The 2003 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

in 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 ...

, the 109th season of Sooner football. The team was led by two-time

Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award The Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football head coach adjudged by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) head coaches and sports in ...

winner (winning his second one that season), Bob Stoops, in his fifth season as head coach. They played their home games at

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football tea ...

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, b ...

. They were a charter member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. Conference play began with a win over the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's an ...

in Ames, Iowa on October 4, and ended with an upset loss to the Kansas State Wildcats in the

2003 Big 12 Championship Game The 2003 Big 12 Championship Game was a college football game played on Saturday, December 6, 2003, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. This was the 8th Big 12 Championship Game and determined the 2003 champion of the Big 12 Conference. The g ...

on December 6. The Sooners finished the regular season 12–1 (8–1 in Big 12) while winning the Big 12 South. Despite their loss in the conference championship game, they were invited to the

2004 Sugar Bowl The 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl, the BCS National Championship Game for the 2003 college football season, was played on January 4, 2004 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The teams were the Oklahoma Sooners and the LSU Tigers. The Ti ...

, which served as the

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

that year, where they lost to the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

, 14–21. Following the season,

Tommie Harris Tommie Harris, Jr. (born April 29, 1983) is a former American football defensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and was recognized as a consens ...

was selected 14th overall in the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

, along with

Teddy Lehman Teddy Lehman (born November 18, 1981) is an American former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and w ...

in the 2nd round, and

Derrick Strait Derrick Lee Strait (born August 27, 1980) is a former American college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons during the early 2000s. He played college football for the Un ...

in the 3rd.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

North Texas

Alabama

Fresno State

UCLA

Antonio Perkins became the first Division I-A player in history to have three returns for a score in one game while also breaking the NCAA single-game punt return yardage record.

Iowa State

Texas (Red River Shootout)

Missouri

Colorado

This was Oklahoma's first win in Boulder since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Oklahoma State (Bedlam Series)

Texas A&M

Baylor

Texas Tech

Kansas State (Big 12 Championship Game)

LSU (Sugar Bowl)

Statistics

Team

Scores by quarter

Rankings

2004 NFL Draft

The

was held on April 24–25, 2004 at

The Theater at Madison Square Garden The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madiso ...

in New York City. The following Oklahoma players were either selected or signed as undrafted free agents following the draft.

References

{{Oklahoma Sooners football navbox Oklahoma Oklahoma Sooners football seasons Oklahoma Sooners football