The 2003 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

during the

2003 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in the claim of a split national championship. This was the first claimed split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to elimi ...

. Following a 2002 season that saw the Hawkeyes finish 11–2 with a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship, expectations for a third straight

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

were well warranted. With four offensive starters and seven

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

starters returning from the 2002 season, the Hawkeyes looked to be a primarily defensive team going into the season. The Hawkeyes opened the season strong, winning games over

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Buffalo, Iowa State and

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

en route to a 4–0 record. Undefeated and ranked ninth in the country, the Hawkeyes headed into

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

for their

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

opener. Playing a

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

team that had just beaten Notre Dame a week earlier, the Hawkeyes turned the ball over four times and committed ten penalties in a 20–10 loss. However, with

next up on the schedule, things would get no easier for the Hawkeyes. Before the game, Michigan held a 37–9–4 lead in the series between the two teams. Down by 14 in the first quarter for the second straight game, the Hawkeyes came back to take a 30–20 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Michigan threatened the Iowa lead late, but the Hawkeyes held on for the 30–27 victory. After the victory, Iowa lost on the road to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, but followed with home wins over

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

and Penn State. With a loss to Purdue, Iowa's record was 7–3 with two regular season games remaining. Playing against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and the

's top-ranked offense, the Hawkeyes scored 33 points before the Gophers scored a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. Following the 40–22 victory, the Hawkeyes fell behind unranked

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

21–7 during the second quarter. Needing a pass deflection in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

Sean Considine Seán Considine (born October 28, 1981) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa. Considin ...

with no time remaining, the Hawkeyes scored 20 straight points and escaped with a 27–21 win and a 9–3 regular season record. Playing in the

2004 Outback Bowl The 2004 Outback Bowl featured the Florida Gators and the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was the 18th edition of the Outback Bowl. Summary Florida scored early in the game, with quarterback Chris Leak throwing a 70-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kelv ...

on January 1, 2004, the Hawkeyes won their first game in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with a 37–17 victory over the Florida Gators. The win was also Iowa's first in the month of January since 1959.

Previous season

Behind strong performances by

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Brad Banks Brad Banks (born April 22, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Iowa where he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. Early years Banks attended Glades Central High School where he was a First-team ...

, who finished second in the

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

voting, and the Hawkeye rushing defense, which finished fifth-best in the country, Iowa finished 11–2 and shared the Big Ten championship with undefeated

. The Hawkeyes finished with an 8–0 conference record that included wins over Penn State and Michigan. Iowa's lopsided 34–9 victory over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor was Michigan's worst home loss since 1967. Despite losses to Iowa State and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, the eleven victories remained the single-season school record (since tied by the 2009 Hawkeyes). until 2015 when Iowa went 12-2

Before the season

Recruiting class

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

, February 5, 2003, the Hawkeyes signed 22 players on football scholarships.

Preseason Rankings

Entering the season, Iowa was unranked by both major polls. However, the Hawkeyes would debut in the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

as the 25th-ranked team before their first game against

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

Schedule

Roster

Rankings

Game summaries

Miami (OH)

*Source: Box Score
/small> Future NFL star

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football ...

was intercepted four times on this opening day victory for the Hawkeyes. The win would prove more impressive as the season progressed as the Redhawks went on to win their last 13 games and were the eventual MAC conference champion.

Buffalo

*Source: Box Score
/small> Nathan Chandler and the Iowa offense were unstoppable in this one-sided affair. Future NFL player

returned a fumble for a touchdown and Ramon Ochoa returned a punt 70 yards for a score as well as the Hawkeyes were clicking in every phase of the game.

Iowa State

*Source: Box Score
/small> Iowa was able to end the five-year winning streak by their in-state rival in this dominant win. Iowa State had the ball for almost 10 more minutes but the Hawkeyes held them to just a touchdown through the first three quarters of play. Four field goals by future NFL kicker

Nate Kaeding Nathaniel James Kaeding (born March 26, 1982) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played the majority of his career with the San Diego Chargers and ...

kept Iowa in control throughout the game.

Arizona State

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Michigan State

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Michigan

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Ohio State

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Penn State

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Illinois

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Purdue

Minnesota

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Wisconsin

*Source: Box Score
/small>

Outback Bowl

*Source: Box Score
/small> A Chris Leak-led Florida team had the initial score in Iowa's first

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

appearance but from that point the game belonged to the Hawkeyes. Iowa scored 27 unanswered points and put up over 400 yards of total offense as they controlled the ball and field position for the majority of the contest.

Postseason Awards

Robert Gallery Robert J. Gallery (born July 26, 1980) is a former American football offensive guard who played for eight seasons in the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Iowa, and received unanimous All-American recogn ...

- Winner of the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...

, presented to the nation's best interior lineman. Also received consensus first-team All-American honors. *

- First-team All-American honors at kicker, along with Nick Browne (TCU) and Drew Dunning (Washington State).

Team players in the 2004 NFL Draft

References

{{Iowa Hawkeyes football navbox

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Iowa Hawkeyes football seasons ReliaQuest Bowl champion seasons Iowa Hawkeyes football