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2003 Georgia Tech

7–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Chan Gailey.

Schedule and results

Georgia Tech in 2003, game by game: lost at BYU 13–24; won vs. No. 17 Auburn 17–3; lost at No. 10 Florida State 13–14; lost vs. Clemson 3–39; won at Vanderbilt 24–17; won vs. NC State 29–21; won at Wake Forest 24–7; won vs. Maryland 7–3; lost at Duke 17–41; won vs. North Carolina 41–24; lost at Virginia 17–29; lost vs. No. 5 Georgia 17–34; won vs. Tulsa 52–10+42−36Lost 13–24 at BYU-11BYUWon 17–3 vs. No. 17 Auburn+14No. 17 AuburnLost 13–14 at No. 10 Florida State-1No. 10 Florida StateLost 3–39 vs. Clemson-36ClemsonWon 24–17 at Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltWon 29–21 vs. NC State+8NC StateWon 24–7 at Wake Forest+17Wake ForestWon 7–3 vs. Maryland+4MarylandLost 17–41 at Duke-24DukeWon 41–24 vs. North Carolina+17North CarolinaLost 17–29 at Virginia-12VirginiaLost 17–34 vs. No. 5 Georgia-17No. 5 GeorgiaWon 52–10 vs. Tulsa+42Tulsa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28atBYUL 13–⁠2451%
Sep 6vs17AuburnW 17–⁠350%
Sep 13at10Florida StateL 13–⁠1426%
Sep 20vsClemsonL 3–⁠3960%
Sep 27atVanderbiltW 24–⁠1762%
Oct 4vsNC StateW 29–⁠2142%
Oct 11atWake ForestW 24–⁠741%
Oct 23vsMarylandW 7–⁠347%
Nov 8atDukeL 17–⁠4180%
Nov 15vsNorth CarolinaW 41–⁠2474%
Nov 22atVirginiaL 17–⁠2940%
Nov 29vs5GeorgiaL 17–⁠3427%
Jan 3Bowls & playoffvsTulsaHumanitarian BowlW 52–⁠1055%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tulsa 52–⁠10 in the Humanitarian Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 74th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

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.

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 4th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
274–⁠266
Coach
Chan Gailey
Elo
1544 +3 this season
SP+ rating
10.1 No. 41 of 117; offense No. 77, defense No. 15
SRS
6.0 No. 38 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 38
Offensive coordinators
Patrick Nix and Buddy Geis
Defensive coordinator
Jon Tenuta

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 32— allowed
Defense0.0own 33— 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

Rashaun Grant RB★★★★No. 102
Mansfield Wrotto DT★★★No. 682
Joe Gaston S★★★No. 682
Philip Wheeler OLB★★★No. 682
Kyle Pupello OLB★★No. 1050

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.937
Receivers12.00.767
Offensive line22.00.767
Defensive line13.00.800
Linebackers22.50.783
Defensive backs32.30.778
Whole class102.50.794

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 2Daryl Smith LBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 3Tony Hargrove DESt. Louis Rams
Rd 3Keyaron Fox LBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 4Nat Dorsey OTMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Jonathan Smith WRBuffalo Bills

All-ACC

5 first team, 1 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 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.