2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Alamo Bowl Champions
Alamo Bowl, W 17–3 vs. Michigan State
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 19
2003 record	10–3 (5–3 Big 12)
Head coach	Frank Solich (6th year)
Offensive coordinator	Barney Cotton (1st year)
Defensive coordinator	Bo Pelini (1st year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 73,918)

2003 Big 12 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North
#14 Kansas State x$		6	–	2					11	–	4
#19 Nebraska		5	–	3					10	–	3
Missouri		4	–	4					8	–	5
Kansas		3	–	5					6	–	7
Colorado		3	–	5					5	–	7
Iowa State		0	–	8					2	–	10
South
#3 Oklahoma x%		8	–	0					12	–	2
#12 Texas		7	–	1					10	–	3
Oklahoma State		5	–	3					9	–	4
Texas Tech		4	–	4					8	–	5
Texas A&M		2	–	6					4	–	8
Baylor		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Kansas State 35, Oklahoma 7
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Frank Solich and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. After the Colorado game, Solich was fired as head coach. Bo Pelini served as interim head coach for the Alamo Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	2:30 PM	No. 24 Oklahoma State		Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ABC	W 17–7	78,058
September 6	11:30 AM	Utah State*	No. 23	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	FSN	W 31–7	77,284
September 13	7:00 PM	Penn State*	No. 18	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ABC	W 18–10	78,008
September 25	6:45 PM	at Southern Miss*	No. 15	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN	W 38–14	36,125
October 4	12:30 PM	Troy State*	No. 12	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE		W 30–0	77,825
October 11	6:00 PM	at Missouri	No. 10	Faurot Field • Columbia, MO (Rivalry)	TBS	L 24–41	68,349
October 18	11:30 AM	Texas A&M	No. 18	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	FSN	W 48–12	77,604
October 25	11:30 AM	Iowa State	No. 14	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	PPV	W 28–0	77,483
November 1	11:00 AM	at No. 16 Texas	No. 12	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX	ABC	L 7–31	83,308
November 8	2:30 PM	at Kansas	No. 19	Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 24–3	50,107
November 15	2:30 PM	Kansas State	No. 18	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ABC	L 9–38	78,014
November 28	11:00 AM	at Colorado	No. 25	Folsom Field • Boulder, CO (Rivalry)	ABC	W 31–22	53,434
December 29	8:00 PM	vs. Michigan State*	No. 22	Alamodome • San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	W 17–3	56,229
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

^[1]

Roster and coaching staff

2003 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OG 71 Andersen, JakeJake Andersen Jr TE Ankerson, MattMatt Ankerson Fr C 65 Austin, GregGreg Austin Fr WR 38 Biodrowski, BrandonBrandon Biodrowski Jr WR 19 Birkel, AndyAndy Birkel Fr OL Burbach, AaronAaron Burbach Fr OG 59 Byford, BrettBrett Byford Fr QB 12 Dailey, JoeJoe Dailey Fr FB 4 Davies, JuddJudd Davies Sr IB 1 Davis, JoshJosh Davis Sr OG 67 DeLone, DarrenDarren DeLone Jr WR Erickson, DanDan Erickson Fr OG 78 Erickson, MikeMike Erickson Jr WR 28 Fluellen, IsaiahIsaiah Fluellen RFr QB 17 Glissman, GarthGarth Glissman So IB 30 Green, TierreTierre Green Fr OG 72 Green, TimTim Green Sr FB 6 Grixby, DeAntaeDeAntae Grixby Sr C 58 Haney, JustinJustin Haney RFr IB 36 Hansen, BenBen Hansen Fr TE 11 Herian, MattMatt Herian So TE Hill, SeanSean Hill Fr IB 9 Horne, DavidDavid Horne So OT 51 Incognito, RichieRichie Incognito So WR 31 Jackson, JoelJoel Jackson Jr TE Johnson, PatrickPatrick Johnson Fr TE 47 Keiser, DustyDusty Keiser Jr WR 49 Kenney, TylerTyler Kenney RFr TE 46 Knopp, JohnJohn Knopp So OG 75 Koch, BrandonBrandon Koch So FB 45 Kriewald, SteveSteve Kriewald Jr WR LeFlore, ChrisChris LeFlore Fr WR 10 LeFlore, MarkMark LeFlore So OG 66 Leslie, JermaineJermaine Leslie RFr WR 13 Liley, TimTim Liley Sr C 63 Limbaugh, JackJack Limbaugh Sr QB 15 Lindstrom, BrettBrett Lindstrom Sr OT 74 Lingenfelter, NewtonNewton Lingenfelter RFr OT 76 Loos, ChrisChris Loos Sr QB 5 Lord, JammalJammal Lord Sr C 64 Mann, KurtKurt Mann RFr WR 18 McLaughlin, MikeMike McLaughlin So FB 30 Miller, GrantGrant Miller RFr IB 21 Miller, RobinRobin Miller Sr QB Miller, ZachZach Miller Fr TE 81 Mueller, JoshJosh Mueller Fr WR 84 Mulkey, GrantGrant Mulkey RFr OG 61 Nelson, BrianBrian Nelson Sr WR 24 O'Holleran, JackJack O'Holleran Jr TE 86 O'Rourke, AdamAdam O'Rourke RFr WR 8 Ommert, RyanRyan Ommert Sr OL Peacock, CharlieCharlie Peacock Fr TE 82 Peetz, PhilPhil Peetz Sr TE 85 Phillips, J.B.J.B. Phillips Fr OT 56 Pike, GaryGary Pike So WR 2 Pilkington, RossRoss Pilkington So WR 25 Pittman, KadeKade Pittman Fr OT 69 Povendo, NickNick Povendo Jr IB 22 Ross, CoryCory Ross So TE Sand, AndyAndy Sand Fr OG 54 Schott, CarsonCarson Schott So WR 14 Schroeder, MattMatt Schroeder So OT 70 Schuler, RyanRyan Schuler Fr TE 83 Septak, ChrisChris Septak Jr C 79 Sewell, JoshJosh Sewell Sr TE 80 Shada, AlexAlex Shada Jr FB Siegel, ScottScott Siegel Fr OL Speichinger, JeffJeff Speichinger Fr WR 35 Stamer, DustyDusty Stamer Jr WR 17 Starkebaum, SethSeth Starkebaum RFr QB 16 Stuntz, MikeMike Stuntz Jr OG 55 Tagoa'i, JuniorJunior Tagoa'i Sr OT 57 Timm, CoryCory Timm RFr FB 41 Todd, DaneDane Todd RFr OT 68 Vili Waldrop, DanDan Vili Waldrop Sr OT 53 Volk, CodyCody Volk Sr OT 73 Wells, SamSam Wells Jr WR 20 Wigert, KiffinKiffin Wigert Jr FB 34 Wingender, AndyAndy Wingender Sr TE 44 Woodward, MatthewMatthew Woodward So WR 3 Zajicek, BenBen Zajicek Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 96 Adams, TitusTitus Adams So RCB 27 Amos, WillieWillie Amos Jr MIKE 61 Atha, PeterPeter Atha So NT 59 Bingham, RyonRyon Bingham Sr CB 16 Biodrowski, ColeCole Biodrowski So SS 21 Bland, PhilipPhilip Bland Jr DE 34 Bradley, StewartStewart Bradley RFr LCB 12 Brothers, TitusTitus Brothers Fr DT 65 Bryant, ChrisChris Bryant RFr WILL 39 Buller, ChadChad Buller Sr SS 14 Bullocks, DanielDaniel Bullocks So FS 20 Bullocks, JoshJosh Bullocks So FS 36 Burrow, DanDan Burrow Jr LCB 4 Butler, TerrellTerrell Butler Sr DE 90 Carriker, AdamAdam Carriker RFr BUCK 11 Cooper, IraIra Cooper Jr CB 6 DeFrand, DonaldDonald DeFrand So BUCK 48 Denman, CharlieCharlie Denman So DB Eisenhart, BenBen Eisenhart Fr DT 97 Evwaraye, SeppoSeppo Evwaraye So NT 62 Fisher, AnthonyAnthony Fisher RFr FS 15 Fisher, TylerTyler Fisher So WILL 41 Franzluebbers, JaredJared Franzluebbers So DB Gingery, TravisTravis Gingery Fr NT 99 Greeson, BrandonBrandon Greeson RFr CB 26 Guse, KevinKevin Guse Sr NT 73 Helming, JaredJared Helming So BUCK 2 Hollowell, T.J.T.J. Hollowell Sr WILL 40 Hopkins, LannieLannie Hopkins Jr CB 29 Huston, KellenKellen Huston Jr WILL 49 Ickes, AdamAdam Ickes So DE 88 Johnson, TrevorTrevor Johnson Sr DT 94 Kabongo, PatrickPatrick Kabongo Sr DT 95 Krug, NathanNathan Krug So BUCK 43 Lewin, KristopherKristopher Lewin RFr NT 70 Lohr, JasonJason Lohr Sr DE Luhrs, KevinKevin Luhrs Fr FS 32 Matteo, DerekDerek Matteo Jr DE 50 McBride, JeffJeff McBride Jr WILL 13 McKeon, CoreyCorey McKeon Fr RCB 1 McPherson, LornellLornell McPherson Jr DE 44 Moore, JayJay Moore RFr DE 57 Muhammad, WaliWali Muhammad So DE 56 Neemann, TrevorTrevor Neemann Fr NT 63 O'Shea, MattMatt O'Shea So DE 98 Patrick, ChrisChris Patrick Fr FS 31 Pippens, JerrellJerrell Pippens Sr DE Poulosky, AndyAndy Poulosky Fr MIKE 53 Reeves, MitchMitch Reeves RFr DE Rice, ThomasThomas Rice Fr RCB 28 Ricketts, PatPat Ricketts Sr SS 24 Rigoni, BrandonBrandon Rigoni RFr CB 30 Robison, JoeyJoey Robison So BUCK 51 Ruud, BoBo Ruud Fr MIKE 38 Ruud, BarrettBarrett Ruud Jr MIKE 42 Safranek, SteveSteve Safranek Sr CB 8 Shanle, AndrewAndrew Shanle RFr DT 76 Shrader, MattMatt Shrader Jr SS 23 Siegel, ShaneShane Siegel So MIKE 54 Sievers, ChadChad Sievers Jr DT 66 Smith, Le KevinLe Kevin Smith So DT 74 Teamer, BrandonBrandon Teamer Fr DE 5 Thomas, BenardBenard Thomas Jr CB 10 Thorne, FredFred Thorne Sr SS 25 Tiedtke, BlakeBlake Tiedtke So DE 93 Toline, TylerTyler Toline Jr MIKE 35 Tomasevicz, CurtCurt Tomasevicz Sr LCB 3 Washington, FabianFabian Washington So CB 33 White, SethSeth White Sr SS 9 Williams, DelrickDelrick Williams Sr WILL 7 Williams, DemorrioDemorrio Williams Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 22 DeAngelis, SandroSandro DeAngelis Jr PK 27 Dyches, DavidDavid Dyches Fr PK 32 Endorf, DaleDale Endorf Sr P Kester, TylerTyler Kester Fr P 37 Koch, SamSam Koch So P 19 Larson, KyleKyle Larson Sr PK Lueshen, EricEric Lueshen Fr PK Nielsen, JaredJared Nielsen Fr LS Peetz, JakeJake Peetz Fr	Head coach Frank Solich    6th season    25th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Coordinators/assistant coaches Turner Gill    1st season as AHC/QB coach    12th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Barney Cotton    1st season as OC/OL coach    1st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Bo Pelini    1st season as DC/LB coach    1st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Ohio State Tim Albin    1st season as RB/PG coach    1st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Northwestern Oklahoma Ron Brown    1st season as WR coach    17th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Brown Scott Downing    1st season as TE/ST coach    4th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Sterling Jeff Jamrog    1st season as DL/DE coach    6th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Marvin Sanders    1st season as Sec coach    1st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Jimmy Williams    1st season as LB coach    1st year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Boyd Epley    35th season as S&C coach    35th year at Nebraska    Alma mater: Nebraska Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: January 16, 2011

Game notes

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma State 7 0 0 0 7 • Nebraska 3 0 14 0 17 Date: August 30 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 2:37 p.m. CST Game attendance: 78,058 TV announcers (ABC): Brad Nessler (Play-by-play), Bob Griese (Color) & Lynn Swann (Sideline)

Utah State

Utah State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Utah State 7 0 0 0 7 • Nebraska 6 9 13 3 31 Date: September 6 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 11:40 a.m. CST Game attendance: 77,284 TV announcers (FSN): Joel Meyers (Play-by-play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Penn State

Penn State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Penn State 0 10 0 0 10 • Nebraska 3 6 6 3 18 Date: September 13 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 7:07 p.m. CST Game attendance: 78,008 TV announcers (ABC): Brad Nessler (Play-by-play), Bob Griese (Color) & Lynn Swann (Sideline)

Southern Miss

Nebraska at Southern Miss [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 17 0 14 7 38 Southern Miss 0 7 0 7 14 Date: September 25 Location: M. M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, Mississippi Game start: 6:45 p.m. CST Game attendance: 36,125 TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico (Play-by-play), Lee Corso (Color), Kirk Herbstreit (Color) & Dr. Jerry Punch (Sideline)

Troy State

Troy State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Troy State 0 0 0 0 0 • Nebraska 3 7 13 7 30 Date: October 4 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 12:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 77,825

Missouri

Nebraska at Missouri [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 7 3 14 0 24 • Missouri 7 7 0 27 41 Date: October 11 Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri Game start: 6:10 p.m. CST Game attendance: 68,349 TV announcers (TBS): Ron Thulin (Play-by-play), Charles Davis (Color), Erin Andrews (Sideline) & Craig Sager (Sideline)

Texas A&M

Texas A&M at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Texas A&M 3 0 3 6 12 • Nebraska 20 0 14 14 48 Date: October 18 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 11:40 a.m. CST Game attendance: 77,604 TV announcers (FSN): Bill Land (Play-by-play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Iowa State

Iowa State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa State 0 0 0 0 0 • Nebraska 21 7 0 0 28 Date: October 25 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 11:40 a.m. CST Game attendance: 77,483 TV announcers (PPV): Dave Armstrong (Play-by-play), Eric Crouch (Color) & Bill Doleman (Sideline)

Texas

Nebraska at Texas [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 0 0 7 7 • Texas 7 7 3 14 31 Date: November 1 Location: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas Game start: 11:10 a.m. CST Game attendance: 83,308 TV announcers (ABC): Gary Thorne (Play-by-play), David Norrie (Color)

Kansas

Nebraska at Kansas [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 3 7 7 7 24 Kansas 0 3 0 0 3 Date: November 8 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Game start: 2:40 p.m. CST Game attendance: 50,107 TV announcers (FSN): Bill Land (Play-by-play), Gary Reasons (Color) & John Rhadigan (Sideline)

Kansas State

Kansas State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Kansas State 7 0 10 21 38 Nebraska 0 7 0 2 9 Date: November 15 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 2:36 p.m. CST Game attendance: 78,014 TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger (Play-by-play), Gary Danielson (Color) & Jack Arute (Sideline)

Colorado

Nebraska at Colorado [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 7 14 0 10 31 Colorado 7 9 6 0 22 Date: November 28 Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado Game start: 11:10 a.m. CST Game attendance: 53,434 TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson (Play-by-play), Dan Fouts (Color) & Todd Harris (Sideline)

Michigan State

Michigan State vs Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan State 3 0 0 0 3 • Nebraska 3 14 0 0 17 Date: December 29 Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Game start: 8:05 p.m. CST Game attendance: 56,229 TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico (Play-by-play), Lee Corso (Color), Kirk Herbstreit (Color) & Dr. Jerry Punch (Sideline)

Rankings

Ranking Movement

Poll	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	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Final
AP	NR	23	18	15	15	12	10	19	14	12	19	18	23	25	23	22	19
Coaches																	18
BCS	Not released								11	9	18	17	22	23	21	20	N/A

After the season

Nebraska finished in 2nd place in the Big 12 North Division and tied for 4th conference-wide, with a final record of 10–3 (5–3). Prior to the season, Head Coach Frank Solich was feeling pressure to perform after a 7–7 (3–5) record the previous year (the first non-winning season since 1961), and had significantly revamped his coaching staff for 2003.

Despite the sweeping changes and the improvements they brought, which helped Nebraska to another 9-win season, Solich was fired at the conclusion of the regular season. Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini was named Interim Head Coach and led the Huskers to a 17–3 Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State. When new Head Coach Bill Callahan was announced in later weeks, most of the existing assistants (including Pelini) were also fired.

Pelini would later return as Callahan's replacement in 2008.

Awards

^[2]

Award	Name(s)
All-America 1st team	Josh Bullocks, Kyle Larson
All-America honorable mention	Richie Incognito, Demorrio Williams
All-Big 12 1st team	Josh Bullocks, Matt Herian, Richie Incognito, Kyle Larson, Demorrio Williams
All-Big 12 2nd team	Ryon Bingham, Barrett Ruud
All-Big 12 3rd team	Fabian Washington
All-Big 12 honorable mention	Daniel Bullocks, Josh Davis, Mike Erickson, Isaiah Fluellen, T. J. Hollowell, Trevor Johnson, Jammal Lord, Josh Sewell, Dan Vili Waldrop

NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 2003 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.^[3]

Name	Team
Titus Adams	New York Jets
Ryon Bingham	San Diego Chargers
Stewart Bradley	Philadelphia Eagles
Daniel Bullocks	Detroit Lions
Josh Bullocks	New Orleans Saints
Adam Carriker	St. Louis Rams
Josh Davis	New York Jets
Aaron Golliday	Scottish Claymores
T. J. Hollowell	New York Giants
Richie Incognito	St. Louis Rams
Trevor Johnson	New York Jets
Patrick Kabongo	Detroit Lions
Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens
Kyle Larson	Cincinnati Bengals
Jammal Lord	Houston Texans
Jay Moore	San Francisco 49ers
Chris Patrick	New York Giants
Jerrell Pippens	Chicago Bears
Andy Poulosky	Sioux City Bandits
Cory Ross	Baltimore Ravens
Barrett Ruud	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bo Ruud	New England Patriots
Le Kevin Smith	New England Patriots
Fabian Washington	Oakland Raiders
Demorrio Williams	Atlanta Falcons

References

1. "Football - 2003 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
2. "2003 Husker Honors". Archived from the original on May 18, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
3. "All Time NFL Huskers". Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.