2001 Harvard Crimson football team

2001 Harvard Crimson football
Ivy League champion
Conference	Ivy League
Record	9–0 (7–0 Ivy)
Head coach	Timothy Murphy (8th season)
Captain	Ryan FitzGerald
Home stadium	Harvard Stadium
Seasons ←  2000 2002  →

2001 Ivy League football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 19 Harvard $		7	–	0					9	–	0
No. 24 Penn		6	–	1					8	–	1
Brown		5	–	2					6	–	3
Princeton		3	–	4					3	–	6
Columbia		3	–	4					3	–	7
Cornell		2	–	5					2	–	7
Dartmouth		1	–	6					1	–	8
Yale		1	–	6					3	–	6
$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2001 Harvard Crimson football team was an American football team that represented Harvard University during the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Harvard was undefeated and won the Ivy League championship.

In their eighth year under head coach Timothy Murphy, the Crimson compiled a 9–0 record and outscored opponents 293 to 184. Ryan FitzGerald was the team captain. ^[1]

Harvard's undefeated (7–0) conference record placed first in the Ivy League standings. The Crimson outscored Ivy opponents 220 to 150. ^[2]

Like most of the Ivy League, Harvard played nine games instead of the usual 10, after the school made the decision to cancel its September 15 season opener against Holy Cross, following the September 11 attacks. ^[3] It was the first year in more than two decades without a Crimson-Crusader football game, and the only year without the intrastate matchup between 1981 and 2015.

The Crimson began the year unranked, and did not enter the national top 25 until they had recorded its seventh win without a loss. Harvard entered the season's penultimate week at No. 24 and rose to No. 19 after defeating a ranked Penn Quakers team.

Harvard played its home games at Harvard Stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	at Holy Cross *	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Canceled		[3]
September 22	Brown	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 27–20	8,511	[4]
September 29	Lafayette *	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 38–14	5,803	[5]
October 6	Northeastern *	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA	W 35–20	6,513	[6]
October 13	at Cornell	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 26–6	14,148	[7]
October 20	Princeton	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	W 28–26	9,326	[8]
October 27	Dartmouth	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	W 31–21	12,324	[9]
November 3	at Columbia	Wien Stadium New York, NY	W 45–33	4,011	[10]
November 10	No. 19 Penn	Harvard Stadium Boston, MA (rivalry)	W 28–21	14,818	[11]
November 17	at Yale	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT (The Game)	W 35–23	51,634	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "Football Record Book: Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University . Retrieved June 20, 2020.
2. "Year-by-Year History". Ivy League Football Media Guide (PDF). Princeton, N.J.: Ivy League. 2017. pp. 39–40. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
3. Blaudschun, Mark (September 14, 2001). "After Prodding, Correct Choice Finally Made". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. E6 – via Newspapers.com.
4. May, Peter (September 23, 2001). "Staph Has Right Stuff". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C21 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Harber, Paul (September 30, 2001). "This Time, Crimson Finish Job". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C18 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Pave, Marvin (October 7, 2001). "NU Gets Scooped by Harvard". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C21 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Snow, Chris (October 14, 2001). "Harvard Gets the Red Out". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C17 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Dell'Apa, Frank (October 21, 2001). "Crimson Dig Deep; Substitutes Save Day vs. Tigers". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D18 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Pave, Marvin (October 28, 2001). "Crimson Get Message, Deliver; Harvard Roars Back to Stop Dartmouth". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C17 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Powers, John (November 4, 2001). "Crimson Set the Stage for an Ivy Showdown". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D18 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Juliano, Joe (November 11, 2001). "Penn Loses to Harvard". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pa. p. C6 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Duffy, Bob (November 18, 2001). "Ending Is Just Perfect: Harvard (9-0) Beats Yale for First Unblemished Season Since 1913". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.