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2003 California Golden Bears football team

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2003 California Golden Bears football
Insight Bowl champion
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record8–6 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGeorge Cortez (2nd season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorBob Gregory (2nd season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumCalifornia Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 2002
2004 →
2003 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 USC $   7 1     12 1  
No. 9 Washington State   6 2     10 3  
Oregon   5 3     8 5  
California   5 3     8 6  
Oregon State   4 4     8 5  
Washington   4 4     6 6  
UCLA   4 4     6 7  
Arizona State   2 6     5 7  
Stanford   2 6     4 7  
Arizona   1 7     2 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach Jeff Tedford, the Golden Bears compiled an 8–6 record (5–3 in Pac-10, tied for third) and outscored their opponents 457 to 341.[1][2]

The Bears were led on the field by sophomore quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a junior college transfer who became the starter on September 20 against Illinois.[3] In his second start the following week, Rodgers led Cal to a 21–7 halftime lead over third-ranked USC before being replaced due to injury in the second half by Reggie Robertson.[4] The Bears won in triple overtime, 34–31.[5][6] In late December, Cal defeated Virginia Tech 52–49 in the Insight Bowl at Phoenix; Rodgers passed for 394 yards and was the game's offensive MVP. [7]

Rodgers tied Cal's season record with five 300-yard games and set a Cal record for the lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.43%.[8] The Golden Bears' statistical leaders included Rodgers with 2,903 passing yards, Adimchinobe Echemandu with 1,195 rushing yards, and Geoff McArthur with 1,504 receiving yards.[9]

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 236:45 p.m.vs. No. 7 Kansas State*ESPNL 28–4250,823
August 301:00 p.m.Southern Miss*HDNetW 34–233,552
September 63:00 p.m.Colorado State*
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
FSNL 21–2334,096
September 114:45 p.m.at Utah*ESPNL 24–3146,768
September 209:00 a.m.at Illinois*ESPN+W 31–2458,363
September 273:30 p.m.No. 3 USC
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
FSNW 34–31 3OT51,208
October 42:00 p.m.Oregon State
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
L 21–3539,150
October 1812:30 p.m.at UCLAABCL 20–23 OT53,825
October 2512:30 p.m.Arizona
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 42–1433,249
November 112:30 p.m.at Arizona StateW 51–2348,452
November 87:00 p.m.at OregonTBSL 17–2157,511
November 1512:30 p.m.Washington
  • California Memorial Stadium
  • Berkeley, CA
W 54–738,576
November 2212:30 p.m.at StanfordABCW 28–1667,950
December 265:00 p.m.vs. Virginia Tech*ESPNW 52–4942,364
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

[10]

Game summaries

[edit]

Vs. Kansas State

[edit]
California vs. #7 Kansas State
1 234Total
Golden Bears 7 7014 28
Wildcats 10 1787 42

USC

[edit]
#3 USC at California
1 234OT2OT3OTTotal
USC 7 0143070 31
California 7 1403073 34
  • "They always take us lightly", said receiver Jonathan Makonnen, who had seven catches for 104 yards. "They really don't respect us. They're a talented team, but they were kind of lackadaisical out there."
  • "I'm not knocking Leinart or their running backs, but I didn't see a whole lot of firepower from them", said Echemandu, the first player to rush for 100 yards against USC in 16 games. "Mike Williams is basically their whole offense."
  • The loss was USC's last until the 2006 National Championship Game, in which Texas snapped USC's 34-game win streak.
  • Aaron Rodgers was the starter as Cal's quarterback, but due to injury he was replaced in the second half by Reggie Robertson.[4][5]

Washington

[edit]
1 234Total
Washington 0 700 7
• California 13 20714 54

[11]

Stanford

[edit]
California at Stanford
1 234Total
California 0 0721 28
Stanford 10 006 16
  • CAL: Aaron Rodgers 26/37, 359 yds
  • CAL: Geoff McArthur 16 rec, 245 yds (single game record – Dameane Douglas, 1998)
  • CAL: bowl eligible for first time since 1996

Roster

[edit]
2003 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 8 Aaron Rodgers So
RB 18 Adimchinobe Echemandu Sr
RB 30 J. J. Arrington Jr
OL 61 Ryan O'Callaghan So
OL 63 Mark Wilson Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 20 Matt Giordano Jr
DB 21 Donnie McCleskey So
CB 22 Tim Mixon  Fr
DE 90 Ryan Riddle Jr
DE 91 Monte Parson Sr
DT 99 L. P. Ladouceur Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2003-12-13

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2003 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 166. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "Player Bio:Aaron Rodgers". University of California. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Cal-USC Postgame Quotes". Cal Athletics. September 27, 2003. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Beacham, Greg (September 28, 2003). "Cal bears down in OT, snaps USC streak". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. D1.
  6. ^ "Cal fans storm field after win". ESPN. September 27, 2003. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  7. ^ Baum, Bob (December 27, 2003). "Cal kicker wins another big one". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. p. D1.
  8. ^ "Cal Records". University of California. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  9. ^ "2003 California Golden Bears Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  10. ^ 2011 California football information guide
  11. ^ "California 54, Washington 7". ESPN. November 15, 2003. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2014.