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2003 Florida State

10–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bobby Bowden, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida State in 2003, game by game: won at North Carolina 37–0; won vs. Maryland 35–10; won vs. Georgia Tech 14–13; won vs. Colorado 47–7; won at Duke 56–7; lost vs. No. 2 Miami 14–22; won at Virginia 19–14; won vs. Wake Forest 48–24; won at Notre Dame 37–0; lost at Clemson 10–26; won vs. NC State 50–44; won at No. 11 Florida 38–34; lost vs. No. 10 Miami 14–16+49−16Won 37–0 at North Carolina+37North CarolinaWon 35–10 vs. Maryland+25MarylandWon 14–13 vs. Georgia Tech+1Georgia TechWon 47–7 vs. Colorado+40ColoradoWon 56–7 at Duke+49DukeLost 14–22 vs. No. 2 Miami-8No. 2 MiamiWon 19–14 at Virginia+5VirginiaWon 48–24 vs. Wake Forest+24Wake ForestWon 37–0 at Notre Dame+37Notre DameLost 10–26 at Clemson-16ClemsonWon 50–44 vs. NC State+6NC StateWon 38–34 at No. 11 Florida+4No. 11 FloridaLost 14–16 vs. No. 10 Miami-2No. 10 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atNorth CarolinaW 37–⁠067%
Sep 6vsMarylandW 35–⁠1063%
Sep 13vsGeorgia TechW 14–⁠1374%
Sep 20vsColoradoW 47–⁠768%
Sep 27atDukeW 56–⁠784%
Oct 11vs2MiamiL 14–⁠2247%
Oct 18atVirginiaW 19–⁠1455%
Oct 25vsWake ForestW 48–⁠2478%
Nov 1atNotre DameW 37–⁠068%
Nov 8atClemsonL 10–⁠2670%
Nov 15vsNC StateW 50–⁠4464%
Nov 29at11FloridaW 38–⁠3447%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10MiamiOrange BowlL 14–⁠1643%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 16–⁠14 in the Orange Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 78 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 13
  2. Wk 3: 11
  3. Wk 4: 10
  4. Wk 5: 10
  5. Wk 6: 6
  6. Wk 7: 5
  7. Wk 8: 5
  8. Wk 9: 7
  9. Wk 10: 6
  10. Wk 11: 5
  11. Wk 12: 3
  12. Wk 13: 13
  13. Wk 14: 11
  14. Wk 15: 9
  15. Wk 16: 9
  16. Final: 11

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.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanAlex Barron, OT

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 3
Points
419–⁠217
Coach
Bobby Bowden
Elo
1712 +91 this season
SP+ rating
26.0 No. 5 of 117; offense No. 17, defense No. 8
SRS
17.9 No. 4 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 15
Offensive coordinator
Jeff Bowden
Defensive coordinator
Mickey Andrews
Captains
Michael Boulware, Greg Jones and Brian Sawyer
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 32— allowed
Defense-0.1own 31— 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

Ernie Sims ILB★★★★★No. 1
Antonio Cromartie CB★★★★★No. 26
Joslin Shaw ATH★★★No. 682

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Linebackers15.01.000
Defensive backs15.00.988
Athletes and specialists13.00.800
Whole class34.30.929

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 2Michael Boulware DBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 2Greg Jones RBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 3Darnell Dockett DTArizona Cardinals
Rd 4Kendyll Pope LBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 5P.K. Sam WRNew England Patriots

All-ACC

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • David CastilloCAP-2
  • Eric MooreDLAP-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 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State7–⁠110–⁠311
Maryland6–⁠210–⁠317
Clemson5–⁠39–⁠422
NC State4–⁠48–⁠5
Virginia4–⁠48–⁠5
Georgia Tech4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠7
Duke2–⁠64–⁠8
North Carolina1–⁠72–⁠10

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