2001 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13

2001 Southeastern Conference football standings

	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

The 2001 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Gamecocks were led by Lou Holtz in his third season as head coach, and played their home games in Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

South Carolina followed up one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history in 2000 with another successful season in 2001. South Carolina's game on September 20 against Mississippi State was the first NCAA Division I-A game played following the September 11 attacks. On January 1, 2002, the Gamecocks defeated Ohio State in the 2002 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, and finished the season ranked #13 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.

Schedule

The November 10 game played host to ESPN's College Gameday, a first for the program. A game against Bowling Green was scheduled for September 15, but was cancelled in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The game was never played. South Carolina added Wofford to the schedule to replace the open date originally scheduled for November 3.

September 17:00 PMBoise State*No. 21

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC

W 32–13 83,019 September 87:45 PMat No. 25 GeorgiaNo. 21

• Sanford Stadium
• Athens, GA

ESPNW 14–9 86,520 September 207:30 PMat No. 17 Mississippi StateNo. 18

• Scott Field
• Starkville, MS

ESPNW 16–14 43,579 September 2912:30 PMAlabamaNo. 15

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC

JPSW 37–36 84,100 October 61:00 PMKentuckyNo. 13

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC

PPVW 42–6 80,250 October 133:30 PMat ArkansasNo. 9

• War Memorial Stadium
• Little Rock, AR

CBSL 7–10 53,514 October 201:00 PMVanderbiltNo. 16

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC

W 46–14 83,104 October 276:00 PMat No. 9 TennesseeNo. 12

• Neyland Stadium
• Knoxville, TN

ESPN2L 10–17 107,530 November 31:00 PMWofford*No. 17

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC

W 38–14 77,922 November 107:45 PMNo. 4 FloridaNo. 14

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC

ESPNL 17–54 84,900 November 1712:30 PMClemson*No. 22

• Williams-Brice Stadium
• Columbia, SC (Battle of the Palmetto State)

JPSW 20–15 85,000 January 111:00 AMvs. No. 22 Ohio State*No. 14

• Raymond James Stadium
• Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)

ESPNW 31–28 66,249