2003 Auburn Tigers football team

2003 Auburn Tigers football

Music City Bowl Champions
Music City Bowl, W 28–14 vs. Wisconsin
Conference	Southeastern Conference Western Division
2003 record	8–5 (5–3 SEC)
Head coach	Tommy Tuberville
Offensive coordinator	Hugh Nall
Defensive coordinator	Gene Chizik
Home stadium	Jordan–Hare Stadium (Capacity: 86,063)

2003 SEC football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
Eastern Division
#7 Georgia xy		6	–	2		11	–	3
#15 Tennessee x		6	–	2		10	–	3
#24 Florida x		6	–	2		8	–	5
South Carolina		2	–	6		5	–	7
Kentucky		1	–	7		4	–	8
Vanderbilt		1	–	7		2	–	10
Western Division
#2 LSU xy$#		7	–	1		13	–	1
#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 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. Auburn began the season with high expectations, but stumbled out of the gate before finishing the season with a disappointing 8–5 record, including a 5–3 record in the SEC, good for third place in the conference’s Western Division. The Tigers, coached by Tommy Tuberville, began the season ranked #6 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll, but opened with consecutive losses to Southern California and Georgia Tech, dropping out of both polls.

The Tigers won their next four games, but remained unranked in either poll until the week after pulling a 10–3 upset win over Arkansas in Fayetteville on October 11, when they re-entered the AP Poll at #19 and the Coaches' Poll at #25. Following a victory over Mississippi State the following week, the Tigers climbed to #17 and #21 in the two polls, but after a 31–7 loss to eventual national champion LSU on October 25, the Tigers did not appear in either poll for the remainder of the season. However, several computer rating systems did include Auburn in their final rankings. The Tigers were ranked #17 by the BCS participating system of The New York Times,^[1] #18 by Entropy,^[2] and #19 consensus ranking by CollegeTop25.com.^[3]

After consecutive losses to Ole Miss, led by Eli Manning, and Georgia, the Tigers concluded a disappointing regular season by defeating arch rival Alabama, 28–23. In the postseason, Auburn knocked off Wisconsin 28–14 in the Music City Bowl, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The disappointment of the season led university president William Walker, athletic director David Housel, and other trustees to take a plane owned by trustee Bobby Lowder to meet in secret with Louisville Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino about replacing Tuberville. This occurred prior to the Alabama game, but newspapers in Montgomery and Louisville discovered the flight and broke the news. The visit caused controversy and Tuberville was ultimately retained.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	2:30 PM	#8 USC*	#6	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	CBS	L 0–23	86,063
September 6	2:30 PM	at Georgia Tech*	#17	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ABC	L 3–17	55,000
September 13	11:30 AM	at Vanderbilt		Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN	JPS	W 45–7	37,703
September 27	4:00 PM	Western Kentucky*		Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	PPV	W 48–3	85,046
October 4	6:45 PM	#7 Tennessee		Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	ESPN	W 28–21	86,063
October 11	11:30 AM	at #7 Arkansas		Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	JPS	W 10–3	74,026
October 18	1:30 PM	Mississippi State	#19	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	PPV	W 45–13	86,063
October 25	6:45 PM	at #9 LSU	#17	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (Tiger Bowl)	ESPN	L 7–31	92,085
November 1	1:30 PM	Louisiana–Monroe*		Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL		W 73–7	81,061
November 8	2:30 PM	#20 Mississippi		Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	CBS	L 20–24	86,063
November 15	2:30 PM	at #7 Georgia		Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry)	CBS	L 7–26	92,058
November 22	6:45 PM	Alabama		Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL (Iron Bowl)	ESPN	W 28–23	86,063
December 31	11:00 AM	vs. Wisconsin*		The Coliseum • Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl)	ESPN	W 28–14	55,109
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Captains

Position	Player
LB	Karlos Dansby
WR	Jeris McIntyre
LB	Dontarrious Thomas

References

Auburn Tigers football

Venues	Drill Field (1892–1910) Drake Field (1911–1939) Legion Field (alternate, 1926–1991) Jordan–Hare Stadium (1939–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama: Iron Bowl (James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy) Clemson Florida Georgia: Deep South's Oldest Rivalry Georgia Tech LSU Tennessee Tulane

Culture & lore	Traditions Aubie "War Eagle" Marching band Toomer's Corner Punt Bama Punt Bo Over the Top Earthquake Game Prayer at Jordan–Hare Kick Six (Kick Bama Kick)

People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL draftees

Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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