CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2001 LSU

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Nick Saban, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

LSU in 2001, game by game: won vs. Tulane 48–17; won vs. Utah State 31–14; lost at No. 7 Tennessee 18–26; lost vs. No. 2 Florida 15–44; won at Kentucky 29–25; won at Mississippi State 42–0; lost vs. Ole Miss 24–35; won at Alabama 35–21; won vs. Middle Tennessee 30–14; won vs. No. 24 Arkansas 41–38; won vs. No. 25 Auburn 27–14; won vs. No. 8 Tennessee 31–20; won vs. No. 7 Illinois 47–34+42−29Won 48–17 vs. Tulane+31TulaneWon 31–14 vs. Utah State+17Utah StateLost 18–26 at No. 7 Tennessee-8No. 7 TennesseeLost 15–44 vs. No. 2 Florida-29No. 2 FloridaWon 29–25 at Kentucky+4KentuckyWon 42–0 at Mississippi State+42Mississippi Sta…Lost 24–35 vs. Ole Miss-11Ole MissWon 35–21 at Alabama+14AlabamaWon 30–14 vs. Middle Tennessee+16Middle TennesseeWon 41–38 vs. No. 24 Arkansas+3No. 24 ArkansasWon 27–14 vs. No. 25 Auburn+13No. 25 AuburnWon 31–20 vs. No. 8 Tennessee+11No. 8 TennesseeWon 47–34 vs. No. 7 Illinois+13No. 7 Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsTulaneW 48–⁠1772%
Sep 8vsUtah StateW 31–⁠1477%
Sep 29at7TennesseeL 18–⁠2636%
Oct 6vs2FloridaL 15–⁠4440%
Oct 13atKentuckyW 29–⁠2568%
Oct 20atMississippi StateW 42–⁠052%
Oct 27vsOle MissL 24–⁠3559%
Nov 3atAlabamaW 35–⁠2149%
Nov 10vsMiddle TennesseeW 30–⁠1469%
Nov 23vs24ArkansasW 41–⁠3864%
Dec 1vs25AuburnW 27–⁠1468%
Dec 8vs8TennesseeSEC Championship GameW 31–⁠2037%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7IllinoisSugar BowlW 47–⁠3447%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 47–⁠34 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 13
  4. Wk 6: 14
  5. Wk 7: 18
  6. Wk 15: 22
  7. Wk 16: 12
  8. Final: 7

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.

Southeastern Conference champions5–⁠3 in the conference, won the SEC Championship Game

Led the nationJosh Reed: receiving yards (1,740 yds)

Biletnikoff AwardJosh Reed, WR

Consensus All-AmericanJosh Reed, WR

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 7
Points
418–⁠302
Coach
Nick Saban
Elo
1703 +136 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 9 of 117; offense No. 14, defense No. 29
SRS
14.3 No. 11 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 2
Offensive coordinator
Jimbo Fisher
Defensive coordinator
Gary Gibbs
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 31— allowed
Defense0.0own 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

Marcus Spears DT★★★★★No. 7
Marquise Hill DT★★★★★No. 8
Ben Wilkerson OC★★★★★No. 12
Michael Clayton WR★★★★★No. 19
Andrew Whitworth OG★★★★★No. 38
Joseph Addai RB★★★★No. 64
Shyrone Carey ATH★★★★No. 92
Rudy Niswanger OC★★★★No. 96

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

The 2001 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.977
Receivers15.00.992
Offensive line34.70.983
Defensive line25.00.996
Athletes and specialists14.00.971
Whole class84.60.985

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 2Josh Reed WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 4Rohan Davey QBNew England Patriots
Rd 4Jarvis Green DENew England Patriots
Rd 5Robert Royal TEWashington Redskins
Rd 6Howard Green DTHouston Texans

All-SEC

4 first team, 5 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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee7–⁠111–⁠24
Florida6–⁠210–⁠23
LSU5–⁠310–⁠37
South Carolina5–⁠39–⁠313
Georgia5–⁠38–⁠422
Auburn5–⁠37–⁠5
Ole Miss4–⁠47–⁠4
Alabama4–⁠47–⁠5
Arkansas4–⁠47–⁠5
Mississippi State2–⁠63–⁠8
Kentucky1–⁠72–⁠9
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠9

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