CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2001 Pittsburgh

7–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Big East), coached by Walt Harris.

Schedule and results

Pittsburgh in 2001, game by game: won vs. East Tennessee State 31–0; lost vs. South Florida 26–35; lost vs. No. 1 Miami 21–43; lost at Notre Dame 7–24; lost vs. Syracuse 10–42; lost at Boston College 7–45; won at Temple 33–7; won vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech 38–7; won at Rutgers 42–0; won at West Virginia 23–17; won vs. UAB 24–6; won vs. NC State 34–19+42−38Won 31–0 vs. East Tennessee State+31East Tennessee …Lost 26–35 vs. South Florida-9South FloridaLost 21–43 vs. No. 1 Miami-22No. 1 MiamiLost 7–24 at Notre Dame-17Notre DameLost 10–42 vs. Syracuse-32SyracuseLost 7–45 at Boston College-38Boston CollegeWon 33–7 at Temple+26TempleWon 38–7 vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech+31No. 12 Virginia TechWon 42–0 at Rutgers+42RutgersWon 23–17 at West Virginia+6West VirginiaWon 24–6 vs. UAB+18UABWon 34–19 vs. NC State+15NC State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsEast Tennessee StateW 31–⁠085%
Sep 8vsSouth FloridaL 26–⁠3573%
Sep 27vs1MiamiL 21–⁠4326%
Oct 6atNotre DameL 7–⁠2435%
Oct 13vsSyracuseL 10–⁠4238%
Oct 20atBoston CollegeL 7–⁠4526%
Oct 27atTempleW 33–⁠745%
Nov 3vs12Virginia TechW 38–⁠722%
Nov 10atRutgersW 42–⁠069%
Nov 24atWest VirginiaW 23–⁠1752%
Dec 1vsUABW 24–⁠661%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvsNC StateTangerine BowlW 34–⁠1950%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat NC State 34–⁠19 in the Tangerine Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big East.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

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.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big East
AP final
Unranked
Points
296–⁠245
Coach
Walt Harris
Elo
1600 +83 this season
SP+ rating
12.0 No. 32 of 117; offense No. 56, defense No. 20
SRS
7.4 No. 36 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 38
Offensive coordinator
J.D. Brookhart
Defensive coordinator
Paul Rhoads
Offense
West Coast
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 33— allowed
Defense-0.1own 34— 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

Larry Fitzgerald WR★★★★No. 94

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

The 2001 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers14.00.970

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 2Antonio Bryant WRDallas Cowboys
Rd 5Ramon Walker DBHouston Texans
Rd 5Bryan Knight LBChicago Bears

All-Big East

3 first team, 1 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.