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2003 South Carolina

5–⁠7 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Lou Holtz.

Schedule and results

South Carolina in 2003, game by game: won vs. Louisiana 14–7; won vs. No. 15 Virginia 31–7; lost at No. 8 Georgia 7–31; won vs. UAB 42–10; lost at No. 8 Tennessee 20–23; won vs. Kentucky 27–21; lost vs. No. 10 LSU 7–33; won vs. Vanderbilt 35–24; lost at No. 20 Ole Miss 40–43; lost at Arkansas 6–28; lost vs. No. 15 Florida 22–24; lost vs. Clemson 17–63+32−46Won 14–7 vs. Louisiana+7LouisianaWon 31–7 vs. No. 15 Virginia+24No. 15 VirginiaLost 7–31 at No. 8 Georgia-24No. 8 GeorgiaWon 42–10 vs. UAB+32UABLost 20–23 at No. 8 Tennessee-3No. 8 TennesseeWon 27–21 vs. Kentucky+6KentuckyLost 7–33 vs. No. 10 LSU-26No. 10 LSUWon 35–24 vs. Vanderbilt+11VanderbiltLost 40–43 at No. 20 Ole Miss-3No. 20 Ole MissLost 6–28 at Arkansas-22ArkansasLost 22–24 vs. No. 15 Florida-2No. 15 FloridaLost 17–63 vs. Clemson-46Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsLouisianaW 14–⁠776%
Sep 6vs15VirginiaW 31–⁠746%
Sep 13at8GeorgiaL 7–⁠3121%
Sep 20vsUABW 42–⁠1072%
Sep 27at8TennesseeL 20–⁠2327%
Oct 9vsKentuckyW 27–⁠2163%
Oct 18vs10LSUL 7–⁠3346%
Oct 25vsVanderbiltW 35–⁠2483%
Nov 1at20Ole MissL 40–⁠4334%
Nov 6atArkansasL 6–⁠2833%
Nov 15vs15FloridaL 22–⁠2435%
Nov 22vsClemsonL 17–⁠6344%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 63–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 86th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 25

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
2–⁠6 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 25
Points
268–⁠314
Coach
Lou Holtz
Elo
1457 −35 this season
SP+ rating
9.2 No. 43 of 117; offense No. 56, defense No. 29
SRS
2.9 No. 49 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 12
Offensive coordinator
Skip Holtz
Defensive coordinator
Chris Cosh
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 28— allowed
Defense-0.1own 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

Demetris Summers RB★★★★★No. 9
Syvelle Newton DUAL★★★★No. 119
Ty Erving CB★★★No. 682
Cory Boyd S★★★No. 682
Josh Johnson SDE★★No. 1050

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.932
Running backs15.00.995
Receivers12.00.767
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line22.00.767
Defensive backs23.00.800
Whole class82.90.824

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 1Dunta Robinson DBHouston Texans
Rd 3Travelle Wharton OTCarolina Panthers
Rd 6Deandre’ Eiland DBMinnesota Vikings

All-SEC

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 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.