2001 Fiesta Bowl
The 2001 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played on January 1, was the thirtieth edition of the Fiesta Bowl and part of the BCS bowl schedule of the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. Held on New Year's Day at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the night game matched the fifth-ranked Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-10 Conference and the #10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, an independent. Oregon State quarterback Jonathan Smith threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns to lead the favored Beavers to a 41–9 rout. Wide receiver Chad Johnson had two touchdown  receptions, and future Cincinnati Bengals teammate T. J. Houshmandzadeh caught the other. The Beavers led 12–3 at halftime, then scored 29 points in an eight-minute stretch of the third quarter to put the game away. Notre Dame's sole touchdown came with under seven minutes remaining in the game, against OSU reserves, which completed the scoring. Smith was named the offensive player of the game, and Beavers linebacker Darnell Robinson, who recorded two sacks, forced a fumble, and made an interception, was the defensive player of the game. The Beavers were penalized 18 times for 174 yards. Oregon State  (11–1) was ranked fourth in the final AP poll, which remains the highest in the history of the OSU program. Notre Dame (9–3) fell to fifteenth after its fifth consecutive bowl loss, a streak which reached nine.