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 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.