2003 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 2003 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Spartans play their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. This was the first year for head coach John L. Smith, who would win Big Ten coach of the year in his debut, but would later be fired after the 2006 season.

2003 Michigan State Spartans football
Alamo Bowl, L 3–17 vs. Nebraska
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record8–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDave Baldwin (1st season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorChris Smeland (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
Seasons
← 2002
2004 →
2003 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 6 Michigan $   7 1     10 3  
No. 4 Ohio State %   6 2     11 2  
No. 18 Purdue   6 2     9 4  
No. 8 Iowa   5 3     10 3  
No. 20 Minnesota   5 3     10 3  
Michigan State   5 3     8 5  
Wisconsin   4 4     7 6  
Northwestern   4 4     6 7  
Penn State   1 7     3 9  
Indiana   1 7     2 10  
Illinois   0 8     1 11  
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The Spartans were coming off a 4–8 season and had just let go of head coach Bobby Williams.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 303:40 p.m.Western Michigan*ESPN PlusW 26–2172,923
September 63:40 p.m.Rutgers*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusW 44–2872,579
September 1312:10 p.m.Louisiana Tech*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusL 19–2072,387
September 202:30 p.m.at Notre Dame*NBCW 22–1680,795
September 2712:10 p.m.No. 13 Iowa
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ESPN PlusW 20–1072,276
October 412:10 p.m.Indiana No. 25
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ESPN PlusW 31–372,398
October 1112:00 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 21ESPN2W 49–1447,509
October 1812:00 p.m.at No. 25 MinnesotaNo. 15ESPN2W 44–3838,778
November 112:00 p.m.No. 11 MichiganNo. 9
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ABCL 20–2775,129
November 812:00 p.m.at No. 7 Ohio StateNo. 14ABCL 23–33105,194
November 1512:00 p.m.at WisconsinNo. 21ESPN2L 21–5679,256
November 2212:00 p.m.Penn State
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
ESPNW 41–1072,119
December 299:05 p.m.vs. No. 22 Nebraska*ESPNL 3–1756,226
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
APRVRV2521151191421RVRVRVRVRV
CoachesRVRVRV231812101522RVRVRVRVRV
BCSNot released13102024Not released

Roster

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2003 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 19 Irving Campbell Fr
OT 75 Pete Clifford Fr
RB 21 DeAndra' Cobb Jr
C 69 Kyle Cook   Fr
C 51 Chris Morris So
QB 11 Stephen Reaves Fr
QB 5 Drew Stanton   Fr
QB 9 Jeff Smoker Sr
WR 6 Matt Trannon So
G 76 Will Whitticker Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 95 Matthias Askew Jr
CB 22 Darren Barnett So
LB 30 Jehuu Caulcrick Fr
DE 59 Clifford Dukes Jr
LB 41 David Herron   Fr
LB 42 Mike Labinjo Sr
DT 99 Brandon McKinney Jr
LB 48 Seth Mitchell So
DE 88 Luc Mullinder Sr
DE 52 Clifton Ryan   Fr
DB 36 Eric Smith   So
LB 44 Ronald Stanley Jr
DT 91 Kevin Vickerson Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 8 Brandon Fields   Fr
K 16 Dave Rayner Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

Coaching staff

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2004 NFL Draft

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The following players were selected in the 2004 NFL draft.

Player Round Pick Position NFL Team
Matthias Askew 4 114 Defensive Tackle Cincinnati Bengals
Jeff Smoker 6 201 Quarterback St. Louis Rams

References

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