2001 NCAA Division I-A football season

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.

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 teams117[1]
Preseason AP No. 1Florida
Post-season
DurationDecember 18, 2001 –
January 3, 2002
Bowl games25
Heisman TrophyEric Crouch (quarterback, Nebraska)
Bowl Championship Series
2002 Rose Bowl
SiteRose Bowl Stadium,
Pasadena, California
Champion(s)Miami (FL)
Division I-A football seasons
← 2000
2002 →

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.

School2000 Conference2001 Conference
Arkansas State IndiansBig WestSun Belt
Boise State BroncosBig WestWAC
Idaho VandalsBig WestSun Belt
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' CajunsI-A IndependentSun Belt
Louisiana–Monroe WarhawksI-A IndependentSun Belt
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs I-A Independent WAC
Middle Tennessee Blue RaidersI-A IndependentSun Belt
New Mexico State AggiesBig WestSun Belt
North Texas Mean GreenBig WestSun Belt
TCU Horned Frogs WAC Conference USA
Troy State TrojansI-AA IndependentI-A Independent
Utah State AggiesBig WestI-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.

Conference standings
2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
Div  ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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
ConfOverall
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

Other New Year's Day bowls

December bowl games

Heisman Trophy voting

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

PlayerSchoolPosition1st2nd3rdTotal
Eric CrouchNebraskaQB1629888770
Rex GrossmanFloridaQB13710587708
Ken DorseyMiami (FL)QB10912267638
Joey HarringtonOregonQB546866364
David CarrFresno StateQB346058280
Antwaan Randle ElIndianaQB463951267
Roy WilliamsOklahomaS133635146
Bryant McKinnieMiami (FL)OT261214116
Dwight FreeneySyracuseDE262442
Julius PeppersNorth CarolinaDE2101541

Other annual awards

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.
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