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2003 Sugar Bowl

Field	Value
year_game_played	2003
image	Louisiana Superdome - Unbranded - 26 July 2021 (cropped).jpg
caption	The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl.
title_sponsor	Nokia
game_name	Sugar Bowl
subheader	BCS Bowl Game
69th Sugar Bowl
football_season	2002
visitor_name_short	Georgia
visitor_nickname	Bulldogs
visitor_school	University of Georgia
home_name_short	Florida State
home_nickname	Seminoles
home_school	Florida State University
visitor_record	12–1
visitor_conference	SEC
home_record	9–4
home_conference	ACC
visitor_coach	Mark Richt
home_coach	Bobby Bowden
visitor_rank_AP	4
visitor_rank_coaches	4
visitor_rank_BCS	3
home_rank_AP	16
home_rank_coaches	16
home_rank_BCS	14
visitor_1q	3
visitor_2q	14
visitor_3q	6
visitor_4q	3
home_1q	0
home_2q	7
home_3q	6
home_4q	0
date_game_played	January 1
stadium	Louisiana Superdome
city	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Musa Smith (RB, Georgia)
odds	Georgia by 7.5
referee	Chuck McFerrin (Pac-10)
attendance	74,269
us_network	ABC
us_announcers_link	List of announcers of major college bowl games
us_announcers	Brad Nessler, Bob Griese
and Lynn Swann
ratings	9.2

69th Sugar Bowl and Lynn Swann

The 2003 Sugar Bowl, a 2002–03 BCS game, was played on January 1, 2003. This 69th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Florida State Seminoles. Georgia came into the game 12–1 and ranked 3rd in the BCS, whereas Florida State came into the game 9–4 and ranked 14th in the BCS. Sponsored by Nokia, the game was officially known as the Nokia Sugar Bowl.

Teams

The Sugar Bowl during the BCS era usually selected the SEC champion, meaning that the winner of the SEC in 2002, Georgia received an invitation to the Sugar Bowl. Their opponent would be ACC champion Florida State.

Georgia Bulldogs

Main article: 2002 Georgia Bulldogs football team

Georgia defeated Arkansas in the 2002 SEC Championship Game to earn a BCS berth as their conference's champion. Georgia entered the bowl with a 12–1 record (7–1 in conference).

Florida State Seminoles

Main article: 2002 Florida State Seminoles football team

Florida State won the ACC title outright by virtue of their 7–1 conference record. At the time, the ACC champion would go to the Orange Bowl, however the Orange Bowl chose Iowa and USC instead, leaving the Seminoles to play in the Sugar Bowl. Florida State entered the bowl with an 9–4 record (7–1 in conference).

Game summary

Kicker Billy Bennett kicked a 23-yard field goal with 10 minutes left in the opening quarter to account for the quarter's only points. In the second quarter, FSU quarterback Fabian Walker threw a 5-yard slant pass to Anquan Boldin as FSU took a 7–3 lead. Florida State was driving again in the second quarter before cornerback Bruce Thornton stepped in front of a Walker pass and raced 73 yards to the opposite end zone, to give Georgia a 10–7 lead. Quarterback D.J. Shockley threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Edwards before halftime to give the Bulldogs a 17–7 half time lead.

Billy Bennett accounted for two more Georgia field goals in the third quarter, as Georgia posted a 23–7 lead. On the final play of the third quarter, wide receiver Anquan Boldin (who had replaced quarterback Fabian Walker) threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Craphonso Thorpe. The ensuing two-point conversion failed, and the lead was 23–13. Billy Bennett kicked another field goal in the fourth quarter, as Georgia held off Florida State. Georgia's running back Musa Smith won the MVP award.

The Seminoles defensive tackle Darnell Dockett was suspended from the game after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge.

Scoring summary

Statistics

Aftermath

Georgia completed the season 13–1. They ranked #3 in both major polls. Florida State finished the season 9–5 and #21/#24 in the polls.

References

(December 23, 2002). "Seminoles' Dockett suspended for bowl". The Times-Union.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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