The 2003 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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 elim ...

. The team's head coach was

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season, replacing Gary Moeller. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolve ...

. The Wolverines played their home games at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "the Big House," is the American football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third-largest stadium in the wo ...

. The team won the first of its back-to-back Big Ten championships. The team lost to the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

28–14 in the

2004 Rose Bowl The 2004 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game held on January 1, 2004 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. It was the 90th Rose Bowl Game. The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-10 Conference, defeated the Michigan Wolverines, ch ...

Schedule

Game summaries

Central Michigan

Houston

For the third time in 12 seasons* Houston travelled to Ann Arbor for a game against Michigan. The Cougars had what was considered to be a unique offense that some analysts felt could possibly give the Michigan defense some problems. After a competitive 1st quarter, however, the Wolverines dominated the Cougars the rest of the way, winning the game in an epic beat-down, 50-3. * The other 2 games were played in Ann Arbor in 1992, and 1993. Michigan won both of them easily, 61-7, and 42-21 respectively (when you combine the scores of all 3 games, Michigan has outscored Houston, 143-31).

Notre Dame

*Source:''

Oregon

Indiana

Iowa

Minnesota

*Source:''

Illinois

Purdue

Michigan State

*Source:''

Northwestern

Ohio State

100th meeting

Rose Bowl

Personnel

Coaching staff

*Head coach:

*Assistant coaches: Erik Campbell (assistant head coach),

Mike DeBord Mike DeBord (February 7, 1956 – April 15, 2025) was an American college football coach who was a longtime assistant for the Michigan Wolverines and a head coach for the Central Michigan Chippewas. He was the offensive coordinator for the Wol ...

, Ron English, Jim Herrmann, Fred Jackson,

Scot Loeffler Scot Loeffler (born November 1, 1974) is an American college football coach and former player who is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Bowling Gre ...

, Terry Malone, Andy Moeller,

Bill Sheridan William Sheridan (born January 27, 1959) is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

*Trainer: Paul Schmidt *Managers: Davon Wilson (senior manager), Bob Belke, Tom Bellen, Tom Burpee, Jeff Clancy, Brandon Greer, Brad Hoffman, Jeff Levine, Atif Lodhi, Chris Mancuso, Darin Ottaviani, Blake Postma, Brad Rosenwasser

Roster

Statistical achievements

Chris Perry was the Big Ten rushing individual statistical champion (126.8 yards per conference games and 128.8 yards per game). Perry set numerous current school records during the season including single-game attempts (51, November 1, 2003) surpassing

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

's 1967 record of 42, and single-season attempts (338) surpassing Anthony Thomas' 2000 record of 319. The team led the Big Ten in passing offense for all games (270.8 yards per game), although Michigan State won the title for conference games. They were also the Big Ten scoring statistical champions for conference games (35.8 points per game), although Minnesota was the champion for all games. They also ranked first in

passing efficiency Passing may refer to: Social identity * Passing (sociology), presenting oneself as a member of another sociological group ** Passing (gender), presenting oneself as being cisgender ** Passing (racial identity), presenting oneself as a member ...

defense for both conference games (96.6) and all games (102.2). The team led the conference in total defense for conference games (286.1) and all games (316.4). The November 22 Michigan - Ohio State football rivalry game set the current conference single-game attendance record of 112,118.

Braylon Edwards Braylon Jamel Edwards (born February 21, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was a unanimous All-American playing college football for the Michigan Wolver ...

posted four consecutive 100-yard reception games, surpassing

Desmond Howard Desmond Kevin Howard (born May 15, 1970) is an American former professional football wide receiver and return specialist who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, wi ...

, Carter and

Marcus Knight Marcus Larae Knight (born June 19, 1978) is an American college football coach and former wide receiver. He is the wide receivers coach at Yale University, a position he has held since 2023. He played college football at Michigan and profession ...

who all had three in various seasons. Edwards would tie this record the following season, but

Mario Manningham Mario Cashmere Manningham (born May 25, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American college football player at the Michigan Wol ...

posted six in 2007 to establish the current record.

John Navarre John Robert Navarre (born September 9, 1980) is an American former professional football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Michigan, and was selected in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals ...

set numerous career records: pass attempts (1366) extending his own record established the prior season; completions (765), surpassing

Elvis Grbac Elvis M. Grbac (born August 13, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, most notably with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the ...

's 1992 record of 522; passing yards (9254), surpassing Grbac's 6460.

Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines foo ...

broke each of these records during his career ending in 2007. Navarre also broke his own single-season records for pass attempts (456), completions (270) and yards (3331) set the prior season. Navarre broke

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

's single-game passing yards record of 375 with a 389-yard performance on October 4 against Iowa. These single-game and single-season records still stand. The final touchdown pass of his career gave him 72, one more than Grbac for another record to be broken by Henne. Navarre established the current records for single-season yards per game (256.2), surpassing his own record of the prior year, and career yards per game (215.2), surpassing

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh ( ; born December 23, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at ...

's 175.8. He broke his own single-season 200-yard game record with 10 bringing his record setting career total to 28.

Awards and honors

The individuals in the sections below earned recognition for meritorious performances.

National

*All-Americans: Chris Perry *

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

: Perry * Jim Brown Trophy: Perry

Conference

* Big Ten Football MVP: Chris Perry *All-Conference: John Navarre, Chris Perry,

, Tony Pape *Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: Perry *Big Ten Freshman of the Year:

Steve Breaston Steven William Breaston (born August 20, 1983) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. ...

(coaches)

Team

*Co-captains: Grant Bowman, Carl Diggs,

*Most Valuable Player: Chris Perry *Meyer Morton Award: Braylon Edwards *John Maulbetsch Award:

Jake Long Jake Edward Long (born May 9, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, twice earning consensus All-Ameri ...

*Frederick Matthei Award:

Jason Avant Jason Raye Avant (born April 20, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Michigan and was selected by the Philadelphi ...

*Dick Katcher Award: Grant Bowman, Norman Heuer, Larry Stevens *Arthur Robinson Scholarship Award: Andy Mingery *Hugh Rader Jr. Award:

David Baas David Andrew Baas (born September 28, 1981) is an American former football guard and center who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, where he won the Rimington Trophy, and was reco ...

, Tony Pape *Robert P. Ufer Award: John Navarre *Roger Zatkoff Award: Lawrence Reid *Dick Katcher Award: Grant Bowman, Norman Heuer, Larry Stevens

References

External links

2003 Football Team -- Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History

2003 Michigan
at NCAA.org {{Big Ten Conference football champions

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Michigan Wolverines football seasons Big Ten Conference football champion seasons

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...