2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

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.

2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Big East co-champion
Gator Bowl, L 7–41 vs. Maryland
ConferenceBig East Conference
Record8–5 (6–1 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorJeff Casteel (2nd season)
Base defense3–3–5
Home stadiumMountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium
(Capacity: 63,500)
Seasons
← 2002
2004 →
2003 Big East Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 5 Miami (FL) $+   6 1     11 2  
West Virginia +   6 1     8 5  
Pittsburgh   5 2     8 5  
Virginia Tech   4 3     8 5  
Boston College   3 4     8 5  
Syracuse   2 5     6 6  
Rutgers   2 5     5 7  
Temple   0 7     1 11  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 3012:00 p.m.No. 20 Wisconsin*ESPNL 17–2460,663
September 67:00 p.m.at East CarolinaW 48–736,088[1]
September 1312:00 p.m.Cincinnati*
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
ESPN PlusL 13–1551,189
September 206:05 p.m.at Maryland*L 7–3451,973
October 27:30 p.m.at No. 2 Miami (FL)ESPNL 20–2254,621
October 1112:00 p.m.Rutgers
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
ESPN PlusW 34–1950,896
October 227:30 p.m.No. 3 Virginia Tech
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV (rivalry)
ESPNW 28–756,319
November 11:00 p.m.UCF* 
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
W 36–1842,712
November 812:00 p.m.at Boston CollegeESPN PlusW 35–2839,723
November 157:00 p.m.No. 16 Pittsburgh
ESPN2W 52–3167,715
November 2212:00 p.m.at SyracuseESPN2W 34–2341,801
November 2912:00 p.m.Temple
  • Mountaineer Field
  • Morgantown, WV
ESPN PlusW 45–2835,942
January 112:30 p.m.vs. No. 24 Maryland*No. 23NBCL 7–4178,892
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster

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2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 1 Kay-Jay Harris Jr
QB 2 Rasheed Marshall Jr
WR 5 Chris Henry So
FB 36 Adam King Sr
WR 86 John Pennington Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 6 Grant Wiley Sr
DB 9 Adam Jones So
DB 19 Lance Frazier Sr
DE 92 Ben Lynch Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

References

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  1. ^ "WVU hammers East Carolina". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 7, 2003. Retrieved March 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.