2003 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

The 2003 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season and were led by first year head coach David Elson. Coming off winning the NCAA Division 1-AA Championship the previous year, this team contended for Gateway Football Conference championship but ended up finishing tied for 3rd.[1] They made the school's fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, beating Jacksonville State in the first round before losing to Wofford in the quarterfinals. The Hilltoppers finished the season ranked number 7 in final 1AA postseason national poll.[2]

2003 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
Division I-AA Playoffs, Lost Quarterfinals
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Ranking
FCS Coaches	No. 7
2003 record	9–4 (5–2 Gateway)
Head coach	David Elson (1st season)
Assistant coach	Willie Taggart
Home stadium	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium

2003 Gateway Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Northern Iowa +^		6	–	1					10	–	3
No. 9 Southern Illinois +^		6	–	1					10	–	2
No. 6 Western Illinois ^		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 7 Western Kentucky ^		5	–	2					9	–	4
Illinois State		3	–	4					6	–	6
Youngstown State		2	–	5					5	–	7
Southwest Missouri State		1	–	6					4	–	7
Indiana State		0	–	7					3	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

This team included future NFL players Anthony Oakley and Brian Claybourn. Matt Lange and Buster Ashley were named to the AP All American team and Justin Haddix was Gateway Conference Freshman of The Year. The All-Conference team included Ashley, Jeremy Chandler, Claybourn, Erik Dandy, Lange, Karl Maslowski, Casey Rooney, Antonio Veals, Daniel Withrow, Chad Kincaid, Oakley, and Charles Thompson.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
August 28	Union (KY)*	No. 5	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 51–3
September 6	West Virginia Tech*	No. 5	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 67–3
September 20	No. 23 Eastern Kentucky*	No. 3	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (Battle of the Bluegrass)	W 36–3
September 27	at D-1A Auburn*	No. 3	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	L 3–48
October 4	at No. 2 Western Illinois	No. 6	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 28–33
October 11	Southwest Missouri	No. 9	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 9–6
October 18	at Illinois State	No. 9	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 27–24
October 25	at Indiana State	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 59–14
November 1	No. 3 Southern Illinois	No. 8	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 24–28
November 8	No. 6 Northern Iowa	No. 12	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 24–3
November 15	at Youngstown State	No. 10	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	W 37–13
November 29	No. 17 Jacksonville State*	No. 9	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (I-AA Playoffs First Round)	W 45–7
December 6	No. 2 Wofford*	No. 9	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (I-AA Playoffs Quarterfinals)	L 17–34
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

References

1. 2019 MVC Football Records, retrieved 30 April 2020
2. "Final Division I-AA Poll". The Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. December 23, 2003. p. B2. Retrieved May 20, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. WKU Football Media Guide retrieved 31 March 2020.