2003 Arkansas

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Houston Nutt.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2003, game by game: won vs. Tulsa 45–13; won at No. 6 Texas 38–28; won vs. North Texas 31–7; won at Alabama 34–31; lost vs. Auburn 3–10; lost vs. Florida 28–33; lost at Ole Miss 7–19; won at Kentucky 71–63; won vs. South Carolina 28–6; won vs. New Mexico State 48–20; won vs. Mississippi State 52–6; lost at No. 3 LSU 24–55; won vs. Missouri 27–14+46−31Won 45–13 vs. Tulsa+32TulsaWon 38–28 at No. 6 Texas+10No. 6 TexasWon 31–7 vs. North Texas+24North TexasWon 34–31 at Alabama+3AlabamaLost 3–10 vs. Auburn-7AuburnLost 28–33 vs. Florida-5FloridaLost 7–19 at Ole Miss-12Ole MissWon 71–63 at Kentucky+8KentuckyWon 28–6 vs. South Carolina+22South CarolinaWon 48–20 vs. New Mexico State+28New Mexico StateWon 52–6 vs. Mississippi State+46Mississippi Sta…Lost 24–55 at No. 3 LSU-31No. 3 LSUWon 27–14 vs. Missouri+13Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsTulsaW 45–⁠1385%
Sep 13at6TexasW 38–⁠2827%
Sep 20vsNorth TexasW 31–⁠772%
Sep 27atAlabamaW 34–⁠3140%
Oct 11vsAuburnL 3–⁠1062%
Oct 18vsFloridaL 28–⁠3356%
Oct 25atOle MissL 7–⁠1945%
Nov 1atKentuckyW 71–⁠6349%
Nov 6vsSouth CarolinaW 28–⁠667%
Nov 15vsNew Mexico StateW 48–⁠2084%
Nov 22vsMississippi StateW 52–⁠687%
Nov 28at3LSUL 24–⁠5528%
Dec 31vsMissouriIndependence BowlW 27–⁠1454%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Missouri 27–⁠14 in the Independence Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 27th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 14
  2. Wk 6: 9
  3. Wk 7: 8
  4. Wk 8: 7
  5. Wk 9: 11
  6. Wk 10: 21

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2003.

Led the nationMatt Jones: yards per carry (7.4)

Consensus All-AmericanShawn Andrews, OT

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
436–⁠305
Coach
Houston Nutt
Elo
1631 +77 this season
SP+ rating
21.0 No. 13 of 117; offense No. 7, defense No. 28
SRS
12.5 No. 15 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 42
Offensive coordinator
Roy Wittke
Defensive coordinator
Dave Wommack
Captains
Jimmy Beasley, Tony Bua, Bo Lacy, Caleb Miller, Justin Scott and George Wilson
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 31— allowed
Defense-0.1own 30— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2003 class

Mason Templeton TE★★★No. 682
Landon Leach PRO★★★No. 682
Jacob Skinner K★★No. 1050
Brannon Kidd WR★★No. 1050
Ivora Hall DT★★No. 1050

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.800
Receivers22.50.783
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line22.00.767
Defensive backs12.00.767
Athletes and specialists12.00.767
Whole class82.30.775

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2004

The 2004 draft
Rd 1Shawn Andrews OTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 1Ahmad Carroll DBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 3Caleb Miller LBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Cedric Cobbs RBNew England Patriots
Rd 5Tony Bua LBMiami Dolphins
Rd 6Bo Lacy OTPittsburgh Steelers

All-SEC

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • George WilsonWRAP-2
  • Jason PetersTECoaches-2
  • Caleb MillerLBAP-2; Coaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 2003 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2003 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU7–⁠113–⁠12
Ole Miss7–⁠110–⁠313
Georgia6–⁠211–⁠37
Tennessee6–⁠210–⁠315
Florida6–⁠28–⁠524
Auburn5–⁠38–⁠5
Arkansas4–⁠49–⁠4
South Carolina2–⁠65–⁠7
Alabama2–⁠64–⁠9
Kentucky1–⁠74–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠72–⁠10
Vanderbilt1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.