2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

2003 West Virginia Mountaineers football
Big East co-champion
Gator Bowl, L 7–41 vs. Maryland
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	8–5 (6–1 Big East)
Head coach	Rich Rodriguez (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Jeff Casteel (2nd season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Capacity: 63,500)

2003 Big East Conference football standings

v t e	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

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.

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	12:00 p.m.	No. 20 Wisconsin*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN	L 17–24	60,663
September 6	7:00 p.m.	at East Carolina		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC		W 48–7	36,088	[1]
September 13	12:00 p.m.	Cincinnati*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN Plus	L 13–15	51,189
September 20	6:05 p.m.	at Maryland*		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD		L 7–34	51,973
October 2	7:30 p.m.	at No. 2 Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN	L 20–22	54,621
October 11	12:00 p.m.	Rutgers		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN Plus	W 34–19	50,896
October 22	7:30 p.m.	No. 3 Virginia Tech		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	ESPN	W 28–7	56,319
November 1	1:00 p.m.	UCF*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 36–18	42,712
November 8	12:00 p.m.	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium [Chestnut Hill, MA	ESPN Plus	W 35–28	39,723
November 15	7:00 p.m.	No. 16 Pittsburgh		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	ESPN2	W 52–31	67,715
November 22	12:00 p.m.	at Syracuse		Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 34–23	41,801
November 29	12:00 p.m.	Temple		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN Plus	W 45–28	35,942
January 1	12:30 p.m.	vs. No. 24 Maryland*	No. 23	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	NBC	L 7–41	78,892
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

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 Rich Rodriguez Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

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