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2003 Wake Forest

5–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jim Grobe.

Schedule and results

Wake Forest in 2003, game by game: won at Boston College 32–28; won vs. No. 14 NC State 38–24; lost vs. Purdue 10–16; won vs. East Carolina 34–16; lost at Virginia 24–27; lost vs. Georgia Tech 7–24; won at Duke 42–13; lost at No. 6 Florida State 24–48; won vs. Clemson 45–17; lost at North Carolina 34–42; lost vs. UConn 17–51; lost vs. Maryland 28–41+29−34Won 32–28 at Boston College+4Boston CollegeWon 38–24 vs. No. 14 NC State+14No. 14 NC StateLost 10–16 vs. Purdue-6PurdueWon 34–16 vs. East Carolina+18East CarolinaLost 24–27 at Virginia-3VirginiaLost 7–24 vs. Georgia Tech-17Georgia TechWon 42–13 at Duke+29DukeLost 24–48 at No. 6 Florida State-24No. 6 Florida StateWon 45–17 vs. Clemson+28ClemsonLost 34–42 at North Carolina-8North CarolinaLost 17–51 vs. UConn-34UConnLost 28–41 vs. Maryland-13Maryland
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atBoston CollegeW 32–⁠2831%
Sep 6vs14NC StateW 38–⁠2446%
Sep 13vsPurdueL 10–⁠1662%
Sep 20vsEast CarolinaW 34–⁠1677%
Sep 27atVirginiaL 24–⁠2739%
Oct 11vsGeorgia TechL 7–⁠2459%
Oct 18atDukeW 42–⁠1367%
Oct 25at6Florida StateL 24–⁠4822%
Nov 1vsClemsonW 45–⁠1751%
Nov 8atNorth CarolinaL 34–⁠4267%
Nov 15vsUConnL 17–⁠5157%
Nov 29vsMarylandL 28–⁠4132%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Maryland 41–⁠28; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 119 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 20

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
3–⁠5 7th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
335–⁠347
Coach
Jim Grobe
Elo
1464 −53 this season
SP+ rating
7.5 No. 48 of 117; offense No. 27, defense No. 63
SRS
4.0 No. 45 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 60
Offensive coordinator
Steed Lobotzke
Defensive coordinator
Dean Hood
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.3own 33— allowed
Defense0.0own 30— 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

Travo Woods WR★★★No. 682
Zac Selmon TE★★No. 1050
John Tereshinski TE★★No. 1050
Delon Lowe WR★★No. 1050
Aaron McKenzie DT★★No. 1050

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

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers42.30.775
Offensive line12.00.767
Defensive line42.00.767
Defensive backs12.00.767
Whole class102.10.770

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.

All-ACC

3 first team, 2 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.