In 2001, the University of Idaho joined the Sun Belt Conference as a football-only member (they joined the conference in all sports in 2003). That year, the football team finished 1–10. They lost their first eight games of the season; a 36–7 thumping by their rival Washington State, a 36–29 loss to Arizona, a 53–3 blowout loss to No. 13 Washington, a 45–13 loss to their bitter rival Boise State, a 70–58 loss to Middle Tennessee in which the teams compiled 1,445 yards of total offense set an NCAA Division I scoring record for most points scored in a game, a 46–39 loss to New Mexico State, a 57–34 disappointment to Louisiana–Lafayette and a 34–31 loss to Arkansas State. On November 3, the Vandals finally broke through with their first win of the season, defeating Louisiana-Monroe by a score of 42–38. The next week, Cable's team lost to North Texas by a score of 50–27. They finished the 2001 season with an embarrassing 33–27 loss to I-AA Montana on November 24 in a game that had been rescheduled from September due to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.