2003 California Golden Bears Football Team

2003 California Golden Bears football
2003 California Golden Bears football
Insight Bowl champion
Insight Bowl, W 52–49 vs. Virginia Tech
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	8–6 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach	Jeff Tedford (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	George Cortez (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Bob Gregory (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Lorenzo Alexander; Adimchinobe Echemandu; Donnie McCleskey; Aaron Rodgers;
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

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.

2003 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e
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 Bears were led on the field by sophomore quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a junior college transfer who became the starter on September 20 against Illinois. 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. The Bears won in triple overtime, 34–31. 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.

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%. 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.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 23	6:45 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Kansas State*	Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, MO (BCA Classic)	ESPN	L 28–42	50,823
August 30	1:00 p.m.	Southern Miss*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	HDNet	W 34–2	33,552
September 6	3:00 p.m.	Colorado State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FSN	L 21–23	34,096
September 11	4:45 p.m.	at Utah*	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	ESPN	L 24–31	46,768
September 20	9:00 a.m.	at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN+	W 31–24	58,363
September 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 3 USC	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FSN	W 34–31 ^3OT	51,208
October 4	2:00 p.m.	Oregon State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		L 21–35	39,150
October 18	12:30 p.m.	at UCLA	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 20–23 ^OT	53,825
October 25	12:30 p.m.	Arizona	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 42–14	33,249
November 1	12:30 p.m.	at Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		W 51–23	48,452
November 8	7:00 p.m.	at Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	TBS	L 17–21	57,511
November 15	12:30 p.m.	Washington	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 54–7	38,576
November 22	12:30 p.m.	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (The Big Game)	ABC	W 28–16	67,950
December 26	5:00 p.m.	vs. Virginia Tech*	Bank One Ballpark Phoenix, AZ (Insight Bowl)	ESPN	W 52–49	42,364
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

Vs. Kansas State

California vs. #7 Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	7	7	0	14	28
• Wildcats	10	17	8	7	42

Date: August 23
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game start: 6:45 p.m. CDT
Game attendance: 50,823
Television network: ESPN

USC

#3 USC at California

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
USC	7	0	14	3	0	7	0	31
• California	7	14	0	3	0	7	3	34

Date: September 27
Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
Game start: 6:30 p.m. EST

Source: ESPN

"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.

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	0	7	0	0	7
• California	13	20	7	14	54

Date: November 15
Location: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST

Stanford

California at Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
• California	0	0	7	21	28
Stanford	10	0	0	6	16

Date: November 22
Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST

Source: ESPN

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

Jeff Tedford

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2003-12-13

References

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