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2003 Penn State

3–⁠9 (1–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2003, game by game: won vs. Temple 23–10; lost vs. Boston College 14–27; lost at No. 18 Nebraska 10–18; won vs. Kent State 32–10; lost vs. No. 24 Minnesota 14–20; lost vs. Wisconsin 23–30; lost at No. 18 Purdue 14–28; lost at No. 16 Iowa 14–26; lost vs. No. 8 Ohio State 20–21; lost at Northwestern 7–17; won vs. Indiana 52–7; lost at Michigan State 10–41+45−31Won 23–10 vs. Temple+13TempleLost 14–27 vs. Boston College-13Boston CollegeLost 10–18 at No. 18 Nebraska-8No. 18 NebraskaWon 32–10 vs. Kent State+22Kent StateLost 14–20 vs. No. 24 Minnesota-6No. 24 MinnesotaLost 23–30 vs. Wisconsin-7WisconsinLost 14–28 at No. 18 Purdue-14No. 18 PurdueLost 14–26 at No. 16 Iowa-12No. 16 IowaLost 20–21 vs. No. 8 Ohio State-1No. 8 Ohio StateLost 7–17 at Northwestern-10NorthwesternWon 52–7 vs. Indiana+45IndianaLost 10–41 at Michigan State-31Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsTempleW 23–⁠1080%
Sep 6vsBoston CollegeL 14–⁠2761%
Sep 13at18NebraskaL 10–⁠1842%
Sep 20vsKent StateW 32–⁠1080%
Sep 27vs24MinnesotaL 14–⁠2054%
Oct 4vsWisconsinL 23–⁠3053%
Oct 11at18PurdueL 14–⁠2829%
Oct 25at16IowaL 14–⁠2623%
Nov 1vs8Ohio StateL 20–⁠2126%
Nov 8atNorthwesternL 7–⁠1749%
Nov 15vsIndianaW 52–⁠775%
Nov 22atMichigan StateL 10–⁠4133%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 41–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 123rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 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
3–⁠9
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
233–⁠255
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1461 −131 this season
SP+ rating
2.8 No. 52 of 117; offense No. 96, defense No. 25
SRS
0.6 No. 56 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 48
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 30— 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

Brent Wise WR★★No. 1050

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers12.00.767

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 3Rich Gardner DBTennessee Titans
Rd 6Matt Kranchick TEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7David Kimball KIndianapolis Colts
Rd 7Sean McHugh RBTennessee Titans

All-Big Ten

1 second 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 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠36
Ohio State6–⁠211–⁠24
Purdue6–⁠29–⁠418
Iowa5–⁠310–⁠38
Minnesota5–⁠310–⁠320
Michigan State5–⁠38–⁠5
Wisconsin4–⁠47–⁠6
Northwestern4–⁠46–⁠7
Penn State1–⁠73–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠72–⁠10
Illinois0–⁠81–⁠11

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