2002 Sugar Bowl

2002 Nokia Sugar Bowl
2002 Nokia Sugar Bowl
BCS Bowl Game; 68th Sugar Bowl
	The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl.
Illinois Fighting Illini	LSU Tigers
(10–1)	(9–3)
Big Ten	SEC
34	47
Head coach: ; Ron Turner	Head coach: ; Nick Saban
Date	January 1, 2002
Season	2001
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Rohan Davey (QB, LSU)
Favorite	LSU by 2
Referee	Steve Usechek (Big XII)
Attendance	77,688
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Mike Tirico and David Norrie
Nielsen ratings	8.6
Sugar Bowl
< 2001	2003 >

Last updated April 15, 2025

The 2002 Sugar Bowl, a 2001–02 BCS game, was played on January 1, 2002. This 68th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Illinois Fighting Illini, and the LSU Tigers. Illinois came into the game 10–1, and ranked 8th in the BCS, whereas LSU came into the game 9–3, and ranked 13th 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 2001, LSU received an invitation to the Sugar Bowl. Their opponent would be Big Ten champion Illinois.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois won the Big Ten title and earn a BCS berth as their conference's champion. The Big Ten's champion usually gets an invitation to the Rose Bowl, however the 2002 Rose Bowl was the designated BCS National Championship Game for 2001. This meant the Fighting Illini would get an at-large berth to another BCS bowl, which in turn was the Sugar Bowl. Illinois entered the bowl with a 10–1 record (7–1 in conference).

LSU Tigers

LSU defeated Tennessee in the 2001 SEC Championship Game to earn a berth in the Sugar Bowl as their conference's champion. LSU entered the bowl with a 9–3 record (5–3 in conference).

Game summary

Domanick Davis started the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run to open up a 7–0 LSU lead. In the second quarter, he posted touchdown runs of 25 and 16 yards, as LSU opened a 21–0 lead. Quarterback Rohan Davey found wide receiver Josh Reed in the end zone for a 28–0 lead. Quarterback Kittner threw a touchdown pass to Hodges to close the deficit to 28–7. Rohan Davey added another touchdown pass before the half to open a 34–7 half-time lead.

Illinois tried to rally but were too far behind, and LSU ended up winning 47–34. Davey and Josh Reed would play in their final game together. Davey would graduate and Reed would forgo his senior season to play in the NFL at Buffalo.

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ILL	LSU
1	7:22	7	43	3:03	LSU	Domanick Davis 4-yard touchdown run, John Corbello kick good	0	7
2	13:29	3	36	1:08	LSU	Domanick Davis 25-yard touchdown run, John Corbello kick no good (blocked)	0	13
2	10:23	6	69	1:31	LSU	Domanick Davis 16-yard touchdown run, John Corbello kick good	0	20
2	4:42	3	5	0:54	LSU	Josh Reed 5-yard touchdown reception from Rohan Davey, John Corbello kick good	0	27
2	3:47	3	75	0:55	ILL	Brian Hodges 2-yard touchdown reception from Kurt Kittner, Peter Christofilakos kick good	7	27
2	0:18	10	73	3:29	LSU	Robert Royal 6-yard touchdown reception from Rohan Davey, John Corbello kick good	7	34
3	10:35	4	70	1:54	ILL	Brandon Lloyd 17-yard touchdown reception from Kurt Kittner, Peter Christofilakos kick good	14	34
3	9:29	3	67	1:06	LSU	Josh Reed 32-yard touchdown reception from Rohan Davey, John Corbello kick good	14	41
3	7:20	7	78	2:09	ILL	Brandon Lloyd 10-yard touchdown reception from Kurt Kittner, Peter Christofilakos kick good	21	41
4	11:33	6	54	1:23	ILL	Walter Young 17-yard touchdown reception from Kurt Kittner, Peter Christofilakos kick good	28	41
4	8:39	6	64	2:54	LSU	Domanick Davis 4-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass intercepted	28	47
4	5:41	1	40	0:12	ILL	Walter Young 40-yard touchdown reception from Kurt Kittner, 2-point pass incomplete	34	47
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							34	47

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Fighting Illini	0	7	14	13	34
No. 13 Tigers	7	27	7	6	47

Statistics	ILL	LSU
First downs	14	32
Plays–yards	57–363	97–595
Rushes–yards	21–61	44–151
Passing yards	302	444
Passing: comp–att–int	15–36–1	31–53–0
Time of possession	20:44	39:16

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois	Passing	Kurt Kittner	14/35, 262 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Rocky Harvey	9 car, 42 yds
	Receiving	Walter Young	6 rec, 178 yds, 2 TD
LSU	Passing	Rohan Davey	33/53, 444 yds, 3 TD
	Rushing	Domanick Davis	28 car, 122 yds, 4 TD
	Receiving	Josh Reed	14 rec, 239 yds, 2 TD

References

↑ "Sugar Bowl Odds and Betting History".

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[1] "Sugar Bowl Odds and Betting History".

[1]

v t e 2001–02 NCAA football bowl game season
New Orleans (Dec. 18) GMAC (Dec. 19) Tangerine (Dec. 20) Las Vegas (Dec. 25) Seattle (Dec. 27) Independence (Dec. 27) Galleryfurniture.com (Dec. 28) Music City (Dec. 28) Holiday (Dec. 28) Motor City (Dec. 29) Alamo (Dec. 29) Insight.com (Dec. 29) Sun (Dec. 31) Liberty (Dec. 31) Peach (Dec. 31) Humanitarian (Dec. 31) Silicon Valley (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Outback (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 1) Florida Citrus (Jan. 1)
Bowl Championship Series games: Fiesta (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 2) Rose (Jan. 3)
All-Star Games: East–West Shrine Game (Jan. 12) Senior Bowl (Jan. 26)

v t e Sugar Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff New Year's Six Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (Jan) 2022 (Dec) 2024 2025
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.