# 2001 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 2001 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Frank Solich and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Notably, quarterback Eric Crouch won the Heisman Trophy that season, which culminanted in a national championship appearance.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 25 | 2:30 pm | TCU* | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (Pigskin Classic) | ABC | W 21–7 | 77,473 |
| September 1 | 11:30 am | Troy State* | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | FSN | W 42–14 | 77,812 |
| September 8 | 7:00 pm | No. 17 Notre Dame* | No. 5 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (College GameDay) (rivalry) | ABC | W 27–10 | 78,118 |
| September 20 | 7:30 pm | Rice* | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | | W 48–3 | 77,344 |
| September 29 | 11:30 am | at Missouri | No. 4 | Faurot FieldColumbia, MO (rivalry) | FSN | W 36–3 | 64,204 |
| October 6 | 6:00 pm | Iowa State | No. 4 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | FSN | W 48–14 | 78,002 |
| October 13 | 1:00 pm | at Baylor | No. 4 | Floyd Casey StadiumWaco, TX | | W 48–7 | 38,102 |
| October 20 | 6:00 pm | Texas Tech | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | FSN | W 41–31 | 77,838 |
| October 27 | 11:00 am | No. 2 Oklahoma | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) (College GameDay) | ABC | W 20–10 | 78,031 |
| November 3 | 6:00 pm | at Kansas | No. 2 | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS (rivalry) | FSN | W 51–7 | 50,750 |
| November 10 | 2:30 pm | Kansas State | No. 2 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE (rivalry) | ABC | W 31–21 | 77,818 |
| November 23 | 2:30 pm | at No. 14 Colorado | No. 2 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO (rivalry) | ABC | L 36–62 | 53,790 |
| January 3, 2002 | 7:00 pm | vs. No. 1 Miami (FL)* | No. 4 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) (College GameDay) (rivalry) | ABC | L 14–37 | 93,781 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Roster and coaching staff
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Willie Amos
* Dion Booker
* Jerrell Pippens
| WILL | MIKE | SAM |
| Mark Vedral | Jamie Burrow | Scott Shanle |
| T.J. Hollowell | Barrett Ruud | Ira Cooper |
| Blanchard Johnson | Jason Richenberger | Gabe Fries |
* ROVER
* Dion Booker
* Philip Bland
* Aaron Terpening
* CB
* Keyuo Craver
* Pat Ricketts
* Lornell McPherson
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Demoine Adams | Jon Clanton | Jeremy Slechta | Chris Kelsay |
| J.P. Wichmann Trevor Johnson | Ryon Bingham | Casey Nelson | Justin Smith |
| ⋅ | Manaia Brown | Patrick Kabongo | Benard Thomas |
* CB
* DeJuan Groce
* Erwin Swiney
* Jeff Hemje
Offense :
* WR
* Wilson Thomas
* Ben Cornelson
* Mike Stuntz
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Dave Volk | Toniu Fonoti | John Garrison | Jon Rutherford | Dan Vil Waldrop |
| Scott Koethe | Steve Altstadt | David Kolowski | Wes Cody | Chris Loos |
| Kyle Kollmorgen | Mike Erickson | Matt Shook. | Junior Tagoa'i | Nate Kolterman |
* TE
* Tracey Wistrom
* Aaron Golliday Jon Bowling
* Kyle Ringenberg
* WR
* John Gibson
* Troy Hassebroek
* John Klem
* QB
* Eric Crouch
* Jammal Lord
* Joe Chrisman
* RB
* Dahrran Diedrick
* Thunder Collins
* DeAntae Grixby
* FB
* Judd Davies
* Steve Kriewald
* Paul Kastl
* Special teams
* PK Josh Brown
* P Kyle Larson
* KR Josh Davis
* PR DeJuan Groce

## Game summaries
### TCU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| TCU | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Nebraska | 13 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 21 |

### Troy State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Troy State | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • Nebraska | 14 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 42 |

### Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Nebraska | 17 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 27 |

### Rice

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| • Nebraska | 21 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 48 |
Rice at Nebraska, on September 20, 2001 was the first NCAA College Football game following the infamous Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 36 |
| Missouri | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Iowa State | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| • Nebraska | 20 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 48 |

### Baylor

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 48 |
| Baylor | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Texas Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Texas Tech | 13 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 31 |
| • Nebraska | 21 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 41 |

### Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 20 |

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 20 | 7 | 24 | 51 |
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Kansas State | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 31 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 3 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 36 |
| • Colorado | 28 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 62 |
#14 ranked Colorado pulled off a huge upset over #2 ranked Nebraska.

### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| • Miami (FL) | 7 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 37 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Coaches | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Not released |

## After the season

Nebraska finished in a tie for 1st place in the Big 12 North Division and also tied for 1st conference-wide, with a final record of 11–2 (7–1).
The events which took place at the end of the season put a strain on the system of college rankings and polls. The Cornhuskers lost their final regular season game to Colorado 36–62, leaving both tied for 1st place in the Big 12 North Division. As Colorado won the head-to-head contest, Colorado then participated in the Big 12 Championship and defeated Texas 39–37. Despite Colorado's accomplishments, Nebraska's strength-of-schedule component in the Bowl Championship Series selection system resulted in the Cornhuskers being selected to play in the 2002 Rose Bowl for the BCS National Championship Game against Miami, despite the fact that Nebraska had not played in its own conference championship game and technically had not even won its own division.
Nebraska then fell to Miami 14–37 in the Rose Bowl, but the controversy of these events led to more modifications to the BCS formula, which followed a pattern of seasonal tweaks dating back nearly to when the BCS system was implemented.
Senior Cornhusker quarterback Eric Crouch was the 2001 recipient of the Walter Camp Award, the Davey O'Brien Award, and the Heisman Trophy. Coach Solich was also selected Big 12 Football Coach of the Year.

### Awards

| Award | Name(s) |
| Heisman Trophy | Eric Crouch |
| Walter Camp Award | Eric Crouch |
| Davey O'Brien Award | Eric Crouch |
| Sporting News Player of the Year | Eric Crouch |
| ABC/Chevrolet Player of the Year | Eric Crouch |
| Big 12 Coach of the Year | Frank Solich |
| All-American 1st Team | Toniu Fonoti, Keyuo Craver, Eric Crouch |
| All-American 2nd Team | Chris Kelsay |
| All-American 3rd Team | Tracey Wistrom |
| All-Big 12 1st team | Toniu Fonoti, Eric Crouch, Keyuo Craver, Dahrran Diedrick |
| All-Big 12 2nd team | Dave Volk, Chris Kelsay, Jamie Burrow |
| All-Big 12 3rd team | Tracey Wistrom, Jeremy Slechta, DeJuan Groce, Kyle Larson |

### NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 2001 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.
| Name | Team |
| Demoine Adams | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Titus Adams | New York Jets |
| Ryon Bingham | San Diego Chargers |
| Josh Brown | Seattle Seahawks |
| Daniel Bullocks | Detroit Lions |
| Josh Bullocks | New Orleans Saints |
| Eric Crouch | St. Louis Rams |
| Keyuo Craver | New Orleans Saints |
| Josh Davis | New York Jets |
| Toniu Fonoti | San Diego Chargers |
| Aaron Golliday | Scottish Claymores |
| DeJuan Groce | St. Louis Rams |
| T. J. Hollowell | New York Giants |
| Richie Incognito | St. Louis Rams |
| Trevor Johnson | New York Jets |
| Patrick Kabongo | Detroit Lions |
| Chris Kelsay | Buffalo Bills |
| Kyle Larson | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Jammal Lord | Houston Texans |
| Jerrell Pippens | Chicago Bears |
| Cory Ross | Baltimore Ravens |
| Barrett Ruud | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Scott Shanle | St. Louis Rams |
| Jeremy Slechta | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Le Kevin Smith | New England Patriots |
| Erwin Swiney | Green Bay Packers |