2001 Season

In his first season after taking over the BYU football program Gary Crowton led the Cougars to 12 consecutive victories and an outright Mountain West Conference title thanks to a dramatic come-from-behind victory over rival Utah in Provo. Luke Staley was named a consensus All-American and became BYU’s first Doak Walker Award winner for the nation’s top running back. Staley led the nation in scoring at 15.45 points per game and was third nationally in rushing at 143.82 yards per game. The Cougars led the nation in scoring offense with 46.77 points per game and in total offense with 542.85 yards per game. BYU was the first MWC school to go undefeated in conference games and boasted eight players being named as first-team all-league. Staley was named Offensive Player of the Year in the Conference and set BYU single-season records for points scored, touchdowns scored and rushing yards. Injuries took Staley out of the Cougars final two games which resulted in loses at Hawaii and in the Liberty Bowl against Louisville. BYU climbed the national polls to as high as No. 7 on Nov. 25th and finished the season ranked No. 24 in both polls. First-Team All-MWC defensive end Ryan Denney was named to the Academic All-America team and was drafted in the second round by the Buffalo Bills. All-MWC tight end Doug Jolley was also selected in the second round of the 2002 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
==Schedule==
See main page: 2001 Schedule
==Roster==
See main page: 2001 Roster
Category:Season Recaps