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2003 Tennessee

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Phillip Fulmer, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 2003, game by game: won vs. Fresno State 24–6; won vs. Marshall 34–24; won at No. 17 Florida 24–10; won vs. South Carolina 23–20; lost at Auburn 21–28; lost vs. No. 8 Georgia 14–41; won at Alabama 51–43; won vs. Duke 23–6; won at No. 6 Miami 10–6; won vs. Mississippi State 59–21; won vs. Vanderbilt 48–0; won at Kentucky 20–7; lost vs. Clemson 14–27+48−27Won 24–6 vs. Fresno State+18Fresno StateWon 34–24 vs. Marshall+10MarshallWon 24–10 at No. 17 Florida+14No. 17 FloridaWon 23–20 vs. South Carolina+3South CarolinaLost 21–28 at Auburn-7AuburnLost 14–41 vs. No. 8 Georgia-27No. 8 GeorgiaWon 51–43 at Alabama+8AlabamaWon 23–6 vs. Duke+17DukeWon 10–6 at No. 6 Miami+4No. 6 MiamiWon 59–21 vs. Mississippi State+38Mississippi Sta…Won 48–0 vs. Vanderbilt+48VanderbiltWon 20–7 at Kentucky+13KentuckyLost 14–27 vs. Clemson-13Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsFresno StateW 24–⁠660%
Sep 6vsMarshallW 34–⁠2457%
Sep 20at17FloridaW 24–⁠1043%
Sep 27vsSouth CarolinaW 23–⁠2073%
Oct 4atAuburnL 21–⁠2854%
Oct 11vs8GeorgiaL 14–⁠4148%
Oct 25atAlabamaW 51–⁠4346%
Nov 1vsDukeW 23–⁠690%
Nov 8at6MiamiW 10–⁠627%
Nov 15vsMississippi StateW 59–⁠2189%
Nov 22vsVanderbiltW 48–⁠091%
Nov 29atKentuckyW 20–⁠773%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsClemsonPeach BowlL 14–⁠2760%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 27–⁠14 in the Peach Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 3: 12
  3. Wk 4: 13
  4. Wk 5: 12
  5. Wk 6: 8
  6. Wk 7: 7
  7. Wk 8: 13
  8. Wk 9: 21
  9. Wk 10: 22
  10. Wk 11: 19
  11. Wk 12: 18
  12. Wk 13: 9
  13. Wk 14: 9
  14. Wk 15: 7
  15. Wk 16: 7
  16. Final: 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.

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

Consensus All-AmericanDustin Colquitt, P

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 7
Points
365–⁠239
Coach
Phillip Fulmer
Elo
1658 +75 this season
SP+ rating
16.2 No. 22 of 117; offense No. 44, defense No. 17
SRS
10.7 No. 22 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 10
Offensive coordinator
Randy Sanders
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 28— allowed
Defense-0.1own 28— 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

Robert Meachem WR★★★★★No. 25
Daniel Brooks ILB★★★★No. 35
Jayson Swain WR★★★★No. 49
Bo Hardegree PRO★★No. 1047
Bill Grimes WR★★No. 1050

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.789
Running backs12.00.767
Receivers33.70.911
Linebackers14.00.983
Whole class63.20.878

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 5Gibril Wilson DBNew York Giants
Rd 6Troy Fleming RBTennessee Titans
Rd 7Mark Jones WRTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Scott Wells CGreen Bay Packers

All-SEC

2 first team, 6 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.