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
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	8–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	John L. Smith (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Baldwin (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Chris Smeland (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	3:40 p.m.	Western Michigan*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	W 26–21	72,923
September 6	3:40 p.m.	Rutgers*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	W 44–28	72,579
September 13	12:10 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	L 19–20	72,387
September 20	2:30 p.m.	at Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 22–16	80,795
September 27	12:10 p.m.	No. 13 Iowa		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	W 20–10	72,276
October 4	12:10 p.m.	Indiana	No. 25	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	W 31–3	72,398
October 11	12:00 p.m.	at Illinois	No. 21	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN2	W 49–14	47,509
October 18	12:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Minnesota	No. 15	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	W 44–38	38,778
November 1	12:00 p.m.	No. 11 Michigan	No. 9	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 20–27	75,129
November 8	12:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Ohio State	No. 14	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	L 23–33	105,194
November 15	12:00 p.m.	at Wisconsin	No. 21	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 21–56	79,256
November 22	12:00 p.m.	Penn State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ESPN	W 41–10	72,119
December 29	9:05 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Nebraska*		Alamodome San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	L 3–17	56,226
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 2003 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	RV	—	RV	25	21	15	11	9	14	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—	RV	—	RV	RV	23	18	12	10	15	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
BCS	Not released								13	10	20	24	—	—	—	—	Not released

Roster

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 John L. Smith Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Coaching staff

• John L. Smith – Head Coach
• Jim McElwain – Assistant head coach/wide receivers coach/Special Teams coordinator
• Dave Baldwin – Offensive coordinator/Tight end coach
• Doug Nussmeier – Quarterbacks coach
• Reggie Mitchell – Running backs coach/recruiting coordinator
• Jeff Stoutland – Offensive line coach
• Chris Smeland – Defensive coordinator/safeties coach
• Steve Stripling – Defensive line coach
• Mike Cox – Linebackers coach
• Paul Haynes – Defensive backs coach
• Robert Saleh – Graduate Assistant

2004 NFL Draft

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