2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled a 10–3 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 503 to 285.[1] The team made an appearance in the Sun Bowl. The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was ranked 17th in the final USA Today/AFCA Coaches poll and 20th in the final Associated Press poll. This was the most recent season in which Minnesota defeated the Wisconsin Badgers and received Paul Bunyan's Axe until 2018.

2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 31–30 vs. Oregon
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 20
2003 record	10–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Glen Mason (7th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Mitch Browning (4th as OC, 7th overall season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Tony Petersen (4th as OC, 5th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Hudson (1st as DC, 3rd overall season)
Captain	Asad Abdul-Khaliq, Dan Kwapinski, Ben Utecht, Eli Ward
Home stadium	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Michigan $		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 4 Ohio State %		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 18 Purdue		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 8 Iowa		5	–	3					10	–	3
No. 20 Minnesota		5	–	3					10	–	3
Michigan State		5	–	3					8	–	5
Wisconsin		4	–	4					7	–	6
Northwestern		4	–	4					6	–	7
Penn State		1	–	7					3	–	9
Indiana		1	–	7					2	–	10
Illinois		0	–	8					1	–	11
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 Gopher-Wolverine game.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	6:00 pm	Tulsa*		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 49–10	36,623[2]
September 6	7:00 pm	Troy State*		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN+	W 48–7	31,393[3]
September 13	1:00 pm	at Ohio*		Peden Stadium Athens, OH	ESPN+	W 42–20	20,227[4]
September 20	7:00 pm	Louisiana–Lafayette*		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 48–14	34,929[5]
September 27	11:00 am	at Penn State	No. 24	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN	W 20–14	106,735[6]
October 4	11:00 am	at Northwestern	No. 21	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN+	W 42–17	23,539[7]
October 10	7:00 pm	No. 20 Michigan	No. 17	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	ESPN	L 35–38	62,374[8]
October 18	11:00 am	No. 15 Michigan State	No. 25	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	L 38–44	38,778[9]
October 25	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN+	W 36–10	46,407[10]
November 1	1:00 pm	Indiana	No. 24	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 55–7	45,398[11]
November 8	11:00 am	Wisconsin	No. 24	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Paul Bunyan's Axe)	ESPN	W 37–34	59,543[12]
November 15	11:00 am	at No. 20 Iowa	No. 19	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Floyd of Rosedale)	ESPN2	L 22–40	70,397[13]
December 31	1:00 pm	vs. Oregon*	No. 24	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 31–30	49,894[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 8 Asad Abdul-Khaliq Sr RB 21 Marlon Barber III Jr G 68 Mark Setterstrom So TE 89 Matt Spaeth Fr FB 44 Thomas Tapeh Sr TE 82 Ben Utecht Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 95 Anthony Montgomery So DT 51 Darrell Reid Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Glen Mason Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

[15]

Game summaries

Wisconsin

Wisconsin at #24/18 Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin 3 10 14 7 34 • Minnesota 10 14 3 10 37 Date: Saturday, November 8 Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST Source: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 14:04 MINN Laurence Maroney 30-yard run (Rhys Lloyd kick) MINN 7-0 1 7:56 MINN Rhys Lloyd 34-yard field goal MINN 10-0 1 :13 WIS Mike Allen 27-yard field goal MINN 10-3 2 10:52 MINN Asad Abdul-Khaliq 13-yard run (Rhys Lloyd kick) MINN 17-3 2 4:54 WIS Mike Allen 23-yard field goal MINN 17-6 2 2:01 MINN Thomas Tapeh 6-yard run (Rhys Lloyd kick) MINN 24-6 2 1:25 WIS Owen Daniels 27-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) MINN 24-13 3 12:47 WIS Lee Evans 17-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) MINN 24-20 3 9:17 MINN Rhys Lloyd 34-yard field goal MINN 27-20 3 1:35 WIS Darrin Charles 12-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Tied 27-27 4 11:13 MINN Marion Barber III 11-yard run (Rhys Lloyd kick) MINN 34-27 4 7:15 WIS Owen Daniels 26-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Tied 34-34 4 :00 MINN Rhys Lloyd 35-yard field goal MINN 37-34

References

1. "2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
2. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abh.html
3. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abg.html
4. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abf.html
5. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abe.html
6. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abd.html
7. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abc.html
8. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411abb.html
9. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411aba.html
10. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411aaz.html
11. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411aay.html
12. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411aax.html
13. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411aaw.html
14. http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/080411aav.html
15. Minnesota Golden Gophers: Roster