The 2001 season
Miami finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–0 under Larry Coker, after it beat Nebraska 37–14 in the Rose Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Nebraska 20, No. 2 Oklahoma 10 (Oct 27, 2001). One Division I-A team finished unbeaten. 50 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents. Share
Heisman Trophy: Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska, who also won the Walter Camp and Davey O’Brien.
The Heisman vote: Eric Crouch 770 points, Rex Grossman 708
| Player | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Crouch QB, Nebraska | 770 | 162 | 98 | 88 | |
| Rex Grossman QB, Florida | 708 | 137 | 105 | 87 | |
| Ken Dorsey QB, Miami (FL) | 638 | 109 | 122 | 67 | |
| Joey Harrington QB, Oregon | 364 | 54 | 68 | 66 | |
| David Carr QB, Fresno State | 280 | 34 | 60 | 58 | |
| Antwaan Randle El QB, Indiana | 267 | 46 | 39 | 51 | |
| Roy Williams S, Oklahoma | 146 | 13 | 36 | 35 | |
| Bryant McKinnie OT, Miami (FL) | 116 | 26 | 12 | 14 | |
| Dwight Freeney DE, Syracuse | 42 | 2 | 6 | 24 | |
| Julius Peppers DE, North Carolina | 41 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.
Scoreboards
Final AP poll
Biggest upsets
| Oct 13, 2001 | Auburn 23, 1Florida 20 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | Oklahoma State 16, 4Oklahoma 13 |
| Oct 27, 2001 | Syracuse 22, 5Virginia Tech 14 |
| Oct 6, 2001 | Georgia 26, 6Tennessee 24 |
| Nov 3, 2001 | Michigan State 26, 6Michigan 24 |
| Nov 10, 2001 | Oregon State 49, 8Washington 24 |
| Sep 29, 2001 | Clemson 47, 9Georgia Tech 44 |
| Oct 13, 2001 | Arkansas 10, 9South Carolina 7 |
| Sep 2, 2001 | Fresno State 44, 10Oregon State 24 |
| Oct 27, 2001 | 20Stanford 38, 4UCLA 28 |
| Nov 10, 2001 | NC State 34, 10Florida State 28 |
| Nov 24, 2001 | Ohio State 26, 11Michigan 20 |
Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.
The AP poll, week by week
Climbed
- Coloradounranked → No. 9
- Washington Stateunranked → No. 10
- Marylandunranked → No. 11
- Illinoisunranked → No. 12
- Syracuseunranked → No. 14
Fell
- Oregon StateNo. 11 → unranked
- Georgia TechNo. 10 → No. 24
- Kansas StateNo. 13 → unranked
- NorthwesternNo. 16 → unranked
From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.
National leaders
| Passing yards | David Carr (Fresno State) | 4,839 yds |
|---|---|---|
| Passing touchdowns | David Carr (Fresno State) | 42 TD |
| Passer rating | Rex Grossman (Florida) | 170.8 |
| Rushing yards | Chance Kretschmer (Nevada) | 1,732 yds |
| Rushing touchdowns | Luke Staley (BYU) | 24 TD |
| Yards per carry | Santonio Beard (Alabama) | 8.2 |
| Receptions | Rodney Wright (Fresno State) | 104 catches |
| Receiving yards | Josh Reed (LSU) | 1,740 yds |
| Yards per catch | Doug Gabriel (UCF) | 28.7 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Ashley Lelie (Hawai’i) | 19 TD |
| Points | Luke Staley (BYU) | 170 pts |
| Points per game | Luke Staley (BYU) | 15.45 |
| Total offense | David Carr (Fresno State) | 4,906 yds |
| Total offense per game | Rex Grossman (Florida) | 354.9 |
| Punt return average | Roman Hollowell (Colorado) | 18.0 |
| Kickoff return average | Chris Massey (Oklahoma State) | 34.8 |
The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.
Conference champions
Division I-A
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Maryland
- Big 12
- Colorado
- Big East
- Miami
- Big Ten
- Illinois
- Conference USA
- Louisville
- Mid-American Conference
- Toledo
- Mountain West Conference
- BYU
- Pac-10
- Oregon
- Southeastern Conference
- LSU
- Sun Belt Conference
- Middle Tennessee and North Texas (shared)
- Western Athletic Conference
- Louisiana Tech
Division I-AA
- Atlantic 10
- William & Mary
- Big Sky
- Montana
- Gateway Football Conference
- Northern Iowa
- Ivy League
- Harvard
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Duquesne
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
- Florida A&M
- Northeast Conference
- Sacred Heart
- Ohio Valley Conference
- Eastern Illinois
- Patriot League
- Lehigh
- Pioneer Football League
- Dayton
- Southern Conference
- Furman and Georgia Southern (shared)
- Southland Conference
- McNeese and Sam Houston (shared)
- Southwestern Athletic Conference
- Grambling
Division II and below
- Lone Star Conference
- Tarleton State
- North Central Conference
- North Dakota
- Northeast-10 Conference
- Long Island University
From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.
Consensus All-Americans
- QBRex Grossman, Florida
- RBLuke Staley, BYU
- RBWilliam Green, Boston College
- WRJabar Gaffney, Florida
- WRJosh Reed, LSU
- TEDaniel Graham, Colorado
- OTBryant McKinnie, Miami
- OTMike Pearson, Florida
- OTMike Williams, Texas
- OGToniu Fonoti, Nebraska
- OGAndre Gurode, Colorado
- CLeCharles Bentley, Ohio State
- DEDwight Freeney, Syracuse
- DEJulius Peppers, North Carolina
- DEAlex Brown, Florida
- DTJohn Henderson, Tennessee
- LBRocky Calmus, Oklahoma
- LBE.J. Henderson, Maryland
- LBRobert Thomas, UCLA
- CBQuentin Jammer, Texas
- DBRoy Williams, Oklahoma
- SEd Reed, Miami
- KDamon Duval, Auburn
- PTravis Dorsch, Purdue
Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2001 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2001 All-America teams page.
The 2001 awards
Every awardPlayer of the year
- HeismanEric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
- MaxwellKen Dorsey, QB, Miami (FL)
- Walter CampEric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
By position
- Davey O’BrienEric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
- Unitas Golden ArmDavid Carr, QB, Fresno State
- Doak WalkerLuke Staley, RB, BYU
- BiletnikoffJosh Reed, WR, LSU
- MackeyDaniel Graham, TE, Colorado
- RimingtonLeCharles Bentley, C, Ohio State
- OutlandBryant McKinnie, OT, Miami (FL)
- LombardiJulius Peppers, DE, North Carolina
- ButkusRocky Calmus, LB, Oklahoma
- ThorpeRoy Williams, SS, Oklahoma
- GrozaSeth Marler, K, Tulane
- Ray GuyTravis Dorsch, K, Purdue
Defensive player of the year
- NagurskiRoy Williams, SS, Oklahoma
- BednarikJulius Peppers, DE, North Carolina
Scholarship and character
- Campbell TrophyJoaquin Gonzalez, OT, Miami (FL)
The champion’s staff
Every title staff
Miami 12 on the staff list
- Larry Cokerhead coach
- Randy Shannondefensive coordinator
- Rob Chudzinskioffensive coordinator, tight ends
- Vernon Hargreaveslinebackers
- Curtis Johnsonwide receivers
- Art Kehoeoffensive line
- Greg Markdefensive line
- Don Soldingerrunning backs, special teams
- Mark Stoopsdefensive backs
- Dan Wernerquarterbacks
Support staff (2)
Strength and conditioning
- Andreu Swasey head strength & conditioning
Operations and recruiting
- Jeff Merk director of football operations
The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.
Final BCS standings
| 1 | Miami | 11–0 |
| 2 | Nebraska | 11–1 |
| 3 | Colorado | 10–2 |
| 4 | Oregon | 10–1 |
| 5 | Florida | 9–2 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 10–2 |
| 7 | Texas | 10–2 |
| 8 | Illinois | 10–1 |
| 9 | Stanford | 9–2 |
| 10 | Maryland | 10–1 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 10–2 |
| 12 | Washington State | 9–2 |
| 13 | LSU | 9–3 |
| 14 | South Carolina | 8–3 |
| 15 | Washington | 8–3 |
The last standings of the season, released December 9: the Bowl Championship Series’ formula of polls and computer rankings that matched No. 1 and No. 2 in the title game, 1998–2013. From Wikipedia’s season rankings article (CC BY-SA); records as it lists them.
Bowls and playoff
ScoreboardRule book changes
Every rule bookThe 2001 NCAA rule book against the one before: 1 new, 16 changed and 2 renumbered articles.
Rule 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment
- Changed Rule 1-1-6 Persons Subject to the Rules (General Provisions)
- Changed Rule 1-4-11 Use of To bacco (Players and Playing Equipment)
Rule 2: Definitions
- Changed Rule 2-2-3 Loose Ball (The Ball: Live, Dead, Loose)
- Changed Rule 2-14-1 (Hurd ling)
- New Rule 2-18-2 Offside (Encroachment and Offside)
Rule 3: Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions
- Changed Rule 3-3-7 Length of Timeouts (Timeouts)
Rule 7: Snapping and Passing the Ball
- Changed Rule 7-1-2 Not Outside an Inbounds Line (The Scrimmage)
- Renumbered Rule 7-1-4 Shifts and False Starts (The Scrimmage) was Rule 7-1-5
- Renumbered Rule 7-1-5 Defensive Team Requirements (The Scrimmage) was Rule 7-1-4
- Changed Rule 7-3-2 Illegal Forward Pass (Forw a rd Pass)
- Changed Rule 7-3-5 Eligibility Regained (Forw a rd Pass)
- Changed Rule 7-3-8 Illegal Contact and Pass Interfe rence (Forw a rd Pass)
- Changed Rule 7-3-11 Illegal Touching (Forw a rd Pass)
Rule 8: Scoring
- Changed Rule 8-1-1 Scoring Plays (Value of Scores)
- Changed Rule 8-1-2 For feited Games (Value of Scores)
- Changed Rule 8-2-1 How Scored (Touchdown)
- Changed Rule 8-3-6 Next Play (Try Down)
Rule 9: Conduct of Players and Others Subject to Rules
- Changed Rule 9-2-3 Unfair Acts (Noncontact Fouls)
- Changed Rule 9-3-6 When Ball Is Loose (Blocking, Use of Hand and Arm)
Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).