2003 Mountain West Conference football season

The 2003 Mountain West Conference football season was the fifth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference. The Utah Utes won the conference championship in 2003, the Utes' second overall and first outright title since the league began in 1999.

2003 Mountain West Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I-A
Sport	football
Number of teams	8
2004 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Jeff Shoate (San Diego State)
Picked by	Denver Broncos, 152nd overall
Regular season
Season champions	Utah
Runners-up	New Mexico
Top scorer	DonTrell Moore (126 points)

2003 Mountain West Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 21 Utah $		6	–	1					10	–	2
New Mexico		5	–	2					8	–	5
Colorado State		4	–	3					7	–	6
Air Force		3	–	4					7	–	5
San Diego State		3	–	4					6	–	6
BYU		3	–	4					4	–	8
UNLV		2	–	5					6	–	6
Wyoming		2	–	5					4	–	8
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Coaching changes

• Joe Glenn took over at Wyoming, replacing Vic Koenning.^[1]
• Urban Meyer took over at Utah.^[2]

Bowl games

Bowl	Date	Stadium	City	Result
Las Vegas Bowl	December 24, 2003	Sam Boyd Stadium	Las Vegas	Oregon State 55, New Mexico 14
Liberty Bowl	December 31, 2003	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	Memphis, Tennessee	Utah 17, Southern Miss 0
San Francisco Bowl	December 31, 2003	SBC Park	San Francisco	Boston College 35, Colorado State 21

Awards

• Coach of the Year: Urban Meyer, Utah
• Offensive Player of the Year: QB Bradlee Van Pelt, Sr, Colorado State
• Defensive Player of the Year: LB Kirk Morrison, Sr, San Diego State
• Freshman of the Year: RB Lynell Hamilton, San Diego State

All Conference Teams

First-team:

Offense
Quarterback	Bradlee Van Pelt, Sr, Colorado State
Running back	DonTrell Moore, So, New Mexico Lynell Hamilton, Fr, San Diego State
Wide receiver	David Anderson, So, Colorado State Paris Warren, Jr, Utah
Tight end	Ben Moa, Sr, Utah
Offensive Line	Jason Lenzmeier, Sr, New Mexico Claude Terrell, Jr, New Mexico Erik Pears, Jr, Colorado State Ryan Cook, So, New Mexico Brendan Darby, Sr, San Diego State
Kicker	Wes Zunker, Sr, New Mexico
Kick returner	Dexter Wynn, Sr, Colorado State

Defense
Defensive line	D.J. Rentería, Sr, New Mexico Brady Poppinga, Jr, BYU Josh Savage, Sr, Utah Bryan Save, Sr, Colorado State
Linebacker	Kirk Morrison, Jr, San Diego State Adam Seward, Jr, UNLV Marchello Graddy, Sr, Air Force
Defensive back	Jamaal Brimmer, Jr, UNLV Aaron Francisco, Jr, BYU Dexter Wynn, Sr, Colorado State Brandon Ratcliff, Sr, New Mexico
Punter	Matt Payne, Jr, BYU

Second-team:

Offense
Quarterback	Alex Smith, So, Utah
Running back	Reynaldo Brathwaite, Jr, BYU Brandon Warfield, Sr, Utah
Wide receiver	Dwight Counter, Sr, New Mexico Earvin Johnson, Jr, UNLV
Tight end	Joel Dreessen, Jr, Colorado State
Offensive Line	Brett Huyser, Sr, Air Force Brett Waller, Sr, Air Force Mark Dreyer, Sr, Colorado State Mike Kracalik, Jr, San Diego State Dominic Furio, Sr, UNLV
Kicker	Dillon Pieffer, Sr, UNLV
Kick returner	Bo Nagahi, Jr, Utah

Defense
Defensive line	Daniel Kegler, Sr, New Mexico Zach Rupp, Sr, New Mexico Brandon Rager, Sr, San Diego State Brandon Casavan, Sr, Wyoming
Linebacker	Daniel Gawronski, Sr, New Mexico Billy Strother, Sr, New Mexico Matt McCoy, So, San Diego State
Defensive back	Gabriel Fulbright, So, New Mexico Jeff Shoate, Sr, San Diego State Dave Revill, Sr, Utah Morgan Scalley, Jr, Utah
Punter	Gary Cook, Jr, UNLV

^[3]