2003 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Team

The 2003 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA", "Bama", or "The Tide") represented the University of Alabama in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 69th as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and its 12th within the SEC Western Division. The team was led by head coach Mike Shula, in his first year, and played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham and Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of four wins and nine losses (4–9, 2–6 in the SEC).

At the conclusion of the 2002 season, Dennis Franchione resigned as head coach and took the same position with Texas A&M. After a two-week-long coaching search, Washington State head coach Mike Price was hired as Franchione's replacement. Price then signed the 2003 recruiting class and led the Crimson Tide through spring practice. However, he was fired in May 2003 due to detrimental conduct as an employee of the University. Less than a week later, Mike Shula was hired as head coach of the Crimson Tide.

Alabama opened the season with what turned out to be their final game ever played at Legion Field with a victory over South Florida. After a loss to No. 1 Oklahoma in the second week, the Crimson Tide entered the rankings at No. 21 after their victory over Kentucky. However, they dropped out the next week after being upset by Northern Illinois. They then lost to Arkansas and Georgia before they defeated Southern Miss on homecoming. Alabama then lost consecutive games to Ole Miss and then in five overtimes to Tennessee before they won at Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide then closed the season with losses to LSU, Auburn and Hawaii and finished with an overall record of 4–9.

Before the season

NCAA sanctions

The 2003 season was impacted by sanctions imposed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for violations that dated back as far as the late 1990s. On February 1, 2002, the NCAA imposed a two-year bowl ban, a reduction in athletic scholarships of 21 over a three-year period and five years of probation. The NCAA sanctioned the University after they found 11 major violations and five minor ones as part of their investigation that included boosters who provided players and coaches with improper benefits in violation of NCAA rules. On September 17, 2002, the NCAA rejected Alabama's appeal to reduce the severity of the sanctions. At that time, the NCAA stated they felt that the sanctions were appropriate and that it was only because of the cooperation of the University that the death penalty for the football program was not considered. As the appeal was denied, for the 2003 season Alabama saw a smaller recruiting class and was ineligible for both the 2003 SEC Championship Game and bowl games. The latter penalty would end up being meaningless due to the Tide going 4-9.

Franchione resignation

Late in the 2002 season, rumors were abound that head coach Dennis Franchione was going to resign from Alabama to take the head coaching position with Texas A&M. On December 2, 2002, A&M head coach R. C. Slocum was fired after he served 14 seasons in the position. Three days later, Franchione left Tuscaloosa and formally accepted the Aggies coaching vacancy on December 6.

Mike Price era

Immediately after the resignation of Franchione, athletic director Mal Moore started the search for his replacement. In the week of December 9, South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt was interviewed and then New Orleans Saints assistant coach Mike Riley was actually offered the Alabama coaching position, which he later declined. After Riley turned down the position, Moore considered several other candidates. Included in the search were head coaches Les Miles of Oklahoma State, Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia and Mike Price of Washington State. On December 17, Price was officially named as the new head coach for the Crimson Tide. Price did not fully assume his duties as head coach until January 4, after he coached Washington State in the 2003 Rose Bowl.

Coaching staff

In addition to completing the 2003 recruiting class, Price worked to assemble his staff in the weeks after he arrived in Tuscaloosa. Four of his assistants from Washington State came with Price to coach at Alabama: Chris Ball, Bob Connelly, Kasey Dunn and Aaron Price. The remainder of the staff was filled in the weeks that followed National Signing Day.

Recruiting class

As part of the NCAA imposed penalties related to the Albert Means recruiting scandal that dated back to 1999, Alabama had the total number of football scholarships it could award reduced by seven to 18 instead of the standard 25. As such, the 2003 class only had eighteen members, with most being from within the state of Alabama. With the departure of Franchione, the Alabama recruiting coordinator Randy Ross helped keep the class together during the transition period prior to the arrival of Price.

Spring practice

The 2003 spring practices started on March 3, and concluded with the annual A-Day game on March 29. During the month of practice, offensively the team began the transition from Franchione's option offense to Price's passing attack. For the A-Day game, the Crimson team of offensive starters defeated the White team of defensive starters by a final score of 47–0 before 34,000 fans in Bryant–Denny Stadium. For their performances, Antwan Odom earned the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of the A-Day Game Award and Brodie Croyle earned the Dixie Howell Memorial Most Valuable Player of the A-Day Game Award.

Dismissal

On May 3, 2003, university president Robert Witt announced the firing of Price immediately as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. Although both the University and Price were in agreement in principle to his seven-year, $10 million contract, Price never signed it and thus was not awarded any severance pay with his dismissal. Later, a story in ''Sports Illustrated'' stated Price had been seen at a strip club "making it rain" and yelling "Roll Tide, Roll!". He allegedly later checked into a local hotel with at least one exotic dancer from the club, and the magazine further alleged Price had sex with one of the strippers, a claim which Price denied, although he acknowledged being intoxicated on the evening in question. He filed a $20 million libel and defamation suit against ''Sports Illustrated.''

Mike Shula hiring

After the dismissal of Price, Alabama interviewed only three candidates to serve as his successor: Sylvester Croom, Richard Williamson and Mike Shula. On May 9, 2003, Alabama hired Mike Shula as their fourth head coach in four years.

Personnel

Staff changes

Alabama head coach Mike Shula entered his first year as the Crimson Tide's head coach for the 2003 season, and it was also his first all-time season as a head coach. After he was hired, Shula retained much of the coaching staff put in place by former head coach Mike Price; however, he did make several changes. On May 13, David Rader was hired to serve as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach as the replacement for both Aaron Price and Eric Price. On May 23, Dave Ungerer was hired to serve as special teams coach as the replacement for Aaron Price. The final coach added was Charlie Harbison as running backs coach as the replacement for Kasey Dunn.

Roster

Schedule

The 2003 schedule was anomalous for a variety of reasons. With a two-year bowl ban imposed by the NCAA in 2002 through 2004, Alabama added a thirteenth game against Hawaii in Honolulu to the 2002 and 2003 schedules that the university would hope to serve as an effective replacement for a bowl game. The 2003 season marked just the fifth time since 1947 that the Iron Bowl was not Alabama's final regular season game ( 2002 at Hawaii; 2001 Southern Miss; 1988 at Texas A&M; 1963 at Miami). Also beginning in 2003, the SEC altered its scheduling methodology—permanent cross-division opponents were reduced from two to one (i.e. instead of Alabama playing Tennessee and Vanderbilt annually, the Tide would only face Tennessee every year while the Commodores would rotate onto Alabama's schedule along with the rest of the SEC Eastern teams). This change resulted in Alabama not playing Vanderbilt for the first time since 1952. Finally, the Crimson Tide played their final home game at Legion Field, which had hosted many Alabama games over the previous century (including the entire 1987 home schedule).

*Source: Rolltide.com All-time Football Results: 2003 Season

Game summaries

South Florida

*Source:

In 2000, the NCAA voted to allow its member schools to schedule a 12th game for both the 2002 and 2003 seasons. As such, in June 2000 Alabama scheduled the South Florida Bulls to open the 2003 season in the first all-time meeting between the schools. In what was the first game of the Mike Shula era, Shaud Williams scored three touchdowns in this 40–17 victory at Legion Field. After each team traded punts to open the game, the Bulls took an early 7–0 lead when Ronnie Banks threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brian Fisher. The Crimson Tide tied the game at 7–7 later in the first quarter after Charlie Peprah intercepted a Banks pass and returned it 51-yards for the touchdown. South Florida responded in the second quarter and took a 17–7 lead on a 17-yard Brian Fisher touchdown run and 45-yard Santiago Gramática field goal. Alabama then tied the game 17–17 at halftime after they scored ten points in the final 0:26 of the half. After Brodie Croyle threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Triandos Luke, the Bulls' J. R. Reed fumbled the kickoff that ensued and gave the Crimson Tide possession at the USF 24-yard line. Three plays later the score was tied after Brian Bostick connected on a 40-yard field goal as time expired.

Alabama took their first lead of the game after they scored on a 25-yard Brian Bostick field goal early in the third quarter. After the Crimson Tide defense held the Bulls to a three-and-out on their first second half possession, Shaud Williams returned a punt 73-yards for a touchdown and a 27–17 lead. Williams then scored his second touchdown on Alabama's next offensive possession with his three-yard run, and after a blocked extra point led 33–17. After Gramática missed a 19-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, the Crimson Tide went on a 15-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Williams' third touchdown of the game on a one-yard run and made the final score 40–17. For his 98-yards rushing and two touchdowns, Williams was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week.

This game is also notable for being the final home game played by the Crimson Tide at Legion Field. Although Alabama was scheduled to play Middle Tennessee at Legion to open the 2005 season and was under contract to play one final game in either the 2007 or 2008 seasons, in August 2004 the eastern upper deck at the stadium was declared structurally unsound and unsafe to use. As such, on August 19, 2004, Alabama and Birmingham officials canceled their contract to play the final two games at Legion Field and thus made the game against the Bulls the final for the Crimson Tide in Birmingham.

Oklahoma

*Source:

In what was the first game ever played by Oklahoma in the state of Alabama, the Crimson Tide nearly upset the No. 1 ranked Sooners only to lose 20–13 at Bryant–Denny Stadium. Oklahoma took a 6–0 first quarter lead after Trey DiCarlo connected on field goals of 34 and 40 yards. Midway through the second quarter, the Crimson Tide cut the Sooners' lead in half to 6–3 on a 44-yard Brian Bostick field goal. However, Oklahoma responded on their next possession when Jason White threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Mark Clayton and gave the Sooners a 13–3 halftime lead.

After DiCarlo missed a 31-yard field goal late in the third quarter, the Crimson Tide scored their only touchdown of the game on the drive that ensued on a 20-yard Brodie Croyle pass to Triandos Luke and made the score 13–10. Oklahoma responded almost immediately on the next drive with a 47-yard White touchdown pass to Brandon Jones and extended their lead back to ten points at 20–10. The final points of the game came late in the fourth quarter on a 36-yard Bostick field goal that made the final score 20–13. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against the Sooners to 1–2–1.

Kentucky

*Source:

To open conference play for the 2003 season, Alabama hosted the Kentucky Wildcats and behind Shaud Williams' second three touchdown game of the season won 27–17. After Brian Bostick missed a 27-yard field goal on the opening possession of the game, several punts were traded before Williams scored his first touchdown on a 15-yard run to give Alabama a 7–0 first quarter lead. After a 43-yard Bostick field goal extended the Alabama lead to 10–0 early in the second quarter, the Wildcats made the halftime score 10–7 after Draak Davis scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Alabama threatened to score a touchdown just before halftime, but the Brodie Croyle pass was intercepted in the endzone by Chad Anderson for a touchback.

In the third quarter Bostick scored on a 30-yard field goal and Taylor Begley scored on a 27-yard field goal for the Wildcats that made the score 13–10 as the teams entered the fourth quarter. On the first play of the fourth, Williams scored his second touchdown of the game on a two-yard run for a 20–10 Crimson Tide lead. Begley missed a 49-yard field goal later in the quarter, and on the Alabama drive that ensued, Williams scored his third touchdown of the game on a seven-yard run and made the score 27–10. Kentucky then made the final score 27–17 when Jared Lorenzen threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Derek Abney late in the fourth quarter. For his 174-yards rushing and three touchdowns, Williams was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time of the season. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against the Wildcats to 32–2–1.

Northern Illinois

*Source:

Although the No. 21 Crimson Tide were two touchdown favorites over Northern Illinois, they were upset 19–16 in what was the first all-time win over a SEC team for the Huskies. Late in the first quarter, Alabama scored a touchdown on a 28-yard Brodie Croyle pass to Zach Fletcher. However, the extra point was blocked by Jason Frank and returned by Kevin Woods for a defensive two-point conversion and a 6–2 Crimson Tide lead. In the second quarter, the Huskies scored on a 51-yard Steve Azar field goal before Brian Bostick kicked a field goal from 35 yards out and made the halftime score 9–5.

Northern then took a 12–9 lead midway through the third quarter when Josh Haldi threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Shatone Powers. After a series of punts, midway through the fourth quarter, Haldi threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Dan Sheldon and extended the Huskies' lead to 19–9. Alabama responded on their next possession with a 54-yard Shaud Williams touchdown run that made the score 19–16. However this proved to be the final points of the game in their defeat.

Arkansas

*Source:

Although the Crimson Tide led Arkansas by three touchdowns late in the third quarter, the Razorbacks rallied to tie the game at the end of regulation and win on a field goal in the second overtime period by a final score of 34–31. Arkansas took an early 7–0 lead after Matt Jones scored a touchdown on a 39-yard run on the opening drive of the game. After David Carlton missed a 32-yard field goal on their second possession, Alabama tied the game on the drive that ensued when Brodie Croyle threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Triandos Luke. After Carlton missed his second field goal of the game early in the second quarter, Chris Balseiro gave the Razorbacks a 10–7 lead on their next possession with his 38-yard field goal. The Crimson Tide responded on their next possession with a 48-yard Brian Bostick field goal as time expired to tie the game 10–10 at halftime.

Alabama opened the third quarter with a 71-yard Croyle touchdown pass to Dre Fulgham for a 17–10 lead. On their first offensive play of the second half, Jones threw an interception to Anthony Madison that was returned to the Arkansas 23-yard line. Three plays later the Crimson Tide led 24–10 when Croyle connected with Fulgham on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Alabama then scored their third consecutive touchdown on their next possession on an 80-yard Shaud Williams touchdown run for a 31–10 lead. Arkansas then responded with three straight touchdowns of their own to tie the game at the end of regulation. The first came late in the third quarter on a five-yard Cedric Cobbs touchdown run and the final pair came in the fourth quarter on a two-yard Mark Pierce run and a three-yard Richard Smith reception from Jones.

In the first overtime period, Charles Jones intercepted a Jones pass to keep Arkansas scoreless. However, Alabama also failed to convert a 36-yard Bostick field goal to send the game into a second overtime. On the first play of the second overtime, Croyle was intercepted by Jimarr Gallon to again keep Alabama scoreless. Seven plays into their possession, Arkansas connected on a 19-yard Balseiro field goal and won the game 34–31. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against the Razorbacks 8–6 (9–5 without an NCAA forfeit).

Georgia

*Source:

In what was their first road game of the season, Alabama traveled to Athens where the Georgia Bulldogs

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