2003 Notre Dame

5–⁠7, coached by Tyrone Willingham.

Schedule and results

Notre Dame in 2003, game by game: won vs. Washington State 29–26; lost at No. 5 Michigan 0–38; lost vs. Michigan State 16–22; lost at No. 22 Purdue 10–23; won at No. 15 Pittsburgh 20–14; lost vs. No. 5 USC 14–45; lost at Boston College 25–27; lost vs. No. 5 Florida State 0–37; won vs. Navy 27–24; won vs. BYU 33–14; won at Stanford 57–7; lost at Syracuse 12–38+50−38Won 29–26 vs. Washington State+3Washington StateLost 0–38 at No. 5 Michigan-38No. 5 MichiganLost 16–22 vs. Michigan State-6Michigan StateLost 10–23 at No. 22 Purdue-13No. 22 PurdueWon 20–14 at No. 15 Pittsburgh+6No. 15 PittsburghLost 14–45 vs. No. 5 USC-31No. 5 USCLost 25–27 at Boston College-2Boston CollegeLost 0–37 vs. No. 5 Florida State-37No. 5 Florida StateWon 27–24 vs. Navy+3NavyWon 33–14 vs. BYU+19BYUWon 57–7 at Stanford+50StanfordLost 12–38 at Syracuse-26Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 38–⁠12; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 113th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 3: 19
  3. Wk 4: 15

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
5–⁠7
Conference
—
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
243–⁠315
Coach
Tyrone Willingham
Elo
1533 −49 this season
SP+ rating
11.8 No. 35 of 117; offense No. 56, defense No. 24
SRS
2.2 No. 51 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 7
Offensive coordinator
Bill Diedrick
Defensive coordinator
Kent Baer
Captains
Darrell Campbell, Vontez Duff, Omar Jenkins and Jim Molinaro
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 30— allowed
Defense-0.2own 37— 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

Victor Abiamiri SDE★★★★★No. 29
Freddie Parish S★★★★No. 105
Tommy Zbikowski DUAL★★★★No. 114
Ryan Harris OT★★★★No. 122
Isaiah Gardner CB★★★★No. 125

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.933
Offensive line14.00.929
Defensive line15.00.986
Defensive backs24.00.930
Whole class54.20.942

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 2Julius Jones RBDallas Cowboys
Rd 2Courtney Watson LBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 4Glenn Earl DBHouston Texans
Rd 6Vontez Duff DBHouston Texans
Rd 6Jim Molinaro OTWashington Redskins