CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2003 Florida

8–⁠5 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Ron Zook, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Florida in 2003, game by game: won vs. San José State 65–3; lost at No. 3 Miami 33–38; won vs. Florida A&M 63–3; lost vs. No. 12 Tennessee 10–24; won at Kentucky 24–21; lost vs. Ole Miss 17–20; won at No. 6 LSU 19–7; won at No. 11 Arkansas 33–28; won vs. No. 4 Georgia 16–13; won vs. Vanderbilt 35–17; won at South Carolina 24–22; lost vs. No. 9 Florida State 34–38; lost vs. No. 12 Iowa 17–37+62−20Won 65–3 vs. San José State+62San José StateLost 33–38 at No. 3 Miami-5No. 3 MiamiWon 63–3 vs. Florida A&M+60Florida A&MLost 10–24 vs. No. 12 Tennessee-14No. 12 TennesseeWon 24–21 at Kentucky+3KentuckyLost 17–20 vs. Ole Miss-3Ole MissWon 19–7 at No. 6 LSU+12No. 6 LSUWon 33–28 at No. 11 Arkansas+5No. 11 ArkansasWon 16–13 vs. No. 4 Georgia+3No. 4 GeorgiaWon 35–17 vs. Vanderbilt+18VanderbiltWon 24–22 at South Carolina+2South CarolinaLost 34–38 vs. No. 9 Florida State-4No. 9 Florida StateLost 17–37 vs. No. 12 Iowa-20No. 12 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSan José StateW 65–⁠376%
Sep 6at3MiamiL 33–⁠3827%
Sep 13vsFlorida A&MW 63–⁠392%
Sep 20vs12TennesseeL 10–⁠2457%
Sep 27atKentuckyW 24–⁠2153%
Oct 4vsOle MissL 17–⁠2071%
Oct 11at6LSUW 19–⁠731%
Oct 18at11ArkansasW 33–⁠2844%
Nov 1vs4GeorgiaW 16–⁠1334%
Nov 8vsVanderbiltW 35–⁠1792%
Nov 15atSouth CarolinaW 24–⁠2265%
Nov 29vs9Florida StateL 34–⁠3853%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12IowaOutback BowlL 17–⁠3745%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 37–⁠17 in the Outback Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 116 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 21
  2. Wk 4: 19
  3. Wk 5: 17
  4. Wk 6: 25
  5. Wk 7: 24
  6. Wk 10: 25
  7. Wk 11: 23
  8. Wk 12: 17
  9. Wk 13: 15
  10. Wk 14: 13
  11. Wk 15: 11
  12. Wk 16: 16
  13. Final: 24

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.

SEC East champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Georgia and Tennessee

Consensus All-AmericanKeiwan Ratliff, CB

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 11
Points
390–⁠271
Coach
Ron Zook
Elo
1625 +21 this season
SP+ rating
21.6 No. 11 of 117; offense No. 19, defense No. 12
SRS
10.4 No. 25 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 1
Offensive coordinator
Ed Zaunbrecher
Defensive coordinator
Charlie Strong
Captains
Daryl Dixon, Keiwan Ratliff, Max Starks and Ben Troupe
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 33— allowed
Defense0.0own 29— 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

Andre Caldwell WR★★★★★No. 7
Chris Leak PRO★★★★★No. 12
Jarvis Moss WDE★★★★★No. 18
Joe Cohen SDE★★★★★No. 20
Dee Webb CB★★★★★No. 21
Chad Jackson WR★★★★★No. 23
Reggie Nelson S★★★★No. 42

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.994
Receivers25.00.993
Defensive line44.00.896
Defensive backs24.50.986
Whole class94.40.948

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 2Ben Troupe TETennessee Titans
Rd 2Keiwan Ratliff DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 3Max Starks OTPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 3Guss Scott DBNew England Patriots
Rd 7Bobby McCray DEJacksonville Jaguars

All-SEC

4 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

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.