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2003 Kansas State Wildcats football
Big 12 champion
Big 12 North champion
Fiesta Bowl, L 28–35 vs. Ohio State
Conference Big 12 Conference
DivisionNorth
Ranking
CoachesNo. 13
APNo. 14
Record11–4 (6–2 Big 12)
Head coach
Co-offensive coordinator Del Miller (7th season)
Co-offensive coordinatorGreg Peterson (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator Bret Bielema (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorBob Elliott (2nd season)
Home stadium KSU Stadium
(Capacity: 50,300)
Seasons
←  2002
2004 →
2003 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
North Division
No. 14 Kansas State x$   6 2     11 4  
No. 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 Division
No. 3 Oklahoma x%   8 0     12 2  
No. 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 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 11 wins and 4 losses, and a Big 12 Conference record of 6 wins and 2 losses. They notched a stunning 35–7 victory over the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship Game. With their 1st conference championship since 1934, they earned a berth in one of the Bowl Championship Series bowl games, the 2004 Fiesta Bowl, where they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes, 35–28. The Wildcats played 15 games, most in school history.

During the 2002 and 2003 seasons teams were allowed to schedule 12 games as well as a kickoff game. As a result, Kansas State became only the second team in the modern era to play a 15-game schedule. The first was the 1996 BYU Cougars.

Running back Darren Sproles led the nation in rushing, and the Wildcats scored 549 points, good for third all-time at Kansas State. [1]

Until 2022, this was the only season in college football history in which Kansas State, Kansas, and Missouri all played in a bowl game in the same season.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 236:45 p.m.vs. California*No. 7 ESPNW 42–2850,823
August 306:10 p.m. Troy State*No. 7W 41–541,812
September 66:10 p.m. McNeese State*No. 7
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
W 55–1444,544
September 131:10 p.m. UMass*No. 7
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
W 38–746,102
September 2011:40 a.m. Marshall*No. 6
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
FSNL 20–2746,700
October 42:30 p.m.at No. 13 TexasNo. 16 ABCL 20–2483,643
October 1111:30 a.m.at Oklahoma StateNo. 22FSNL 34–3846,087
October 181:10 p.m. Colorado
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS ( rivalry)
W 49–2051,536
October 251:10 p.m. Kansas
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS ( rivalry)
W 42–651,614
November 11:10 p.m. Baylordagger
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
W 38–1044,885
November 81:00 p.m.at Iowa StateW 45–040,124
November 152:30 p.m.at No. 18 NebraskaABCW 38–978,014
November 226:10 p.m. MissouriNo. 19
  • KSU Stadium
  • Manhattan, KS
TBSW 24–1449,685
December 67:00 p.m.vs. No. 1 OklahomaNo. 13
ABCW 35–779,451
January 27:15 p.m.vs. No. 7 Ohio State*No. 8ABCL 28–3573,425
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[2]

Roster

2003 Kansas State Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
OT 79 Jon Doty Jr
TE 88 Thomas Hill Sr
TE 86 Brian Casey Jr
OL 53 Nick Leckey Sr
OL 64 Ryan Lilja Sr
QB  3 Ell Roberson Sr
FB 44 Travis Wilson Sr
RB 36 Ayo Saba So
QB 14 Jeff Schwinn Sr
RB 43 Darren Sproles Jr
WR  5 James Terry Sr
WR  2 Antoine Polite Jr
WR 15 Davin Dennis So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB  7 Josh Buhl Sr
LB 18 Bryan Hickman Sr
DB  9 Randy Jordan Sr
DE 83 Blake Seiler So
DE 98 Andrew Shull Sr
LB 45 Ted Sims So
FS  2 Rashad Washington Sr
DB 26 Tyler Woolfolk Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K/P  6 Jared Brite Sr
K 15 Joe Rheem Jr
LS 72 Mike Wilson Sr
LS 52 Russ Vanover Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Del MillerCo-Offensive Coordinator & quarterbacks
  • Greg Peterson – Co-Offensive coordinator & wide receivers
  • Michael Smith – Running backs
  • Matt MillerTight ends
  • Bob Stanley – Offensive line
  • Bret BielemaCo-Defensive coordinator
  • Bob Elliot – Co-Defensive coordinator & secondary
  • Mo Latimore – interior Defensive line
  • Joe Bob Clements – Defensive ends

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

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP7 (1)7776161622191413814
Coaches55666161421251815131013
BCSNot released151512111088Not released

Game summaries

Vs. California

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

Troy State

Troy State at #7 Kansas State
1 234Total
Trojans 5 000 5
Wildcats 7 2707 41

McNeese State

McNeese State at #7 Kansas State
1 234Total
Cowboys 0 770 14
Wildcats 24 7717 55

UMass

UMass at #7 Kansas State
1 234Total
Minutemen 7 000 7
Wildcats 3 2177 38

Marshall

Marshall at #6 Kansas State
1 234Total
Thundering Herd 7 9011 27
Wildcats 7 337 20

At Texas

#16 Kansas State at #13 Texas
1 234Total
Wildcats 0 398 20
Longhorns 7 1007 24

At Oklahoma State

#22 Kansas State at Oklahoma State
1 234Total
Wildcats 7 7713 34
Cowboys 7 14143 38

Colorado

Colorado at Kansas State
1 234Total
Buffaloes 7 607 20
Wildcats 9 61420 49

Kansas

Kansas at Kansas State
1 234Total
Jayhawks 3 030 6
Wildcats 7 21140 42

Baylor

Baylor at Kansas State
1 234Total
Bears 3 700 10
Wildcats 0 141014 38

At Iowa State

Kansas State at Iowa State
1 234Total
Wildcats 7 7247 45
Cyclones 0 000 0

[3]

At Nebraska

Kansas State at #18 Nebraska
1 234Total
Wildcats 7 01021 38
Cornhuskers 0 702 9

The Wildcats clinched a share of the Big 12 North title by winning in Lincoln for the first time since 1968. Kansas State also handed the Cornhuskers their worst defeat at Memorial Stadium since 1958. [4]

Missouri

Missouri at #19 Kansas State
1 234Total
Tigers 0 707 14
Wildcats 7 1430 24

Darren Sproles ran for a school-record 273 yards in the win over Missouri. Sproles also broke the single-season rushing record for the second consecutive year. [5]

Vs. Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship game)

#13 Kansas State Wildcats vs. #1 Oklahoma Sooners
1 234Total
Wildcats 0 2177 35
Sooners 7 000 7

Kansas State manhandled the #1 Sooners at Arrowhead Stadium to win their first conference title since 1934. [6]

Vs. Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl)

#7 Ohio State vs. #8 Kansas State
1 234Total
Buckeyes 14 7140 35
Wildcats 0 7714 28

Statistics

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total
Kansas State 95 175 130 149 549
Opponents 74 81 38 51 244

Team

KSU Opp
Scoring 549 244
  Points per Game 36.6 16.3
First Downs 319 232
  Rushing 176 98
  Passing 127 121
  Penalty 16 13
Total Offense 6,615 4,246
  Avg per Play 6.2 4.3
  Avg per Game 441.0 283.1
Fumbles-Lost 22-13 13-9
Penalties-Yards 98-726 104-846
  Avg per Game 48.4 56.4
KSU Opp
Punts-Yards 71-2,859 112-4,113
  Avg per Punt 40.3 36.7
Time of Possession/Game 30:24 29:36
3rd Down Conversions 82/205 63/229
4th Down Conversions 10/20 8/20
Touchdowns Scored 73 31
Field Goals-Attempts 12-17 8-18
PAT-Attempts 67-68 28-29
Attendance 376,878 247,868
  Games/Avg per Game 8/47,110 4/61,967

Offense

Rushing

Name GP Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
Darren Sproles 15 306 2,067 81 1,986 6.5 16 73 132.4
Ell Roberson 13 227 1135 160 975 4.3 15 33 75.0
Total 15 688 3,817 388 3,429 5.0 42 73 228.6
Opponents 15 549 2,113 486 1,627 3.0 6 45 108.5

Passing

Name GP-GS Effic Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Lng Avg/G Pct.
Ell Roberson 13 143.19 294-152-12 2,545 24 63 195.8 51.7
Jeff Schwin 6 119.99 68-37-3 563 1 41 93.8 54.4
Total 15 137.50 371-194-17 3,186 25 63 212.4 52.3
Opponents 15 104.41 447-224-20 2,619 19 65 174.6 50.1

Receiving

Name GP No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
James Terry 15 64 1,232 19.2 13 63 82.1
Antoine Polite 13 29 409 14.1 1 36 31.5
Total 15 194 3,186 16.4 25 63 212.4
Opponents 15 224 2,619 11.7 19 65 174.6

Awards and honors

2004 NFL Draft

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Nick Leckey Center 6 167 Arizona Cardinals
Rashad Washington Strong safety 7 236 New York Jets

[7]

References

  1. ^ Points scored fact Archived July 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ DeLassus, David. "Kansas State University coaching records by game (2003)". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  3. ^ "Kansas State 45, Iowa State 0". ESPN. November 8, 2003. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  4. ^ "Kansas St. clinches share of Big 12 North title". ESPN. November 15, 2003. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  5. ^ "Sproles rushes for 273 yards, 2 TDs". ESPN. November 23, 2003. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  6. ^ "Roberson, Sproles deliever [sic] 1-2 punch". ESPN. December 6, 2003. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  7. ^ "2004 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2019.