williams–Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina Game start: 7:45 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total Auburn 0 0 0 7 7 • LSU 21 0 10 0 31 Date: October 25 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 7:45 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total Louisiana Tech 0 3 7 0 10 • LSU 28 21 0 0 49 Date: November 1 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 10 7 7 3 27 Alabama 0 0 0 3 3 Date: November 15 Location: Bryant–Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama Game start: 7:45 p.m. EST

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1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 3 7 0 7 17 Ole Miss 7 0 0 7 14 Date: November 22 Location: Vaught–Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Todd Blackledge and Jill Arrington

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1 2 3 4 Total Arkansas 10 7 0 7 24 • LSU 10 24 21 0 55 Date: November 28 Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Game start: 1:30 p.m. CST

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1 2 3 4 Total • LSU 8 9 7 10 34 Georgia 0 3 10 0 13 Date: December 6 Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Indoors TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist, Todd Blackledge and Jill Arrington

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1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 0 7 0 7 14 • LSU 7 7 7 0 21 Date: January 4 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Game start: 7:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 79,342 Game weather: Indoors Referee: Dennis Hennigan TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger and Gary Danielson

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Overall	NFL team
Michael Clayton	Wide receiver	1	15	15	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Devery Henderson	Wide receiver	2	18	50	New Orleans Saints
Marquise Hill	Defensive end	2	31	63	New England Patriots
Stephen Peterman	Offensive Guard	3	20	83	Dallas Cowboys
Chad Lavalais	Defensive tackle	5	10	142	Atlanta Falcons
Donnie Jones	Punter	7	23	224	Seattle Seahawks
Matt Mauck	Quarterback	7	24	225	Denver Broncos

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/2004.htm Archived 2007-12-23 at the Wayback Machine