# 2003 Big South Conference football season

The 2003 Big South Conference football season was the second football season for the Big South Conference. The season began on Saturday, August 30, 2003 and concluded on November 22. The Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs won the conference's regular season championship, their second consecutive title.

## Awards and honors
### Conference honors

* Offensive Player of the Year: Dre Barnes, Jr., RB, Liberty
* Defensive Player of the Year: Mario Williams, Jr., FS, Gardner–Webb
* Freshman of the Year: Jonna Lee, LB, Charleston Southern
* Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jim Maxwell, Sr., LB, Gardner–Webb & Matt Sharpe, Sr., K, VMI
* Coach of the Year: Steve Patton, Gardner–Webb

### All-Conference Teams

| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| First Team Offense ||||
| QB | Nick Roberts | So. | Gardner–Webb |
| RB | Dre Barnes | Jr. | Liberty |
| RB | Sean Mizzer | So. | VMI |
| WR | William Andrews | Jr. | Gardner–Webb |
| WR | Aaron Dunklin | Sr. | Charleston Southern |
| WR | Lauren Williams | R–So. | Liberty |
| TE | Danny McCoy | Sr. | Charleston Southern |
| OL | Jamie Pridgen | Sr. | Gardner–Webb |
| OL | Ryan Smith | Jr. | Gardner–Webb |
| OL | Sam Brown | Sr. | VMI |
| OL | Tom Smith | Jr. | Liberty |
| OL | Clarence Wright | Sr. | Charleston Southern |
| First Team Defense ||||
| DL | Aaron DeBerry | Sr. | Liberty |
| DL | Vichael Foxx | Jr. | VMI |
| DL | Jason Threat | Sr. | Gardner–Webb |
| DL | Harold Wells | Jr. | Gardner–Webb |
| LB | Jim Maxwell | Sr. | Gardner–Webb |
| LB | Derik Screen | Sr. | VMI |
| LB | Maurice Simpkins | Jr. | Coastal Carolina |
| LB | Jonna Lee | Fr. | Charleston Southern |
| DB | Mario Williams | Jr. | Gardner–Webb |
| DB | Musa Sarki | Sr. | VMI |
| DB | Aaron Sykes | Sr. | Gardner–Webb |
| DB | C.J. Moore | R–So. | Liberty |
| First Team Special Teams ||||
| PK | Matt Sharpe | Sr. | VMI |
| P | Graham Whitlock | Jr. | Gardner–Webb |
| LS | Marlon Roman | Jr. | Liberty |
| RS | Greg Williamson | Jr. | Coastal Carolina |
| Reference: ||||

## Rankings

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Final |
| Charleston Southern | TSN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Charleston Southern | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Coastal Carolina | TSN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Coastal Carolina | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Gardner–Webb | TSN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Gardner–Webb | C | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Liberty | TSN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Liberty | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| VMI | TSN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| VMI | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |

## Regular season

* Index to colors and formatting
* Big South member won
* Big South member lost
* Big South teams in bold
All times Eastern time.

### Week One

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| August 30 | 1:30 PM | VMI | Navy | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD | L 10–37 |
| August 30 | 3:30 PM | Charleston Southern | The Citadel | Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC | L 10–64 |
| August 30 | 6:00 PM | Liberty | James Madison | Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA | L 6–48 |
| August 30 | 6:00 PM | Clark Atlanta | Gardner–Webb | Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC | W 45–0 |

### Week Two

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| September 6 | 1:00 PM | VMI | Davidson | Richardson Stadium • Davidson, NC | W 31–9 |
| September 6 | 1:30 PM | Charleston Southern | Wingate | Irwin Belk Stadium • Wingate, NC | L 6–22 |
| September 6 | 3:00 PM | Gardner–Webb | Montana State | Bobcat Stadium • Bozeman, MT | L 3–28 |
| September 6 | 7:00 PM | Newberry | Coastal Carolina | Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC | W 21–14 |
| September 6 | 7:00 PM | Liberty | Toledo | Glass Bowl • Toledo, OH | L 3–49 |

### Week Three

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| September 13 | 1:00 PM | William & Mary | VMI | Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA | L 24–34 |
| September 13 | 1:30 PM | Presbyterian | Charleston Southern | Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC | L 14–17 |
| September 13 | 6:00 PM | Webber International | Gardner–Webb | Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC | W 52–10 |
| September 13 | 6:00 PM | Liberty | Bowling Green | Doyt Perry Stadium • Bowling Green, OH | L 3–62 |
| September 13 | 7:00 PM | Morehead State | Coastal Carolina | Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC | L 6–31 |

### Week Four

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| September 20 | 12:30 PM | Coastal Carolina | Jacksonville | D. B. Milne Field • Jacksonville, FL | L 9–14 |
| September 20 | 1:00 PM | Norfolk State | VMI | Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA | W 34–9 |
| September 20 | 1:30 PM | West Virginia State | Charleston Southern | Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC | W 49–42 |
| September 20 | 1:30 PM | Kentucky Wesleyan | Liberty | Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA | W 47–7 |
| September 20 | 6:00 PM | Chattanooga | Gardner–Webb | Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC | W 23–13 |

### Week Five

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| September 25 | 6:00 PM | Coastal Carolina | North Greenville | Younts Stadium • Tigerville, SC | W 39–19 |
| September 27 | 1:00 PM | Georgetown | VMI | Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA | W 42–14 |
| September 27 | 1:30 PM | Tusculum | Charleston Southern | Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC | L 7–58 |
| September 27 | 2:00 PM | Gardner–Webb | Furman | Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC | L 0–45 |
| September 27 | 7:00 PM | Youngstown State | Liberty | Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA | L 3–34 |

### Week Six

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result | Reference |
| October 4 | 7:00 PM | Gardner–Webb | Coastal Carolina | Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC | GW 38–17 | |
| October 4 | 7:00 PM | VMI | Liberty | Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA | Lib 31–28 | |

### Week Seven

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| October 11 | 1:00 PM | Charleston Southern | VMI | Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA | VMI 50–7 |
| October 11 | 3:30 PM | Liberty | Gardner–Webb | Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC | GW 27–17 |
| October 11 | 7:00 PM | Charleston (WV) | Coastal Carolina | Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC | W 47–7 |

### Week Eight

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| October 18 | 1:00 PM | Gardner–Webb | VMI | Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA | GW 37–25 |
| October 18 | 2:00 PM | Liberty | East Tennessee State | Memorial Center • Johnson City, TN | L 23–33 |
| October 18 | 7:00 PM | Charleston Southern | South Florida | Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL | L 7–55 |

### Week Nine

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| October 25 | 1:30 PM | North Greenville | Charleston Southern | Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC | L 21–49 |
| October 25 | 3:00 PM | VMI | Richmond | City Stadium • Richmond, VA | L 25–35 |
| October 25 | 4:00 PM | Coastal Carolina | Savannah State | Ted Wright Stadium • Savannah, GA | W 29–19 |

### Week Ten

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| November 1 | 12:00 PM | Liberty | Charleston Southern | Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC | Lib 17–6 |
| November 1 | 12:30 PM | VMI | Coastal Carolina | Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC | VMI 19–10 |
| November 1 | 4:00 PM | Gardner–Webb | Florida Atlantic | Lockhart Stadium • Fort Lauderdale, FL | L 26–31 |

### Week Eleven

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| November 8 | 1:00 PM | Coastal Carolina | Davidson | Richardson Stadium • Davidson, NC | W 52–27 |
| November 8 | 1:00 PM | Austin Peay | VMI | Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA | W 48–7 |
| November 8 | 1:30 PM | Charleston Southern | Gardner–Webb | Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC | GW 46–0 |
| November 8 | 1:30 PM | Norfolk State | Liberty | Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA | W 69–21 |

### Week Twelve

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| November 15 | 1:30 PM | VMI | The Citadel | American Legion Memorial Stadium • Charlotte, NC | L 23–27 |
| November 15 | 1:30 PM | Charleston Southern | James Madison | Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA | L 7–45 |
| November 15 | 1:30 PM | Florida Atlantic | Gardner–Webb | Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC | W 22–19 |
| November 15 | 1:30 PM | Coastal Carolina | Liberty | Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA | Lib 38–21 |

### Week Thirteen

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Result |
| November 22 | 1:30 PM | Hofstra | Liberty | Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA | W 49–42 (OT) |
| November 22 | 1:30 PM | Coastal Carolina | Charleston Southern | Buccaneer Field • North Charleston, SC | CCU 48–14 |
| November 22 | 2:00 PM | Gardner–Webb | Western Carolina | E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC | L 16–39 |

## Head coaches

    Jay Mills, Charleston Southern
    David Bennett, Coastal Carolina
    Steve Patton, Gardner–Webb
    Ken Karcher, Liberty
    Cal McCombs, VMI