2003 California Golden Bears football team

American college football season

2003 California Golden Bears football

Insight Bowl champion
Insight Bowl, W 52–49 vs. Virginia Tech
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	8–6 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach	Jeff Tedford (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	George Cortez (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Bob Gregory (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Lorenzo Alexander Adimchinobe Echemandu Donnie McCleskey Aaron Rodgers
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

2003 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 USC $	7	–	1	12	–	1
No. 9 Washington State	6	–	2	10	–	3
Oregon	5	–	3	8	–	5
California	5	–	3	8	–	6
Oregon State	4	–	4	8	–	5
Washington	4	–	4	6	–	6
UCLA	4	–	4	6	–	7
Arizona State	2	–	6	5	–	7
Stanford	2	–	6	4	–	7
Arizona	1	–	7	2	–	10

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2003 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach Jeff Tedford, the Golden Bears compiled an 8–6 record (5–3 in Pac-10, tied for third) and outscored their opponents 457 to 341.^[1]^[2]

The Bears were led on the field by sophomore quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a junior college transfer who became the starter on September 20 against Illinois.^[3] In his second start the following week, Rodgers led Cal to a 21–7 halftime lead over third-ranked USC before being replaced due to injury in the second half by Reggie Robertson.^[4] The Bears won in triple overtime, 34–31.^[5]^[6] In late December, Cal defeated Virginia Tech 52–49 in the Insight Bowl at Phoenix; Rodgers passed for 394 yards and was the game's offensive MVP. ^[7]

Rodgers tied Cal's season record with five 300-yard games and set a Cal record for the lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.43%.^[8] The Golden Bears' statistical leaders included Rodgers with 2,903 passing yards, Adimchinobe Echemandu with 1,195 rushing yards, and Geoff McArthur with 1,504 receiving yards.^[9]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 23	6:45 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Kansas State*	Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, MO (BCA Classic)	ESPN	L 28–42	50,823
August 30	1:00 p.m.	Southern Miss*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	HDNet	W 34–2	33,552
September 6	3:00 p.m.	Colorado State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FSN	L 21–23	34,096
September 11	4:45 p.m.	at Utah*	Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	ESPN	L 24–31	46,768
September 20	9:00 a.m.	at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN+	W 31–24	58,363
September 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 3 USC	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FSN	W 34–31 ^3OT	51,208
October 4	2:00 p.m.	Oregon State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		L 21–35	39,150
October 18	12:30 p.m.	at UCLA	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 20–23 ^OT	53,825
October 25	12:30 p.m.	Arizona	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 42–14	33,249
November 1	12:30 p.m.	at Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		W 51–23	48,452
November 8	7:00 p.m.	at Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	TBS	L 17–21	57,511
November 15	12:30 p.m.	Washington	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 54–7	38,576
November 22	12:30 p.m.	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (The Big Game)	ABC	W 28–16	67,950
December 26	5:00 p.m.	vs. Virginia Tech*	Bank One Ballpark Phoenix, AZ (Insight Bowl)	ESPN	W 52–49	42,364
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[10]

Game summaries

Vs. Kansas State

California vs. #7 Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	7	7	0	14	28
• Wildcats	10	17	8	7	42

Date: August 23
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game start: 6:45 p.m. CDT
Game attendance: 50,823
Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary

1	12:45	KSU	Darren Sproles 5-yard run (Joe Rheem kick)	KSU 7–0

1	10:39	Cal	Vincent Strang 34-yard pass from Reggie Robertson (Tyler Fredrickson kick)	Tied 7–7

1	6:29	KSU	Joe Rheem 22-yard field goal	KSU 10–7

2	7:37	KSU	Travis Wilson 5-yard pass from Ell Roberson (Rheem kick)	KSU 17–7

2	4:25	KSU	Joe Rheem 37-yard field goal	KSU 20–7

2	3:54	KSU	James Terry 52-yard pass from Ell Roberson (Rheem kick)	KSU 27–7

2	1:58	Cal	Geoff McArthur 65-yard pass from Reggie Robertson (Fredrickson kick)	KSU 27–14

3	8:46	KSU	Ell Roberson 11-yard run (Roberson run)	KSU 35–14

4	12:34	Cal	J. J. Arrington 22-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Fredrickson kick)	KSU 35–21

4	10:14	KSU	Davin Dennis 28-yard pass from Ell Roberson (Rheem kick)	KSU 42–21

4	4:27	Cal	J. J. Arrington 7-yard pass from Reggie Robertson (Fredrickson kick)	KSU 42–28

USC

#3 USC at California

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
USC	7	0	14	3	0	7	0	31
• California	7	14	0	3	0	7	3	34

Date: September 27
Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
Game start: 6:30 p.m. EST

Source: ESPN

Scoring summary

1	11:02	CAL	Aaron Rodgers 3 yard run (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 7-0

1	2:47	USC	Dominique Byrd 27 yard pass from Matt Leinart (Ryan Killeen kick)	Tied 7-7

2	14:12	CAL	Garrett Cross 2 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 14-7

2	8:09	CAL	Burl Toler 27 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 21-7

3	7:26	USC	LenDale White 6 yard run (Ryan Killeen kick)	CAL 21-14

3	7:16	USC	Lofa Tatupu 26 yard interception return (Ryan Killeen kick)	Tied 21-21

4	9:04	CAL	Tyler Frederickson 51 yard field goal	CAL 24-21

4	0:16	USC	Ryan Killeen 33 yard field goal	Tied 24-24

2OT		CAL	Jonathan Makonnen 20 yard pass from Reggie Robertson (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 31-24

2OT		USC	Keary Colbert 10 yard pass from Matt Leinart (Ryan Killeen kick)	Tied 31-31

3OT		CAL	Tyler Frederickson 38 yard field goal	CAL 34-31

"They always take us lightly", said receiver Jonathan Makonnen, who had seven catches for 104 yards. "They really don't respect us. They're a talented team, but they were kind of lackadaisical out there."
"I'm not knocking Leinart or their running backs, but I didn't see a whole lot of firepower from them", said Echemandu, the first player to rush for 100 yards against USC in 16 games. "Mike Williams is basically their whole offense."
The loss was USC's last until the 2006 National Championship Game, in which Texas snapped USC's 34-game win streak.
Aaron Rodgers was the starter as Cal's quarterback, but due to injury he was replaced in the second half by Reggie Robertson.^[4]^[5]

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	0	7	0	0	7
• California	13	20	7	14	54

Date: November 15
Location: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST

Scoring summary

1	14:42	CAL	Geoff McArthur 79 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	California 7–0

1	9:39	CAL	Tyler Frederickson 20 yard field goal	California 10–0

1	2:36	CAL	Tyler Frederickson 20 yard field goal	California 13–0

2	14:45	CAL	Brandon Hall 13 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (run failed)	California 19–0

2	12:06	WASH	Zach Tuiasosopo 3 yard run (Evan Knudson kick)	California 19–7

2	11:26	CAL	Vincent Strang 12 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	California 26–7

2	9:04	CAL	J.J. Arrington 15 yard run (Tyler Frederickson kick)	California 33–7

3	10:30	CAL	Aaron Rodgers 1 yard run (Tyler Frederickson kick)	California 40–7

4	11:59	CAL	Marcus O'Keith 48 yard run (Tyler Frederickson kick)	California 47–7

4	2:44	CAL	Michael Porter 51 yard run (Tyler Frederickson kick)	California 54–7

^[11]

Stanford

California at Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
• California	0	0	7	21	28
Stanford	10	0	0	6	16

Date: November 22
Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST

Source: ESPN

Scoring summary

1	12:30	STAN	Michael Sgroi 22 yard field goal	STAN 3-0

1	10:03	STAN	Luke Powell 24 yard pass from Chris Lewis (Michael Sgroi kick)	STAN 10-0

3	11:03	CAL	Geoff McArthur 44 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	STAN 10-7

4	14:55	CAL	Vincent Strang 14 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 14-10

4	10:07	CAL	Geoff McArthur 21 yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 21-10

4	1:39	CAL	Adimchinobe Echemandu 17 yard run (Tyler Frederickson kick)	CAL 28-10

4	0:00	STAN	Mark Bradford 20 yard pass from Chris Lewis (pass failed)	CAL 28-16

CAL: Aaron Rodgers 26/37, 359 yds
CAL: Geoff McArthur 16 rec, 245 yds (single game record – Dameane Douglas, 1998)
CAL: bowl eligible for first time since 1996

Roster

2003 California Golden Bears football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`8`	Aaron Rodgers	So
RB	`18`	Adimchinobe Echemandu	Sr
RB	`30`	J. J. Arrington	Jr
OL	`63`	Mark Wilson	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
S	`20`	Matt Giordano	Jr
DB	`21`	Donnie McCleskey	So
CB	`22`	Tim Mixon	Fr
DE	`90`	Ryan Riddle	Jr
DE	`91`	Monte Parson	Sr
DT	`99`	L. P. Ladouceur	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Jeff Tedford

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2003-12-13

References

^ "2003 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 166. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "Player Bio:Aaron Rodgers". University of California. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Cal-USC Postgame Quotes". Cal Athletics. September 27, 2003. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Beacham, Greg (September 28, 2003). "Cal bears down in OT, snaps USC streak". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. D1.
^ "Cal fans storm field after win". ESPN. September 27, 2003. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
^ Baum, Bob (December 27, 2003). "Cal kicker wins another big one". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. p. D1.
^ "Cal Records". University of California. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
^ "2003 California Golden Bears Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ 2011 California football information guide
^ "California 54, Washington 7". ESPN. November 15, 2003. Retrieved December 28, 2014.

v t e California Golden Bears football
Venues	California Field (1904–1923) California Memorial Stadium (1923–2010, 2012–present) Oracle Park (2011)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA
Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" "Big C" History Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold