2001 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

2001 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Tangerine Bowl champion
Tangerine Bowl, W 34–19 vs. NC State
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	7–5 (4–3 Big East)
Head coach	Walt Harris (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	J. D. Brookhart (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Paul Rhoads (2nd season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Heinz Field
Seasons ←  2000 2002  →

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

The 2001 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	6:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State *	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA		W 31–0	47,919	[1]
September 8	1:30 p.m.	South Florida *	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA		L 26–35	39,542
September 27	8:00 p.m.	No. 1 Miami (FL)	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	L 21–43	57,224
October 6	2:30 p.m.	at Notre Dame *	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 7–24	80,795
October 13	12:00 p.m.	Syracuse	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	L 10–42	52,367
October 20	12:00 p.m.	at Boston College	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ESPN Plus	L 7–45	41,637
October 27	12:00 p.m.	at Temple	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA		W 33–7	12,859
November 3	12:00 p.m.	No. 12 Virginia Tech	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN Plus	W 38–7	55,585
November 10	1:30 p.m.	at Rutgers	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ		W 42–0	13,520
November 24	12:00 p.m.	at West Virginia	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	ESPN	W 23–17	44,407
December 1	1:30 p.m.	UAB *	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA		W 24–6	40,855	[2]
December 20	7:30 p.m.	vs. NC State *	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	ESPN	W 34–19	28,562
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

2001 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 11 David Priestley Sr QB 12 Rod Rutherford So OL 77 Bryan Anderson Jr WR 80 Antonio Bryant Jr OT 75 Matt Morgan Fr RB 32 Lousaka Polite So TE 83 Kris Wilson So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 5 Torrie Cox Jr LB 51 Gerald Hayes Jr DE 57 Bryan Knight Sr DB 19 Shawntae Spencer So DB 25 Ramon Walker Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 36 Andy Lee So	Head coach Walt Harris Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Coaching staff

2001 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
	Coaching staff Walt Harris – Head coach Bob Junko – Assistant head coach/defensive tackles J. D. Brookhart – Offensive coordinator/Wide receivers Paul Rhoads – Defensive coordinator/secondary David Blackwell – Linebackers Curtis Bray – Defensive ends Bryan Deal – Recruiting coordinator/Specialists Tom Freeman – Offensive line/run game coordinator Bob Ligashesky – Tight ends/Special teams Shawn Simms – Running backs			Support staff Chris LaSala – Assistant Athletic Director/football operations Matt Williamson – Recruiting Assistant Sean McGowan – Graduate assistant Bob Ando – Graduate assistant			Strength and conditioning staff Buddy Morris – Strength and conditioning coach Chad Hutsko – Assistant strength and conditioning coach

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Antonio Bryant	Wide receiver	2	63	Dallas Cowboys
Ramon Walker	Defensive back	5	153	Houston Texans
Bryan Knight	Linebacker	5	165	Chicago Bears

^[3]

Notes

• The December 1 game against UAB was a makeup of games that were postponed due to the 9/11 terror attacks cancelling all major sporting events for one week.

References

1. "Nervous start; Bryant's ankle injury, opener at Heinz Field rattle Panthers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 2, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Surging Panthers land Tangerine Bowl bid". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 2, 2001. Retrieved December 14, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
3. "2002 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.