2001 NCAA Division I-A football season

2001 NCAA Division I-A season
The Rose Bowl stadium was the site of the BCS National Championship Game for the 2001 season.
Number of teams	117 [1]
Preseason AP No. 1	Florida
Post-season
Duration	December 18, 2001 – January 3, 2002
Bowl games	25
Heisman Trophy	Eric Crouch (quarterback, Nebraska)
Bowl Championship Series
2002 Rose Bowl
Site	Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
Champion(s)	Miami (FL)
Division I-A football seasons
←  2000 2002  →

The 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first college football season of the 21st century. It ended with the University of Miami winning the national title for the fifth time.

The Hurricanes were led by Larry Coker, who was in his first year as head coach after five years as Miami's offensive coordinator under Butch Davis and became the first head coach since 1989's Dennis Erickson from the University of Miami to win a national title in his first season. Coker had the benefit of inheriting a star-studded program that Davis had rebuilt in the aftermath of NCAA sanctions in the mid-to-late '90s. Miami completed a perfect 12–0 season, which culminated in a 37–14 win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl BCS National Championship Game.

In yet another controversial season for the BCS, (AP) No. 4 Nebraska was chosen as the national title opponent despite not having even played in the Big 12 championship game. The Huskers went into their last regularly scheduled game at Colorado undefeated, but left Boulder having lost the game by a score of 62–36. The Buffaloes went on to win the Big 12 championship game. The BCS computers, among other things, didn't weigh later games any more heavily than earlier games, and one-loss Nebraska came out ahead of two-loss No. 3 Colorado and one-loss, No. 2 Oregon. Some fans chanted "number 4" at the title game held at the Rose Bowl.

Florida State did not win the ACC championship for the first time since joining the conference in 1991, losing out to Maryland. Steve Spurrier left the Florida Gators at the end of the season to coach the Washington Redskins, accepting what was then the largest salary for an NFL head coach.

The season had one of the more competitive Heisman Trophy races with Eric Crouch of Nebraska winning by only a small margin over Rex Grossman of Florida. All of the five finalists played the quarterback position. Two of the finalists were coached at some point by Oregon offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford. Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El earned first-team All-America honors from the FWAA after becoming the first NCAA Division I-A quarterback to throw for 40 touchdowns and rush for 40 touchdowns in a career. He also became the first player in NCAA I-A history to record 2,500 total yards from scrimmage in four consecutive seasons.

Joe Paterno needed just 2 victories to pass legendary Alabama Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant as the winningest coach in Division I-A college football, However, after the Nittany Lions started the season 0–4 it looked like Bear Bryant's record would remain intact for at least 1 more year. After a 20–0 drubbing Penn State took against Michigan at home on Oct 6, the Nittany Lions were a dismal 1–6 since Paterno notched his 321st coaching win on October 28, 2000. ^[2]

At Northwestern on October 20, the Lions lost a late 31–28 lead to fall behind 35–31 with two minutes to go. With their starting quarterback, Matt Senneca, out with an injury, Penn State put its collective hopes on the shoulders of redshirt freshman quarterback Zack Mills. Mills drove the Lions 69 yards in 1:41, leading Penn State to its first victory of the year by a 38–35 margin. The victory gave Paterno 323 career wins, tying Bear Bryant's record. ^[3]

A week later, Penn State hosted Ohio State, who held on to a small lead for most of the game until the Buckeyes started to pull away with a 27–9 lead following a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown by Derek Ross in the third quarter. Penn State would fight all the way back with a 69-yard touchdown run by Mills and a 26-yard pass to Tony Johnson to cut the lead to 27–22, and they would take the lead early in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Eric McCoo. ^[4] Penn State's 29–27 win moved Paterno in to first place on the all-time coaching victories list with 324 wins. He would later slip behind Bobby Bowden at Florida State, but he would relinquish the top spot a few years later. Paterno remains the winningest coach in Division I-A college football with a final record of 409–136–3. ^[5]

The newly formed Boise State/Fresno State rivalry would be a major factor in the race to be the "BCS buster" for several seasons. Both teams ultimately lost the race to Utah, who became the first to bust the BCS in 2004, and the first to make a second trip in 2008.

The Aloha Bowl and Oahu Bowl lost funding after Chrysler Corporation, which owned the former bowl's sponsor of Jeep, was acquired by Daimler-Benz and became DaimlerChrysler. The Aloha Bowl moved to Seattle and became the Seattle Bowl.

The New Orleans Bowl began to play, the host team being the Sun Belt champion.

End of season upsets and BCS drama

The final three weeks of the regular season saw an incredible amount of drama as several teams were in prime position to earn their way to the national championship game in the Rose Bowl. For most of November, Miami and Nebraska were the only two undefeated teams in the power conferences and clearly the top contenders for the title. But on November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, Nebraska suffered a devastating 62–36 loss to Colorado which seemingly caused their season to fall by the wayside. Conference rival Oklahoma had been ranked third behind Nebraska and Miami in the BCS standings, but the Sooners' hopes dissolved the next day when they were upset at home by Oklahoma State 16–13. These losses affected not only the national championship race but also the Big 12 standings, as the conference championship game would now feature Texas and Colorado instead of the expected Nebraska-Oklahoma matchup.

Miami, Florida, and Texas now held the top three spots in the BCS standings heading into their games on December 1, but all three teams would be pushed to the brink in a single thrilling day. Miami barely escaped Virginia Tech 26–24 to finish as the only undefeated team in the nation and clinch a Rose Bowl berth. However, the other clubs were not so fortunate. Florida lost 34–32 to Tennessee in Gainesville; as with Nebraska and Oklahoma, the loss not only ended the Gators' national championship dreams but also kept them out of the conference title game. Later that evening, Texas entered the Big 12 finals against Colorado in prime time television knowing that a win would almost certainly seal their spot in the Rose Bowl, but the Longhorns fell 39–37 in yet another nailbiter.

After their victory over Florida, Tennessee stepped into the number two spot going into the following week's SEC Championship against LSU. However, the Volunteers felt the same sting that Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, and Texas had all encountered the previous few weeks. After a 31–20 upset by the Tigers, Tennessee's hopes of National Championship appearance were gone as quickly as they had come.

Miami was left at the top of all the polls, and the debate began about who deserved to play in the Rose Bowl. Many felt Colorado was the hottest team in the country after dismantling Nebraska and then beating the Longhorns in the Big 12 title game, but their two losses at the beginning of the year were tough to ignore. Others felt Oregon deserved the honor, being ranked in both the AP and Coaches' Polls as the number two team in the country. Ultimately, after all of the upsets, Nebraska ended up as the number two team in the BCS, despite being the team whose loss started all of the drama three weeks earlier.

Rules changes

The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following rules changes for the 2001 season:

• Charged team time-outs are reduced to 30 seconds if the team taking the time-out requests it. Otherwise, team time-outs are 90 seconds in length.
• Eliminated TV/Radio time-outs during overtime periods.
• All penalties committed by the offense behind the neutral zone are enforced from the previous spot, completely repealing the 1991 rule that enforced offensive holding, clipping, and illegal use of hands occurring behind the line from the spot of the foul.
• Stopping the clock once a runner's helmet comes off.
• Runners are exempt from being called for hurdling.
• Roughing the passer penalties committed during a two-point conversion will be assessed on the ensuing kickoff or, if committed during overtime, on the succeeding spot.
• Guidelines for officials on lightning-related game issues are included in the rulebook.

Conference and program changes

One team upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 116 to 117.

• The Big West Conference stopped sponsoring football after the 2000 season. Its remaining football-playing members departed for the WAC, the Sun Belt (see below), or independence:
  • Boise State joined the WAC
  • Utah State opted to become an Independent.
• The Sun Belt Conference , previously a non-football conference, began sponsoring football during the 2001 season, absorbing many of the Big West's former members.
  • Arkansas State, New Mexico State and North Texas joined from the Big West.
  • Idaho joined the Sun Belt as a football-only member
  • Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, and Middle Tennessee joined after playing as independents.
• TCU joined Conference USA from the Western Athletic Conference
• Louisiana Tech joined the Western Athletic Conference after five years as an independent.
• Troy State joined Division I-A football this season.

School	2000 Conference	2001 Conference
Arkansas State Indians	Big West	Sun Belt
Boise State Broncos	Big West	WAC
Idaho Vandals	Big West	Sun Belt
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns	I-A Independent	Sun Belt
Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks	I-A Independent	Sun Belt
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	I-A Independent	WAC
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	I-A Independent	Sun Belt
New Mexico State Aggies	Big West	Sun Belt
North Texas Mean Green	Big West	Sun Belt
TCU Horned Frogs	WAC	Conference USA
Troy State Trojans	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent
Utah State Aggies	Big West	I-A Independent

Regular season top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

• Week 5
  • No. 3 Oklahoma defeated No. 5 Texas, 14–3 (Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas)
• Week 6
  • No. 7 UCLA defeated No. 10 Washington, 35–13 (Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California)
• Week 8
  • No. 2/3 Nebraska defeated No. 1/2 Oklahoma, 20–10 (Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska)
• Week 13
  • No. 6/5 Tennessee defeated No. 2/2 Florida, 34–32 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida)
  • No. 7/9 Colorado defeated No. 3/3 Texas, 39–37 (2001 Big 12 Championship Game, Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas)

Conference standings

2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 Maryland $   7 – 1     10 – 2   No. 15 Florida State   6 – 2     8 – 4   North Carolina   5 – 3     8 – 5   Clemson   4 – 4     7 – 5   No. 24 Georgia Tech   4 – 4     8 – 5   NC State   4 – 4     7 – 5   Wake Forest   3 – 5     6 – 5   Virginia   3 – 5     5 – 7   Duke   0 – 8     0 – 11   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2001 Big 12 Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Northern Division No. 9 Colorado xy$   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 8 Nebraska x%   7 – 1     11 – 2   Iowa State   4 – 4     7 – 5   Kansas State   3 – 5     6 – 6   Missouri   3 – 5     4 – 7   Kansas   1 – 7     3 – 8   Southern Division No. 5 Texas xy   7 – 1     11 – 2   No. 6 Oklahoma   6 – 2     11 – 2   Texas Tech   4 – 4     7 – 5   Texas A&M   4 – 4     8 – 4   Oklahoma State   2 – 6     4 – 7   Baylor   0 – 8     3 – 8   Championship: Colorado 39, Texas 37 $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll	2001 Big East Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Miami (FL) $#   7 – 0     12 – 0   No. 14 Syracuse   6 – 1     10 – 3   No. 18 Virginia Tech   4 – 3     8 – 4   No. 21 Boston College   4 – 3     8 – 4   Pittsburgh   4 – 3     7 – 5   Temple   2 – 5     4 – 7   West Virginia   1 – 6     3 – 8   Rutgers   0 – 7     2 – 9   # – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Big Ten Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 Illinois $   7 – 1     10 – 2   No. 20 Michigan   6 – 2     8 – 4   Ohio State   5 – 3     7 – 5   Iowa   4 – 4     7 – 5   Purdue   4 – 4     6 – 6   Penn State   4 – 4     5 – 6   Indiana   4 – 4     5 – 6   Michigan State   3 – 5     7 – 5   Wisconsin   3 – 5     5 – 7   Minnesota   2 – 6     4 – 7   Northwestern   2 – 6     4 – 7   $ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2001 Conference USA football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 17 Louisville $   6 – 1     11 – 2   Cincinnati   5 – 2     7 – 5   UAB   5 – 2     6 – 5   East Carolina   5 – 2     6 – 6   Southern Miss   4 – 3     6 – 5   TCU   4 – 3     6 – 6   Memphis   3 – 4     5 – 6   Army   2 – 5     3 – 8   Tulane   1 – 6     3 – 9   Houston   0 – 7     0 – 11   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2001 Mid-American Conference football standings v t e Div     Conf Overall Team   W   L         W   L     W   L   East Division Marshall x   6 – 0     8 – 0     11 – 2   Miami (OH)   4 – 2     6 – 2     7 – 5   Bowling Green   4 – 2     5 – 3     8 – 3   Kent State   3 – 3     5 – 3     6 – 5   Akron   3 – 3     4 – 4     4 – 7   Buffalo   1 – 5     1 – 7     3 – 8   Ohio   0 – 6     1 – 7     1 – 10   West Division No. 23 Toledo xy$   4 – 1     5 – 2     10 – 2   Northern Illinois x   4 – 1     4 – 3     6 – 5   Ball State x   4 – 1     4 – 3     5 – 6   Western Michigan   2 – 3     4 – 4     5 – 6   Central Michigan   1 – 4     2 – 6     3 – 8   Eastern Michigan   0 – 5     1 – 6     2 – 9   Championship: Toledo 41, Marshall 36 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Due to an unbalanced conference schedule, the team with best division record within each division was awarded that division's championship game berth. Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Mountain West Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 25 BYU $   7 – 0     12 – 2   Colorado State   5 – 2     7 – 5   Utah   4 – 3     8 – 4   New Mexico   4 – 3     6 – 5   Air Force   3 – 4     6 – 6   UNLV   3 – 4     4 – 7   San Diego State   2 – 5     3 – 8   Wyoming   0 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2001 Pacific-10 Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 Oregon $   7 – 1     11 – 1   No. 10 Washington State   6 – 2     10 – 2   No. 16 Stanford   6 – 2     9 – 3   No. 19 Washington   6 – 2     8 – 4   USC   5 – 3     6 – 6   UCLA   4 – 4     7 – 4   Oregon State   3 – 5     5 – 6   Arizona   2 – 6     5 – 6   Arizona State   1 – 7     4 – 7   California   0 – 8     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2001 Southeastern Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Eastern Division No. 4 Tennessee x   7 – 1     11 – 2   No. 3 Florida  %   6 – 2     10 – 2   No. 13 South Carolina   5 – 3     9 – 3   No. 22 Georgia   5 – 3     8 – 4   Kentucky   1 – 7     2 – 9   Vanderbilt   0 – 8     2 – 9   Western Division No. 7 LSU xy$   5 – 3     10 – 3   Auburn x   5 – 3     7 – 5   Ole Miss   4 – 4     7 – 4   Alabama   4 – 4     7 – 5   Arkansas   4 – 4     7 – 5   Mississippi State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Championship: LSU 31, Tennessee 20 $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll
2001 Sun Belt Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Middle Tennessee +   5 – 1     8 – 3   North Texas +   5 – 1     5 – 7   New Mexico State   4 – 2     5 – 7   Louisiana–Lafayette   2 – 4     3 – 8   Arkansas State   2 – 4     2 – 9   Louisiana–Monroe   2 – 4     2 – 9   Idaho   1 – 5     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions	2001 Western Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Louisiana Tech $   7 – 1     7 – 5   Fresno State   6 – 2     11 – 3   Boise State   6 – 2     8 – 4   Hawaii   5 – 3     9 – 3   Rice   5 – 3     8 – 4   SMU   4 – 4     4 – 7   Nevada   3 – 5     3 – 8   San Jose State   3 – 5     3 – 9   UTEP   1 – 7     2 – 9   Tulsa   0 – 8     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion	2001 NCAA Division I-A independents football records v t e Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   South Florida   –     8 – 3   Troy State   –     7 – 4   UCF   –     6 – 5   Notre Dame   –     5 – 6   Utah State   –     4 – 7   Connecticut   –     2 – 9   Navy   –     0 – 10   Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl Championship Series rankings

Main article: 2001 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

WEEK	No. 1	No. 2	EVENT
Oct 22	Oklahoma	Nebraska	Nebraska 20, Oklahoma 10
Oct 29	Nebraska	Oklahoma	Miami 38, Temple 0
Nov 5	Nebraska	Miami	Nebraska 31, Kansas St. 21
Nov 12	Nebraska	Miami	Miami 59, Syracuse 0
Nov 19	Nebraska	Miami	Colorado 62, Nebraska 36
Nov 26	Miami	Florida	Tennessee 34, Florida 32
Dec 3	Miami	Tennessee	LSU 31, Tennessee 20
FINAL	Miami	Nebraska

Final BCS standings

1. Miami
2. Nebraska
3. Colorado
4. Oregon
5. Florida
6. Tennessee
7. Texas
8. Illinois
9. Stanford
10. Maryland
11. Oklahoma
12. Washington State
13. LSU
14. South Carolina
15. Washington

Source: ^[6]

Bowl games

Main article: 2001–02 NCAA football bowl games

BCS bowls

• Rose Bowl: No. 1 Miami (FL) (BCS No. 1) 37, No. 4 Nebraska (BCS No. 2) 14
• Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) 38, No. 3 Colorado (Big 12 champ) 16
• Sugar Bowl: No. 12 LSU (SEC champ) 47, No. 7 Illinois (Big 10 champ) 34
• Orange Bowl: No. 5 Florida (At Large) 56, No. 6 Maryland (ACC champ) 23

Other New Year's Day bowls

• Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 10 Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 3
• Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 8 Tennessee 45, No. 17 Michigan 17
• Gator Bowl: No. 24 Florida State 30, No. 15 Virginia Tech 17
• Outback Bowl: No. 14 South Carolina 31, No. 22 Ohio State 28

December bowl games

• Holiday Bowl: No. 9 Texas 47, No. 21 Washington 43
• Peach Bowl: North Carolina 16, Auburn 10
• Tangerine Bowl: Pittsburgh 34, NC State 19
• Sun Bowl: No. 13 Washington State 33, Purdue 27
• Independence Bowl: Alabama 14, Iowa State 13
• Alamo Bowl: Iowa 19, Texas Tech 16
• Insight.com Bowl: No. 18 Syracuse 26, Kansas State 3
• Liberty Bowl: No. 23 Louisville (C-USA champ) 28, No. 19 BYU (MWC champ) 10
• Humanitarian Bowl: Clemson 49, Louisiana Tech (WAC Champ) 24
• Motor City Bowl: No. 25 Toledo (MAC Champ) 23, Cincinnati 16
• Seattle Bowl: Georgia Tech 24, No. 11 Stanford 14
• Music City Bowl: Boston College 20, No. 16 Georgia 16
• Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 10, Southern California 6
• GMAC Bowl: Marshall 64, East Carolina 61 (2 OT)
• Silicon Valley Classic: Michigan State 44, No. 20 Fresno State 35
• Galleryfurniture.com bowl: Texas A&M 28, TCU 9
• New Orleans Bowl: Colorado State 45, North Texas (Sun Belt Champ) 20

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

Player	School	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Eric Crouch	Nebraska	QB	162	98	88	770
Rex Grossman	Florida	QB	137	105	87	708
Ken Dorsey	Miami (FL)	QB	109	122	67	638
Joey Harrington	Oregon	QB	54	68	66	364
David Carr	Fresno State	QB	34	60	58	280
Antwaan Randle El	Indiana	QB	46	39	51	267
Roy Williams	Oklahoma	S	13	36	35	146
Bryant McKinnie	Miami (FL)	OT	26	12	14	116
Dwight Freeney	Syracuse	DE	2	6	24	42
Julius Peppers	North Carolina	DE	2	10	15	41

Other annual awards

• Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) – Ken Dorsey, Miami
• Walter Camp Award (Back) – Eric Crouch, Nebraska
• Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) – Eric Crouch, Nebraska
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) – David Carr, Fresno State
• Doak Walker Award (Running back) – Luke Staley, BYU
• Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide receiver) – Josh Reed, Louisiana State
• John Mackey Award (Tight end) – Daniel Graham, Colorado
• Dave Rimington Trophy (Center) – LeCharles Bentley, Ohio State
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) – Roy Williams, Oklahoma
• Chuck Bednarik Award – Julius Peppers, North Carolina
• Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) – Rocky Calmus, Oklahoma
• Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) – Julius Peppers, North Carolina
• Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) – Bryant McKinnie, Miami, OT
• Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive back) – Roy Williams, Oklahoma
• Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) – Seth Marler, Tulane
• Ray Guy Award (Punter) – Travis Dorsch, Purdue
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award – Larry Coker, Miami
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Ralph Friedgen, Maryland

References

1. "2001 NCAA Division IA Football Power Ratings".
2. Estle, Sarah; ONeil, Dave (October 28, 2001). "Nothing easy about win No. 324". The Lantern. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
3. Patriot-News, The (October 30, 2009). "Penn State vs. Northwestern: The last 10 meetings". pennlive.com. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
4. "Ohio State vs. Penn State – Game Summary – October 27, 2001 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
5. "Paterno passes the Bear". DeseretNews.com. October 28, 2001. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
6. "2001 BCS Standings, BCS Rankings". Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.