2003 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

2003 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference Independent
2003 record 5–7
Head coach Tyrone Willingham (2nd year)
Offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick
Offensive scheme West Coast
Defensive coordinator Kent Baer
Base defense 4–3
Captain Darrell Campbell
Captain Vontez Duff
Captain Omar Jenkins
Captain Jim Molinaro
Home stadium Notre Dame Stadium (c. 80,795, grass)
2003 Division I-A independents football records
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Connecticut   –         9 – 3  
Navy   –         8 – 5  
Troy   –         6 – 6  
Notre Dame   –         5 – 7  
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team was the college football team that represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tyrone Willingham and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana. The Irish finished the season at 5–7 and failed to become bowl eligible. The season was punctuated by a pair of three-game losing streaks and ugly blowout losses against Michigan, USC, and Florida State.

Season overview

The 2003 season began with the Irish losing a number of key players to graduation, including Arnaz Battle and center Jeff Faine. They were boosted, however, by the return of running back, Julius Jones, who was reinstated to the team after a year of academic ineligibility.[1][2] In Willingham's first full year of recruiting, he signed a top-5 class.[3] Of the 20 recruits signed (including freshman quarterback Randy Moulder), 12 were four-star recruits (high school recruits are rated on a star scale, with one star indicating a low-quality recruit and five stars indicating the highest-quality recruit). These new recruits included future stars Victor Abiamiri, Chinedum Ndukwe, Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija,and Tom Zbikowski[4]

Carlyle Holiday and Ryan Grant in the back field versus Washington State

The Irish began their season ranked 19th and facing the hardest schedule in the nation.[5][6] They opened against the Washington State Cougars, playing the team for the first time in the history of the program.[7] The Irish came back from being down by 19 points to win in overtime, but Carlyle Holiday struggled as quarterback.[8] In the next game against rival Michigan, the Wolverines avenged their 2002 loss by beating the Irish by a score of 38–0 in the first shutout in the series in 100 years and the largest margin of victory ever between the two teams.[9] After another loss to Michigan State,[10] many Irish fans were calling for Holiday to be taken out of the game in favor of freshman Brady Quinn, who saw his first collegiate action in the fourth quarter of the Michigan rout.[11] Holiday was replaced as starter for the next game against Purdue.[12]

In Quinn's first start, the Irish were bolstered with Quinn's 297 passing yards on 59 attempts. However, Purdue's defense intercepted four of Quinn's passes and sacked him five times en route to a 23–10 Boilermaker victory.[12] Quinn remained as the starter and, with Willingham's acknowledgment that the running game needed to take more of a role in the next game,[13] got his first win against Pittsburgh. He was helped by Julius Jones' school-record 262 rushing yards.[14] Notre Dame lost their next three games, including Willingham's second straight 31 point loss to USC,[15] a last minute loss to Boston College,[16] and their first home shutout since 1978 to Florida State.[17] The Irish players began to call the season disappointing, as the team needed to win their last four games to make a bowl game.[18] They looked to have a chance of becoming bowl eligible, as their next three games were a last minute win that improved their streak to 40 games over Navy,[19] a win on senior day over the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars,[20] and a win over Stanford that saw the Irish offense finally connect in the season.[21] Notre Dame lost their final game to Syracuse, however.[22] With a 5–7 record, the Irish finished with the twelfth losing season in the history of the Notre Dame football program.[23]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 6 2:30 pm Washington State #19 Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN NBC W 29–26 OT  80,795
September 13 3:30 pm at #5 Michigan #15 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (Rivalry) ABC L 38–0   111,726
September 20 2:30 pm Michigan State Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy) NBC L 22–16   80,795
September 27 2:30 pm at #22 Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN (Shillelagh Trophy) ABC L 23–10   64,614
October 11 6:00 pm at #15 Pittsburgh Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry) ESPN W 20–14   66,421
October 18 2:30 pm #5 USC Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh) NBC L 45–14   80,795
October 25 12:00 pm at Boston College Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA (Holy War) ABC L 27–25   44,500
November 1 2:30 pm #5 Florida State Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN NBC L 37–0   80,795
November 8 2:30 pm Navy Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry) NBC W 27–24   80,795
November 15 2:30 pm BYU Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN NBC W 33–14   80,795
November 29 8:00 pm at Stanford Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA (Legends Trophy) ABC W 57–7   46,500
December 6 1:00 pm at Syracuse Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY ABC L 38–12   48,170
#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

Washington State

1 234OTTotal
Washington St 12 7070 26
• Notre Dame 0 33203 29

[24]

References

  1. ↑ Soukup, Andrew (November 14, 2003). "After a year away from Notre Dame, Jones came back to finish what he started". The Observer (UK). Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  2. ↑ Haugh, David (August 25, 2003). "Golden Opportunity: Julius Jones a Legend?". The Sporting News. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Scout.com Football Recruiting:Notre Dame". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  5. ↑ "2003 NCAA Football Rankings – Week 2 (Aug. 31)". ESPN. August 31, 2003. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ "2003 Irish Schedule Ranked As Most Difficult In The Country". UND.cstv.com. December 8, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Irish Take The Stage With Cougars For First Time". UND.cstv.com. September 4, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  8. ↑ "No. 19 Irish Triumph Over Washington St. In OT, 29–26". UND.cstv.com. September 6, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Irish Fall To No. 5 Michigan". UND.cstv.com. September 13, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Fighting Irish Fall To Michigan State, 22–16". UND.cstv.com. September 20, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  11. ↑ Hettler, Joe (November 12, 2004). "Carlyle Holiday: Taking one for the team". The Observer (UK). Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  12. 1 2 "Irish Fall To No. 22 Purdue, 23–10". UND.cstv.com. September 27, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  13. ↑ Federico, Chris (October 8, 2003). "Runaway problem". The Observer (UK). Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Fighting Irish Run To Victory, 20–14". UND.cstv.com. October 11, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  15. ↑ "Irish Fall To No. 5 USC". UND.cstv.com. October 18, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  16. ↑ "Irish Fall To Boston College, 27–25". UND.cstv.com. October 25, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  17. ↑ "Irish Fall To No. 5 Florida State". UND.cstv.com. November 1, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  18. ↑ Coyne, Tom (October 26, 2003). "Clock Ticking for Struggling Irish". CSTV.com. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  19. ↑ "Fitzpatrick Field Goal Sinks Midshipmen, 27–24". UND.cstv.com. November 8, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  20. ↑ "Notre Dame Defeats BYU In Home Finale, 33–14". UND.cstv.com. November 15, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  21. ↑ "Notre Dame 57, Stanford 7". ESPN. November 29, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  22. ↑ "Football Falls To Syracuse, 38–12". UND.cstv.com. December 6, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  23. ↑ Rovell, Darren (December 19, 2003). "Independent's stay? Irish renew NBC deal". ESPN. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
  24. ↑ ESPN
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