2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in the three-way tie for fourth in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents 503 to 285. Minnesota was invited to the Sun Bowl, where the Golden Gophers defeated Oregon. The team was ranked 20th in the final AP poll and 17th in the final Coaches Poll. Minnesota played home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

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
Record	10–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Glen Mason (7th season)
Co-offensive coordinators	Mitch Browning (4th season) Tony Petersen (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Hudson (1st season)
Captains	Asad Abdul-Khaliq Dan Kwapinski Ben Utecht Eli Ward
Home stadium	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

2003 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	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
% – BCS at-large representative $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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
September 6	7:00 pm	Troy State*		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN Plus	W 48–7	31,393
September 13	1:00 pm	at Ohio*		Peden Stadium Athens, OH	ESPN Plus	W 42–20	20,227
September 20	7:00 pm	Louisiana–Lafayette*		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 48–14	34,929
September 27	11:00 am	at Penn State	No. 24	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA (Governor's Victory Bell)	ESPN	W 20–14	106,735
October 4	11:00 am	at Northwestern	No. 21	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN Plus	W 42–17	23,539
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
October 18	11:00 am	No. 15 Michigan State	No. 25	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	L 38–44	38,778
October 25	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN Plus	W 36–10	46,407
November 1	1:00 pm	Indiana	No. 24	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 55–7	45,398
November 8	11:00 am	Wisconsin	No. 24	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	ESPN	W 37–34	59,543
November 15	11:00 am	at No. 20 Iowa	No. 19	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 22–40	70,397
December 31	1:00 pm	vs. Oregon*	No. 24	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 31–30	49,894
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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Game summaries

Wisconsin

Wisconsin at #24/18 Minnesota

Team	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

The 2003 Gopher–Wolverine game

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 QB 3 Bryan Cupito Fr C 61 Greg Eslinger Fr WR 2 Paris Hamilton Jr WR 84 Aaron Hosack Sr RB 22 Laurence Maroney Fr WR 33 Logan Payne Fr RB 29 Amir Pinnix Fr WR 88 Micah Rucker Fr 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 K 16 Rhys Lloyd Jr	Head coach Glen Mason Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt