Score by Quarters
Oklahoma
3
14
3
14
34
Washington State
0
0
0
14
14
The Oklahoma defense of 2003 seemed to have majored in shutouts. Entering the Rose Bowl Game, in six games that season, they had shut out an opponent for the entire first half. And in its two bowl games the two previous years, it had stonewalled the opposing offense completely, authoring shutouts both years.
So, when the scoreboard read Oklahoma 17, Washington State 0, at halftime of the 2003 Rose Bowl Game, it shouldn’t have been surprising, even though Washington State was technically favored (ranked No. 6 to Oklahoma at No. 7). Then again after three quarters, when Oklahoma increased its total to 20, and Washington State still had that incessant goose egg, it was probably still not all that earth-shattering to those following the game. In fact, considering the team’s history, what was probably more surprising was the 14 points the Sooners gave up in the final quarter (although seven of those were given up by special teams.) Their offense, however, picked up the slack, scoring 14 of its own to win, 34-14.
“We just don’t waste any time,” said Oklahoma cornerback Andre Woolfolk. “In practice we worked hard, and we executed, and this is a culmination of all that. Everybody talks about going out with a bang, and this is a heck of a bang.”
In fact, when the final “bang” sounded, Oklahoma had sacked Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser six times for a total loss of 59 yards, and the Sooner run defense gave up a school-record 4 yards rushing in the game. All-American linebacker Teddy Lehman had two sacks – his first and second of the season – and junior defensive end Jonathan Jackson added two of his own and another tackle for a loss.
Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops, who was on the business end of a shutout in the 1982 Rose Bowl as a player with Iowa, put it simply: “Our defense just had another one of those games.”
On the other side of the football, the Oklahoma offense picked apart Washington State’s defense to the tune of 34 points. Quarterback Nate Hybl, selected Player of the Game, completed 19 of 29 passes for 240 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and running back Quentin Grifffin carried the ball 30 times for 144 yards and one touchdown. It was Griffin’s 10th consecutive 100-yard game.
“(Griffin) a special young man,” Stoops said. “He needed 8 yards to break the all-time single-season rushing yards record at Oklahoma. I couldn’t talk him into going back in. He said his shoulder was too sore. He knew he might get it, but he wanted to see the other guys play. That tells you the humility and kind of person he is.”
Washington State scored its only offensive touchdown with 6:08 left in the game, a Gesser pass to Jerome Riley. The other touchdown came on an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Sammy Moore with 1:15 to play. This offset the Oklahoma special teams touchdown in the second quarter – an Antonio Perkins 51-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Attendance
86,848
Weather
Slight haze; 68 degrees
Scoring
First Quarter
OU – DiCarlo, 45-yard field goal
Second Quarter
OU – Savage, 12-yard pass from Hybl (DiCarlo kick good)
OU – Perkins, 51-yard punt return (DiCarlo kick good)
Third Quarter
OU – DiCarlo, 30-yard field goal
Fourth Quarter
OU – Fagan, 9-yard pass form Hybl (DiCarlo kick good)
WSU – Riley, 37-yard pass from Gesser (Dunning kick good)
OU – Griffin, 19-yard run (DiCarlo kick good)
WSU – Moore, 89-yard kickoff return (Dunning kick good)
Coaches
Oklahoma: Bob Stoops
Washington State: Mike Price
Fun Fact
Due to its untraditional matchup, the 2003 Rose Bowl Game drew one of the lowest attendance numbers in the modern history of the Rose Bowl Game. It was the first time that the stadium held less than the capacity for the Rose Bowl Game since before the 1947 Rose Bowl Game and the agreement between the Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences.
Individual Stats
Rushing
OU: Griffin 30-144; Jones 6-6; Thompson 1-4; Works 2-4; Runnels 1-2
WSU: Green 8-45; Tippins 2-12; Smith 2-2
Passing
OU: Hybl 19-29-240
WSU: Gesser 17-34-239
Receiving
OU: Smith 5-38; Savage 4-52; Peoples 3-80; Fagan 3-31; Griffin 2-5; Moses 1-19; Wilson 1-15
WSU: Riley 9-139; Darling 5-75; Lunde 2-17; Bush 1-8
Punting
OU: Ferguson 4-131
WSU: Basler 6-276