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2001 Boston College

8–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Big East), coached by Tom O’Brien, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Boston College in 2001, game by game: won vs. West Virginia 34–10; lost at Stanford 22–38; won at Navy 38–21; won vs. Army 31–10; won vs. Temple 33–10; lost at No. 6 Virginia Tech 20–34; won vs. Pittsburgh 45–7; won vs. Notre Dame 21–17; lost vs. No. 1 Miami 7–18; won at Rutgers 38–7; lost at No. 22 Syracuse 28–39; won vs. No. 16 Georgia 20–16+38−16Won 34–10 vs. West Virginia+24West VirginiaLost 22–38 at Stanford-16StanfordWon 38–21 at Navy+17NavyWon 31–10 vs. Army+21ArmyWon 33–10 vs. Temple+23TempleLost 20–34 at No. 6 Virginia Tech-14No. 6 Virginia TechWon 45–7 vs. Pittsburgh+38PittsburghWon 21–17 vs. Notre Dame+4Notre DameLost 7–18 vs. No. 1 Miami-11No. 1 MiamiWon 38–7 at Rutgers+31RutgersLost 28–39 at No. 22 Syracuse-11No. 22 SyracuseWon 20–16 vs. No. 16 Georgia+4No. 16 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsWest VirginiaW 34–⁠1058%
Sep 8atStanfordL 22–⁠3848%
Sep 22atNavyW 38–⁠2171%
Sep 29vsArmyW 31–⁠1083%
Oct 6vsTempleW 33–⁠1077%
Oct 13at6Virginia TechL 20–⁠3420%
Oct 20vsPittsburghW 45–⁠774%
Oct 27vsNotre DameW 21–⁠1757%
Nov 10vs1MiamiL 7–⁠1830%
Nov 17atRutgersW 38–⁠778%
Nov 24at22SyracuseL 28–⁠3933%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs16GeorgiaMusic City BowlW 20–⁠1638%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Georgia 20–⁠16 in the Music City Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big East.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 116 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 14: 25
  2. Final: 21

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2001.

Consensus All-AmericanWilliam Green, RB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big East
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 21
Points
337–⁠227
Coach
Tom O’Brien
Elo
1593 +63 this season
SP+ rating
13.0 No. 29 of 117; offense No. 51, defense No. 16
SRS
12.8 No. 19 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 48
Offensive coordinator
Dana Bible
Defensive coordinator
Frank Spaziani
Captains
Scott Bradley, Marc Colombo and Sean Guthrie
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 34— allowed
Defense-0.1own 30— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2001 class

Brandon Brokaw RB★★★★No. 125

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2001 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.961

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2002

The 2002 draft
Rd 1William Green RBCleveland Browns
Rd 1Marc Colombo OTChicago Bears

All-Big East

1 first team, 8 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2001 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2001 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Miami7–⁠012–⁠01
Syracuse6–⁠110–⁠314
Boston College4–⁠38–⁠421
Virginia Tech4–⁠38–⁠418
Pittsburgh4–⁠37–⁠5
Temple2–⁠54–⁠7
West Virginia1–⁠63–⁠8
Rutgers0–⁠72–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.