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

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

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

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 236:45 p.m.vs. No. 7
BCA Classic)
ESPNL 28–4250,823
August 301:00 p.m.
HDNet
W 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
Rice-Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • ESPNL 24–3146,768
    September 209:00 a.m.at
    Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
  • 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
    Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, AZ
  • W 51–2348,452
    November 87:00 p.m.at
    TBS
    L 17–2157,511
    November 1512:30 p.m.Washington
    • California Memorial Stadium
    • Berkeley, CA
    W 54–738,576
    November 2212:30 p.m.at
    The Big Game
    )
    ABCW 28–1667,950
    December 265:00 p.m.vs.
    Bank One Ballpark
  • Phoenix, AZ (Insight Bowl
  • )
    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

    Vs. Kansas State

    California vs. #7 Kansas State
    1 234Total
    Golden Bears 7 7014 28
    Wildcats 10 1787 42
    • Date: August 23
    • Location:
      CDT
    • Game attendance: 50,823
    • Television network: ESPN

    USC

    #3 USC at California
    1 234OT2OT3OTTotal
    USC 7 0143070 31
    California 7 1403073 34
    • Date: September 27
    • Location:
      EST
    • "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

    1 234Total
    Washington 0 700 7
    • California 13 20714 54
    • Date: November 15
    • Location:
      EST

    [11]

    Stanford

    California at Stanford
    1 234Total
    California 0 0721 28
    Stanford 10 006 16
    • Date: November 22
    • Location:
      EST
    • 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

    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 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

    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. 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. Retrieved December 28, 2014.