# 2003 LSU Tigers football team

The 2003 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Nick Saban, the LSU Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers compiled an 11–1 regular season record and then defeated the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game, Afterward, LSU was invited to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl for the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national title. LSU won the BCS National Championship Game, the first national football championship for LSU since 1958.
The 2003 college football regular season ended with three one-loss teams in BCS contention: the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, and USC Trojans. USC ended the regular season ranked No. 1 and LSU No. 2 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. Media controversy ensued when the BCS computer-based selection system chose LSU and Oklahoma as the participants in the BCS title game, largely based on an assessment of the relative difficulty of the three teams' 2003 schedules. During the bowl games, LSU beat No. 3 Oklahoma 21–14 in the Sugar Bowl (designated as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2003–04 season), while USC defeated the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines 28–14 in the Rose Bowl. LSU was ranked No. 1 in the final Coaches' Poll (which was contractually obligated to rank the BCS champion No. 1) while USC remained No. 1 in the final AP Poll, resulting in a non-consensus national title - the last time this has happened.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Louisiana–Monroe* | No. 14 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA | | W 49–7 | 89,148 |
| September 6 | 9:00 p.m. | at Arizona* | No. 13 | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | TBS | W 59–13 | 46,110 |
| September 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Western Illinois* | No. 12 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA | | W 35–7 | 87,164 |
| September 20 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 7 Georgia | No. 11 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA (College GameDay) | CBS | W 17–10 | 92,251 |
| September 27 | 8:00 p.m. | at Mississippi State | No. 7 | Davis Wade StadiumStarkville, MS (rivalry) | ESPN2 | W 41–6 | 45,835 |
| October 11 | 2:30 p.m. | Florida | No. 6 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA (rivalry) | CBS | L 7–19 | 92,077 |
| October 18 | 6:45 p.m. | at South Carolina | No. 10 | Williams–Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | ESPN2 | W 33–7 | 82,525 |
| October 25 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 17 Auburn | No. 9 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA (Tiger Bowl) | ESPN | W 31–7 | 92,085 |
| November 1 | 7:00 p.m. | Louisiana Tech* | No. 7 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA | PPV | W 49–10 | 91,879 |
| November 15 | 6:45 p.m. | at Alabama | No. 3 | Bryant–Denny StadiumTuscaloosa, AL (rivalry) | ESPN | W 27–3 | 83,818 |
| November 22 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 15 Ole Miss | No. 3 | Vaught–Hemingway StadiumOxford, MS (Magnolia Bowl) | CBS | W 17–14 | 62,552 |
| November 28 | 1:30 p.m. | Arkansas | No. 3 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA (Battle for the Golden Boot) | CBS | W 55–24 | 92,213 |
| December 6 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Georgia | No. 3 | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game) (College GameDay) | CBS | W 34–13 | 74,913 |
| January 4, 2004 | 7:15 p.m. | vs. No. 3 Oklahoma* | No. 2 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) (College GameDay) | ABC | W 21–14 | 79,342 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 (21) | 2 (17) |
| Coaches | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 (18) | 1 (60) |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 12 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Not released |

## Game summaries
### Louisiana–Monroe

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| LA-Monroe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • LSU | 0 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 49 |

### Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • LSU | 17 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 59 |
| Arizona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 |

### Western Illinois

Western Illinois was ranked No. 1 in I-AA and played the Tigers close, only down 13–7 in the 3rd quarter. The Tigers had fumbled twice in the red zone, missed an extra point and a field goal and botched a punt. QB Matt Mauck had a career game to extend the lead in the second half. He set career highs with 305 yards passing and four touchdowns, giving LSU its first 3–0 start in five years.
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| W Illinois | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| • LSU | 6 | 7 | 15 | 7 | 35 |

### Georgia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Georgia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • LSU | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |

### Mississippi State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • LSU | 7 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 41 |
| Mississippi St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |

### Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Florida | 10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 19 |
| LSU | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### South Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • LSU | 6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 33 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### Auburn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • LSU | 21 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 31 |

### Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| • LSU | 28 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 49 |

### Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • LSU | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 27 |
| Alabama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Ole Miss

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • LSU | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Ole Miss | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### Arkansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Arkansas | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| • LSU | 10 | 24 | 21 | 0 | 55 |

### SEC Championship Game

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • LSU | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Georgia | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 13 |

### Sugar Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • LSU | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

## LSU Tigers in the 2004 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | Overall | NFL team |
| Michael Clayton | Wide receiver | 1 | 15 | 15 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Devery Henderson | Wide receiver | 2 | 18 | 50 | New Orleans Saints |
| Marquise Hill | Defensive end | 2 | 31 | 63 | New England Patriots |
| Stephen Peterman | Offensive Guard | 3 | 20 | 83 | Dallas Cowboys |
| Chad Lavalais | Defensive tackle | 5 | 10 | 142 | Atlanta Falcons |
| Donnie Jones | Punter | 7 | 23 | 224 | Seattle Seahawks |
| Matt Mauck | Quarterback | 7 | 24 | 225 | Denver Broncos |
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/2004.htm Archived 2007-12-23 at the Wayback Machine