2001 NCAA Division I-A football season

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 teams	117
Preseason AP No. 1	Florida
Postseason
Duration	December 18, 2001 – January 3, 2002
Bowl games	25
Heisman Trophy	Eric Crouch (quarterback, Nebraska)
Bowl Championship Series
2002 Rose Bowl
Site	Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
Champion(s)	Miami (FL)
Division I-A football seasons
← 2000 2002 →

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.

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 Oct. 28, 2000.

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.

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. 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.

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 3 weeks of the regular season saw an incredible amount of drama as several teams were in prime position to earn their way to the Rose Bowl to play Miami. On November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, Nebraska was the number one team in the BCS heading to Boulder to play the Colorado Buffaloes. After a devastating 62–36 loss, they were unable to win their division and their season seemed to fall by the wayside, allowing the Florida Gators the inside track to meet Miami if they were able to win out.

This also gave the Oklahoma Sooners the opportunity to earn their way to the National Championship if Florida was to stumble against either Tennessee or in the SEC Championship game. Those hopes would soon dissolve the day after Nebraska's loss as the Sooners were upset at home by Oklahoma State 16–13, ending their title hopes and knocking them out of the Big 12 Championship game as well.

Florida had an inside track to the National Championship game until the following week in their matchup with Tennessee, losing that game 34–32 in Gainesville. The loss not only ended their dreams of a trip to the Rose Bowl but also ended their shot at going to Atlanta for the SEC title game. Tennessee then stepped into the number 2 spot the following week going into the SEC Championship against LSU but was upset by the Tigers 31–20, and their hopes of National Championship appearance were gone as quickly as they had come.

Later that evening, Texas entered the Big 12 Championship game against Colorado in prime time television knowing that a win would seal their spot in the Rose Bowl as the number 2 team in the BCS. Unfortunately they, too, were upset by the Buffaloes, feeling the same sting that Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Nebraska had felt the previous few weeks.

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 2 losses at the beginning of the year were tough to ignore. Others felt Oregon deserved the honor, being ranked in some polls as the number 2 team in the country. Ultimately, after all of the upsets, Nebraska ended up as the number 2 team in the BCS, despite being the team to start all of the drama 3 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.

• The Big West Conference stopped sponsoring football after the 2000 season. Its remaining football-playing members departed for the WAC, the Sun Belt (see below), or independence:
  • Boise State joined the WAC
  • Utah State opted to become an Independent.
• The Sun Belt Conference, previously a non-football conference, began sponsoring football during the 2001 season, absorbing many of the Big West's former members.
  • Arkansas State, New Mexico State and North Texas joined from the Big West.
  • Idaho joined the Sun Belt as a football-only member
  • Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, and Middle Tennessee joined after playing as independents.
• TCU joined Conference USA from the Western Athletic Conference
• Louisiana Tech joined the Western Athletic Conference after five years as an independent.
• Troy State joined Division I-A football this season.

School	2000 Conference	2001 Conference
Arkansas State Indians	Big West	Sun Belt
Boise State Broncos	Big West	WAC
Idaho Vandals	Big West	Sun Belt
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns	I-A Independent	Sun Belt
Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks	I-A Independent	Sun Belt
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	I-A Independent	WAC
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	I-A Independent	Sun Belt
New Mexico State Aggies	Big West	Sun Belt
North Texas Mean Green	Big West	Sun Belt
TCU Horned Frogs	WAC	Conference USA
Troy State Trojans	I-AA Independent	I-A Independent
Utah State Aggies	Big West	I-A Independent

Conference standings

2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North 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   South 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 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
2001 Big Ten Conference football standings Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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     Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 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
2001 Sun Belt Conference football standings Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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:

Bowl games

Main article: 2001–02 NCAA football bowl games

BCS bowls

• Rose Bowl: No. 1 Miami (FL) (BCS No. 1) 37, No. 4 Nebraska (BCS No. 2) 14
• Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) 38, No. 3 Colorado (Big 12 champ) 16
• Sugar Bowl: No. 12 LSU (SEC champ) 47, No. 7 Illinois (Big 10 champ) 34
• Orange Bowl: No. 5 Florida (At Large) 56, No. 6 Maryland (ACC champ) 23

Other New Year's Day bowls

• Cotton Bowl Classic: No. 10 Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 3
• Florida Citrus Bowl: No. 8 Tennessee 45, No. 17 Michigan 17
• Gator Bowl: No. 24 Florida State 30, No. 15 Virginia Tech 17
• Outback Bowl: No. 14 South Carolina 31, No. 22 Ohio State 28

December bowl games

• Holiday Bowl: No. 9 Texas 47, No. 21 Washington 43
• Peach Bowl: North Carolina 16, Auburn 10
• Tangerine Bowl: Pittsburgh 34, NC State 19
• Sun Bowl: No. 13 Washington State 33, Purdue 27
• Independence Bowl: Alabama 14, Iowa State 13
• Alamo Bowl: Iowa 19, Texas Tech 16
• Insight.com Bowl: No. 18 Syracuse 26, Kansas State 3
• Liberty Bowl: No. 23 Louisville (C-USA champ) 28, No. 19 BYU (MWC champ) 10
• Humanitarian Bowl: Clemson 49, Louisiana Tech (WAC Champ) 24
• Motor City Bowl: No. 25 Toledo (MAC Champ) 23, Cincinnati 16
• Seattle Bowl: Georgia Tech 24, No. 11 Stanford 14
• Music City Bowl: Boston College 20, No. 16 Georgia 16
• Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 10, Southern California 6
• GMAC Bowl: Marshall 64, East Carolina 61 (2 OT)
• Silicon Valley Classic: Michigan State 44, No. 20 Fresno State 35
• Galleryfurniture.com bowl: Texas A&M 28, TCU 9
• New Orleans Bowl: Colorado State 45, North Texas (Sun Belt Champ) 20

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is given to the Most Outstanding Player of the year.

1. Eric Crouch, Nebraska, Quarterback (770 points)
2. Rex Grossman, Florida (708 points)
3. Ken Dorsey, Miami-FL (638 points)
4. Joey Harrington, Oregon (364 points)
5. David Carr, Fresno St. (101 points)

Other annual awards

• Maxwell Award (College Player of the Year) – Ken Dorsey, Miami
• Walter Camp Award (Back) – Eric Crouch, Nebraska
• Davey O'Brien Award (Quarterback) – Eric Crouch, Nebraska
• Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Senior Quarterback) – David Carr, Fresno State
• Doak Walker Award (Running back) – Luke Staley, BYU
• Fred Biletnikoff Award (Wide receiver) – Josh Reed, Louisiana State
• John Mackey Award (Tight end) – Daniel Graham, Colorado
• Dave Rimington Trophy (Center) – LeCharles Bentley, Ohio State
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player) – Roy Williams, Oklahoma
• Chuck Bednarik Award – Julius Peppers, North Carolina
• Dick Butkus Award (Linebacker) – Rocky Calmus, Oklahoma
• Lombardi Award (Lineman or Linebacker) – Julius Peppers, North Carolina
• Outland Trophy (Interior Lineman) – Bryant McKinnie, Miami, OT
• Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive back) – Roy Williams, Oklahoma
• Lou Groza Award (Placekicker) – Seth Marler, Tulane
• Ray Guy Award (Punter) – Travis Dorsch, Purdue
• Paul "Bear" Bryant Award – Larry Coker, Miami
• The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Ralph Friedgen, Maryland