# 2001 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 2001 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team played their home games at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. They participated in the Big 12 Conference in the North Division. They were coached by head coach Gary Barnett. Colorado won the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time and secured its first BCS bowl berth. Colorado has not won the Big 12 since.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 26 | 6:00 pm | Fresno State* | | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO (Jim Thorpe Classic) | ESPN2 | L 22–24 | 47,762 |
| September 1 | 1:30 pm | vs. No. 24 Colorado State* | | Invesco Field at Mile HighDenver, CO (Rocky Mountain Showdown) | ABC | W 41–14 | 75,022 |
| September 8 | 1:30 pm | San Jose State* | | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | | W 51–15 | 40,338 |
| September 22 | 1:30 pm | Kansas | | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | | W 27–16 | 47,495 |
| October 6 | 10:30 am | at No. 12 Kansas State | | KSU StadiumManhattan, KS (rivalry) | FSN | W 16–6 | 51,101 |
| October 13 | 1:30 pm | No. 25 Texas A&M | No. 20 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | PPV | W 31–21 | 49,521 |
| October 20 | 1:30 pm | at No. 9 Texas | No. 14 | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | ABC | L 7–41 | 83,156 |
| October 27 | 6:00 pm | at Oklahoma State | No. 25 | Lewis FieldStillwater, OK | FSN | W 22–19 | 41,070 |
| November 3 | 1:00 pm | Missouri | No. 25 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO | | W 38–24 | 45,942 |
| November 10 | 6:00 pm | at Iowa State | No. 21 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | FSN | W 40–27 | 39,204 |
| November 23 | 1:30 pm | No. 2 Nebraska | No. 14 | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO (rivalry) | ABC | W 62–36 | 53,790 |
| December 1 | 7:00 pm | vs. No. 3 Texas | No. 9 | Texas StadiumIrving, TX (Big 12 Championship Game) | ABC | W 39–37 | 65,675 |
| January 1 | 2:30 pm | vs. No. 2 Oregon* | No. 3 | Sun Devil StadiumTempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl) | ABC | L 16–38 | 74,118 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
Note: Colorado was scheduled to play at Washington State on September 15 but the game was canceled due to the September 11 attacks.

## Game summaries
### Fresno State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bulldogs | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| Buffaloes | 0 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 22 |

### vs. No. 24 Colorado State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Rams | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Buffaloes | 14 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 41 |

### San Jose State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| • Buffaloes | 21 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 51 |

### Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jayhawks | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| • Buffaloes | 10 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 27 |

### at No. 12 Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Buffaloes | 7 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 16 |
| No. 12 Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |

### No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Aggies | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • No. 20 Buffaloes | 3 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
Playing as a ranked team and clinging to a 3-point lead in the final minute of play, the Buffs forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to close out a win over a second straight ranked opponent.

### at No. 9 Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buffaloes | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • No. 9 Longhorns | 7 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 41 |

### at Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 25 Buffaloes | 7 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| Cowboys | 0 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 19 |

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
| • No. 25 Buffaloes | 0 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 38 |

### at Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 21 Buffaloes | 10 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 40 |
| Cyclones | 14 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 27 |

### No. 2 Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Cornhuskers | 3 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 36 |
| • No. 14 Buffaloes | 28 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 62 |

### vs. No. 3 Texas (Big 12 Championship Game)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Longhorns | 7 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 37 |
| • No. 9 Buffaloes | 7 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 39 |

### vs. No. 2 Oregon (Fiesta Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Buffaloes | 7 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 |
| • No. 2 Ducks | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | 14 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | 25 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | 14 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 3 | Not released |

## Awards and honors

* Daniel Graham, TE – John Mackey Award, Consensus First-team All-American
* Andre Gurode, G – Consensus First-team All-American
* Gary Barnett – Big 12 Coach of the Year