2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Big East co-champion
Gator Bowl, L 7–41 vs. Maryland
Conference	Big East Conference
2003 record	8–5 (6–1 Big East)
Head coach	Rich Rodriguez (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Jeff Casteel (2nd season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 63,500)
Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were led by head coach Rich Rodriguez and played their home games at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

They rebounded from a 1–4 start to end the season 8–5 and captured a share of the Big East Conference Championship, the school's first since 1993. The team earned a trip to the 2004 Gator Bowl, where they lost a rematch to the rival Maryland Terrapins 41–7.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	Noon	No. 20 Wisconsin*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN	L 17–24	60,663
September 6	7:00 p.m.	at East Carolina		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, North Carolina		W 48–7	36,088
September 13	Noon	Cincinnati*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN+	L 13–15	51,189
September 20	6:05 p.m.	at Maryland*		Byrd Stadium College Park, Maryland		L 7–34	51,973
October 2	7:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl Miami	ESPN	L 20–22	54,621
October 11	Noon	Rutgers		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN+	W 34–19	50,896
October 22	7:30 p.m.	No. 3 Virginia Tech		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia (Black Diamond Trophy)	ESPN	W 28–7	56,319
November 1	1:00 p.m.	Central Florida*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia		W 36–18	42,712
November 8	Noon	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	ESPN+	W 35–28	39,723
November 15	7:00 p.m.	No. 16 Pittsburgh		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia (Backyard Brawl)	ESPN2	W 52–31	67,715
November 22	Noon	at Syracuse		Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York (Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy)	ESPN2	W 34–23	41,801
November 29	Noon	Temple		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN+	W 45–28	35,942
January 1	12:30 p.m.	vs. No. 24 Maryland*	No. 23	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville (Gator Bowl)	NBC	L 7–41	78,892
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

References[]