# 2003 Kansas State Wildcats football team

The 2003 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 11 wins and 4 losses, and a Big 12 Conference record of 6 wins and 2 losses. They notched a stunning 35–7 victory over the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship Game. With their 1st conference championship since 1934, they earned a berth in one of the Bowl Championship Series bowl games, the 2004 Fiesta Bowl, where they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes, 35–28. The Wildcats played 15 games, most in school history.
During the 2002 and 2003 seasons teams were allowed to schedule 12 games as well as a kickoff game. As a result, Kansas State became only the second team in the modern era to play a 15-game schedule. The first was the 1996 BYU Cougars.
Running back Darren Sproles led the nation in rushing, and the Wildcats scored 549 points, good for third all-time at Kansas State.
Until 2022, this was the only season in college football history in which Kansas State, Kansas, and Missouri all played in a bowl game in the same season.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 23 | 6:45 p.m. | vs. California* | No. 7 | Arrowhead StadiumKansas City, MO (BCA Classic) | ESPN | W 42–28 | 50,823 |
| August 30 | 6:10 p.m. | Troy State* | No. 7 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | | W 41–5 | 41,812 |
| September 6 | 6:10 p.m. | McNeese State* | No. 7 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | | W 55–14 | 44,544 |
| September 13 | 1:10 p.m. | UMass* | No. 7 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | | W 38–7 | 46,102 |
| September 20 | 11:40 a.m. | Marshall* | No. 6 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | FSN | L 20–27 | 46,700 |
| October 4 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 13 Texas | No. 16 | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX (College GameDay) | ABC | L 20–24 | 83,643 |
| October 11 | 11:30 a.m. | at Oklahoma State | No. 22 | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | FSN | L 34–38 | 46,087 |
| October 18 | 1:10 p.m. | Colorado | | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS (rivalry) | | W 49–20 | 51,536 |
| October 25 | 1:10 p.m. | Kansas | | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS (rivalry) | | W 42–6 | 51,614 |
| November 1 | 1:10 p.m. | Baylor | | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | | W 38–10 | 44,885 |
| November 8 | 1:00 p.m. | at Iowa State | | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA (rivalry) | | W 45–0 | 40,124 |
| November 15 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 18 Nebraska | | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | ABC | W 38–9 | 78,014 |
| November 22 | 6:10 p.m. | Missouri | No. 19 | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS | TBS | W 24–14 | 49,685 |
| December 6 | 7:00 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Oklahoma | No. 13 | Arrowhead StadiumKansas City, MO (Big 12 Championship) | ABC | W 35–7 | 79,451 |
| January 2 | 7:15 p.m. | vs. No. 7 Ohio State* | No. 8 | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl) | ABC | L 28–35 | 73,425 |
| *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 — = Not ranked ( ) = 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 | 7 (1) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 22 | — | — | — | — | 19 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 14 |
| Coaches | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 14 | 21 | — | — | — | 25 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 13 |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | 19 | 16 | 15 | 10 | Not released |

## Game summaries
### Vs. California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Bears | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| • Wildcats | 10 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 42 |

### Troy State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Trojans | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| • Wildcats | 7 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 41 |

### McNeese State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Wildcats | 24 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 55 |

### UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minutemen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Wildcats | 3 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 38 |

### Marshall

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Thundering Herd | 7 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 27 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 20 |

### At Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 20 |
| • Longhorns | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### At Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 34 |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 38 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buffaloes | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| • Wildcats | 9 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 49 |

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jayhawks | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| • Wildcats | 7 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 42 |

### Baylor

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Wildcats | 0 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 38 |

### At Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Wildcats | 7 | 7 | 24 | 7 | 45 |
| Cyclones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### At Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 10 | 21 | 38 |
| Cornhuskers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 24 |
Darren Sproles ran for a school-record 273 yards in the win over Missouri. Sproles also broke the single-season rushing record for the second consecutive year.

### Vs. Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship game)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Wildcats | 0 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Sooners | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Kansas State manhandled the #1 Sooners at Arrowhead Stadium to win their first conference title since 1934.

### Vs. Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Buckeyes | 14 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

## Statistics
### Scores by quarter

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kansas State | 95 | 175 | 130 | 149 | 549 |
| Opponents | 74 | 81 | 38 | 51 | 244 |

### Team

| | KSU | Opp |
| Scoring | 549 | 244 |
| Points per Game | 36.6 | 16.3 |
| First Downs | 319 | 232 |
| Rushing | 176 | 98 |
| Passing | 127 | 121 |
| Penalty | 16 | 13 |
| Total Offense | 6,615 | 4,246 |
| Avg per Play | 6.2 | 4.3 |
| Avg per Game | 441.0 | 283.1 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 22-13 | 13-9 |
| Penalties-Yards | 98-726 | 104-846 |
| Avg per Game | 48.4 | 56.4 |
| | KSU | Opp |
| Punts-Yards | 71-2,859 | 112-4,113 |
| Avg per Punt | 40.3 | 36.7 |
| Time of Possession/Game | 30:24 | 29:36 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 82/205 | 63/229 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 10/20 | 8/20 |
| Touchdowns Scored | 73 | 31 |
| Field Goals-Attempts | 12-17 | 8-18 |
| PAT-Attempts | 67-68 | 28-29 |
| Attendance | 376,878 | 247,868 |
| Games/Avg per Game | 8/47,110 | 4/61,967 |

### Offense
#### Rushing

| Name | GP | Att | Gain | Loss | Net | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G |
| Darren Sproles | 15 | 306 | 2,067 | 81 | 1,986 | 6.5 | 16 | 73 | 132.4 |
| Ell Roberson | 13 | 227 | 1135 | 160 | 975 | 4.3 | 15 | 33 | 75.0 |
| Total | 15 | 688 | 3,817 | 388 | 3,429 | 5.0 | 42 | 73 | 228.6 |
| Opponents | 15 | 549 | 2,113 | 486 | 1,627 | 3.0 | 6 | 45 | 108.5 |

#### Passing

| Name | GP-GS | Effic | Att-Cmp-Int | Yds | TD | Lng | Avg/G | Pct. |
| Ell Roberson | 13 | 143.19 | 294-152-12 | 2,545 | 24 | 63 | 195.8 | 51.7 |
| Jeff Schwin | 6 | 119.99 | 68-37-3 | 563 | 1 | 41 | 93.8 | 54.4 |
| Total | 15 | 137.50 | 371-194-17 | 3,186 | 25 | 63 | 212.4 | 52.3 |
| Opponents | 15 | 104.41 | 447-224-20 | 2,619 | 19 | 65 | 174.6 | 50.1 |

#### Receiving

| Name | GP | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G |
| James Terry | 15 | 64 | 1,232 | 19.2 | 13 | 63 | 82.1 |
| Antoine Polite | 13 | 29 | 409 | 14.1 | 1 | 36 | 31.5 |
| Total | 15 | 194 | 3,186 | 16.4 | 25 | 63 | 212.4 |
| Opponents | 15 | 224 | 2,619 | 11.7 | 19 | 65 | 174.6 |

## 2004 NFL Draft

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
| Nick Leckey | Center | 6 | 167 | Arizona Cardinals |
| Rashad Washington | Strong safety | 7 | 236 | New York Jets |