2001 NCAA Division I-A football season

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The 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season 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. 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, #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. However, the BCS computers didn't take into account time of loss, so one-loss Nebraska came out ahead of two-loss Colorado and one-loss, second-ranked 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.

The Big West Conference stopped sponsoring football, as had many of its members in the past decade. Its football playing members joined different conferences: Boise State joined the WAC, Arkansas State, New Mexico State and North Texas joined the Sun Belt Conference, which sponsored football for the first time in 2001. Idaho also joined the Sun Belt, but as a football-only member. Utah State would stay in the Big West, playing football as an Independent.

The newly formed Boise State/Fresno State rivalry would be a major factor in the race to be the "BCS buster" for several seasons.

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 play, the host team being the Sun Belt champion.

Bowl Championship Series Rankings

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

Bowl games

BCS bowls

• Rose Bowl: #1 Miami (FL) (BCS #1) 37, #4 Nebraska (BCS #2) 14
• Fiesta Bowl: #2 Oregon (Pac 10 champ) 38, #3 Colorado (Big 12 champ) 16
• Sugar Bowl: #12 LSU (SEC champ) 47, #7 Illinois (Big 10 champ) 34
• Orange Bowl: #5 Florida (At Large) 56, #6 Maryland (ACC champ) 23

Other New Years Day Bowls

• Cotton Bowl: #10 Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 3
• Florida Citrus Bowl: #8 Tennessee 45, #17 Michigan 17
• Gator Bowl: #24 Florida State 30, #15 Virginia Tech 17
• 2002 Outback Bowl: #14 South Carolina 31, #22 Ohio State 28

December Bowl Games

• Holiday Bowl: #9 Texas 47, #21 Washington 43
• Peach Bowl: North Carolina 16, Auburn 10
• Tangerine Bowl: Pittsburgh 34, NC State 19
• Sun Bowl: #13 Washington State 33, Purdue 27
• Independence Bowl: Alabama 14, Iowa State 13
• Alamo Bowl: Iowa 19, Texas Tech 16
• Insight.com Bowl: #18 Syracuse 26, Kansas State 3
• Liberty Bowl: #23 Louisville (C-USA champ) 28, #19 BYU (MWC champ) 10
• Humanitarian Bowl: Clemson 49, Louisiana Tech (WAC Champ) 24
• Motor City Bowl: #25 Toledo (MAC Champ) 23, Cincinnati 16
• Seattle Bowl: Georgia Tech 24, #11 Stanford 14
• Music City Bowl: Boston College 20, #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, #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
Winner: 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, 0T
• 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

References