2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
	% – BCS at-large representative; $ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
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
2003 record	10–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Glen Mason (7th season);
Co-offensive coordinator	Mitch Browning (4th as OC, 7th overall season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Tony Petersen (4th as OC, 5th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Hudson (1st as DC, 3rd overall season)
Captain	Asad Abdul-Khaliq, Dan Kwapinski, Ben Utecht, Eli Ward
Home stadium	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
	Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 Gopher-Wolverine game.

The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their seventh year under head coach Glen Mason, the Golden Gophers compiled a 10–3 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 503 to 285.^[1] The team made an appearance in the Sun Bowl. The 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was ranked 17th in the final USA Today/AFCA Coaches poll and 20th in the final Associated Press poll. This was the most recent season in which Minnesota defeated the Wisconsin Badgers and received Paul Bunyan's Axe until 2018.

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+	W 48–7	31,393
September 13	1:00 pm	at Ohio*		Peden Stadium Athens, OH	ESPN+	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	ESPN	W 20–14	106,735
October 4	11:00 am	at Northwestern	No. 21	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN+	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+	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 (Paul Bunyan's Axe)	ESPN	W 37–34	59,543
November 15	11:00 am	at No. 20 Iowa	No. 19	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (Floyd of Rosedale)	ESPN2	L 22–40	70,397
December 31	1:00 pm	vs. Oregon*	No. 24	Sun Bowl Stadium 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

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

^[2]

Game summaries[]

Wisconsin[]

References[]

^ "2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
^ Minnesota Golden Gophers: Roster

[1] "2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.

[2] Minnesota Golden Gophers: Roster

[1]

[2]

v t Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Venues	Athletic Park (1892–1898) University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898) Northrop Field (1899–1923) Memorial Stadium (1924–1981) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008) Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa Michigan Nebraska Penn State Wisconsin
Culture & lore	Goldy Gopher Marching band Spirit squad "Minnesota Rouser" "Minnesota March" "Go Gopher Victory" "Minnesota Fight" "Our Minnesota" "Hail! Minnesota" "Battle Hymn of the Republic" Minnesota shift T formation Smith of Minnesota
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees Annual awards
Seasons	1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
National championship seasons in bold

2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	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