2003 Wisconsin Badgers football team

The 2003 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Barry Alvarez, the Badgers completed the season with a 7–6 record, including a 4–4 mark in the Big Ten Conference, finishing in a tie for 7th in the Big Ten.

2003 Wisconsin Badgers football
Music City Bowl, L 14–28 vs. Auburn
Conference	Big Ten Conference
2003 record	7–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Barry Alvarez (14th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian White
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Cosgrove
MVP	Lee Evans
Captains	Lee Evans Jim Leonhard Jeff Mack Jim Sorgi
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 76,634)

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
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	11:00 a.m.	at West Virginia*	No. 21	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPN	W 24–17	60,663[1]
September 6	2:30 p.m.	Akron*	No. 18	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN+	W 48–31	75,401[1]
September 13	11:00 a.m.	UNLV*	No. 14	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 5–23	78,043[1]
September 20	11:00 a.m.	North Carolina*		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	W 38–27	77,439[1]
September 27	5:00 p.m.	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN2	W 38–20	58,495[1]
October 4	11:00 a.m.	at Penn State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN	W 30–23	107,851[1]
October 11	8:00 p.m.	No. 3 Ohio State	No. 23	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	W 17–10	79,793[1]
October 18	11:00 a.m.	No. 13 Purdue	No. 14	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (College GameDay)	ESPN	L 23–26	79,541[1]
October 25	11:00 a.m.	at Northwestern	No. 20	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 7–16	36,233[1]
November 8	11:00 a.m.	at No. 24 Minnesota		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN (Paul Bunyan's Axe)	ESPN	L 34–37	59,543[1]
November 15	11:00 a.m.	No. 21 Michigan State		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	W 56–21	79,256[1]
November 22	2:30 p.m.	No. 17 Iowa		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	ABC	L 21–27	79,931[1]
December 31	11:00 a.m.	vs. Auburn*		The Coliseum Nashville, TN (Music City Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–28	55,109[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Season summary

Wisconsin entered the 2003 season ranked, after an 8–6 campaign the year before. The Badgers defeated West Virginia and Akron to open the season, but then were shocked by perennially underachieving UNLV at home, 23–5. The stunning upset knocked the Badgers (then ranked 14th) out of the polls entirely, and they would not return until after wins in their first two Big Ten games, against Illinois and Penn State (teams that would combine for a 1–15 Big Ten record). With defending National Champion Ohio State coming to town on a 19-game winning streak, the Badgers put together a solid game, and ended the Buckeyes' winning streak in a 17–10 upset.

At 3–0 in the Big Ten and having defeated Ohio State, the Badgers were looking to put together a run at a Big Ten title. Unfortunately for the Badgers, Kyle Orton and the Purdue Boilermakers ended Wisconsin's undefeated Big Ten campaign with a 26–23 win in Camp Randall. The next week in Evanston, the 20th ranked Badgers lost 16–7 to Northwestern.

With Paul Bunyan's Axe on the line against Minnesota, the Badgers were unable to avoid giving up another late drive, and Minnesota beat the Badgers in Minneapolis for the 2nd time in a row, 37–34. Disheartened but not yet finished, the Badgers dealt a massive blow to Michigan State (which was riding a losing streak of its own) as they routed the Spartans, 56–21. It was their second straight win over MSU. WR Lee Evans caught 10 passes for 258 yards and 5 touchdowns[2] in the game.

Against Iowa the next week, the Badgers took a 21–7 lead, which they proved unable to hold. Iowa defeated Wisconsin 27–21, a devastating loss on Senior Day that left the Badgers tied for 7th in the Big Ten. The Badgers accepted an invitation to the 2003 Music City Bowl against Auburn, a team ranked 6th in the nation in the preseason. The Badgers lost 28–14, closing out their 3rd season in a row with 6 or more losses.

FS Jim Leonhard caught 7 interceptions on defense for Wisconsin, leading the Badgers and the Big Ten. However, Wisconsin's defense gave up late scoring drives against Purdue, Minnesota, and Iowa, all games the Badgers lost.

West Virginia

#21 Wisconsin at West Virginia

1 2 3 4 Total • Wisconsin 7 0 3 14 24 West Virginia 10 0 7 0 17 Date: August 30 Location: Mountaineer Field, Morgantown, WV Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Game attendance: 60,663 TV announcers (ESPN): Mark Jones (Play-by-play), Bob Davie (Color) & Holly Rowe (Sideline)

Scoring summary Q1 WIS Timbers recovered blocked punt in end zone (Campbell kick) WIS 7–0 Q1 WVU Cooper 27 yard field goal WIS 7–3 Q1 WVU Wilson 10 yard run (Cooper kick) WVU 10–7 Q2 WVU Wilson 3 yard run (Cooper kick) WVU 17–7 Q2 WIS Campbell 29 yard field goal WVU 17–10 Q4 WIS Evans 20 yard pass from Sorgi (Campbell kick) Tie 17–17 Q4 WIS Davis 2 yard run (Campbell kick) WIS 24–17

[3]

Ohio State

#3 Ohio State at #23 Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 0 3 0 7 10 • Wisconsin 0 7 3 7 17 Date: October 11 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 79,793 TV announcers (ESPN): Ron Franklin (Play-by-play), Mike Gottfried (Color) & Adrian Karsten (Sideline)

Scoring summary Q2 WIS Stanley 2 yard run (Allen kick) WIS 7–0 Q2 OHST Nugent 24 yard field goal WIS 7–3 Q3 WIS Allen 38 yard field goal WIS 10–3 Q4 OHST Jenkins 6 yard pass from Krenzel (Nugent kick) Tie 10–10 Q4 5:20 WIS Evans 79 yard pass from Schabert (Allen kick) WIS 17–10

[4]

Wisconsin snapped Ohio State's 19-game winning streak and handed them their first loss since the 2002 Outback Bowl.

Michigan State

#21/#22 Michigan State at Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan State 0 7 7 7 21 • Wisconsin 14 14 21 7 56 Date: November 15 Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Game attendance: 79,256 TV announcers (ESPN2): Pam Ward (Play-by-play) & Chris Spielman (Color) Source: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 11:22 Wisconsin Lee Evans 9-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 7-0 1 0:27 Wisconsin Dwayne Smith 3-yard run (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 14-0 2 4:21 Wisconsin Lee Evans 75-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 21-0 2 2:51 Michigan St Kyle Brown 21-yard pass from Jeff Smoker (Dave Rayner kick) Wisconsin 21-7 2 1:39 Wisconsin Lee Evans 18-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 28-7 3 9:13 Wisconsin Lee Evans 70-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 35-7 3 7:49 Michigan St Aaron Alexander 30-yard pass from Jeff Smoker (Dave Rayner kick) Wisconsin 35-14 3 4:05 Wisconsin Lee Evans 18-yard pass from Jim Sorgi (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 42-14 3 1:32 Wisconsin Dwayne Smith 14-yard run (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 49-14 4 13:11 Wisconsin Dwayne Smith 26-yard run (Mike Allen kick) Wisconsin 56-14 4 4:56 Michigan St Drew Stanton 13-yard run (Dave Rayner kick) Wisconsin 56-21

Lee Evans tied the Big Ten record for touchdowns receptions in a single game while breaking the school records for single-game receiving yardage and career receiving touchdowns.

Iowa

Roster

2003 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 67 Dan Buenning Jr RB 2 Brian Calhoun So TE 11 Owen Daniels So RB 28 Anthony Davis Jr WR 3 Lee Evans Sr TE 38 Jason Pociask So WR 9 Jonathan Orr So C 53 Donovan Raiola So QB 19 Jim Sorgi Sr QB 7 John Stocco Fr T 72 Joe Thomas Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 77 Anttaj Hawthorne Jr DE 90 Erasmus James Jr DT 74 Jason Jefferson Jr S 18 Jim Leonhard Jr LB 12 Alex Lewis Sr CB 2 Scott Starks Jr DE 92 Jonathan Welsh Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Barry Alvarez Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Regular starters

Position Player Quarterback Jim Sorgi Running Back Anthony Davis Fullback Matt Bernstein Wide Receiver Lee Evans Wide Receiver Brandon Williams Tight End Tony Paciotti Left Tackle Morgan Davis Left Guard Dan Buenning Center Donovan Raiola Right Guard Jonathan Clinkscale Right Tackle Mike Lorenz

Position Player Defensive End Darius Jones Defensive Tackle Anttaj Hawthorne Defensive Tackle Jason Jefferson Defensive End Jonathan Welsh Outside Linebacker Jeff Mack Inside Linebacker Alex Lewis Outside Linebacker Kareem Timbers Cornerback Scott Starks Strong Safety Ryan Aiello Free Safety Jim Leonhard Cornerback Levonne Rowan

Players selected in the 2004 NFL Draft

See also: 2004 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall Selection	NFL Team
Lee Evans	Wide Receiver	1	13	Buffalo Bills
Alex Lewis	Linebacker	5	140	Detroit Lions
Jim Sorgi	Quarterback	6	193	Indianapolis Colts

[5]

References

1. "2003 Wisconsin Football". University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Athletics. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
2. "Individual Game-by-Game Summaries". University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Athletics. Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
3. "Davis Scores Winning Touchdown with 2:57 Left". ESPN. August 30, 2003. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
4. "Buckeyes' 19-Game Win Streak Snapped". ESPN. October 11, 2003. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
5. "2004 NFL Draft". Pro-Football Reference. Retrieved December 22, 2014.