2001 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

2001 Nebraska Cornhuskers football
Big 12 North co-champion
Rose Bowl (BCS NCG), L 14–37 vs. Miami (FL)
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 8
2001 record	11–2 (7–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Frank Solich (4th year)
Offensive coordinator	Frank Solich (4th year)
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Craig Bohl (2nd year)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 73,918)
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Big 12 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Northern Division
#9 Colorado xy$		7	–	1					10	–	3
#8 Nebraska x%		7	–	1					11	–	2
Iowa State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Kansas State		3	–	5					6	–	6
Missouri		3	–	5					4	–	7
Kansas		1	–	7					3	–	8
Southern Division
#5 Texas xy		7	–	1					11	–	2
#6 Oklahoma		6	–	2					11	–	2
Texas A&M		4	–	4					8	–	4
Texas Tech		4	–	4					7	–	5
Oklahoma State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Baylor		0	–	8					3	–	8
Championship: Colorado 39, Texas 37
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

TCU at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total TCU 7 0 0 0 7 • Nebraska 13 0 8 0 21 Date: August 25 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 77,473 TV announcers (ABC): Mike Tirico (Play–by–play), Tim Brant (Color) & Todd Harris (Sideline)

Troy State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Troy State 7 7 0 0 14 • Nebraska 14 14 7 7 42 Date: September 1 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 77,812 TV announcers (FSN): Drew Goodman (Play–by–play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Notre Dame at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 0 3 0 7 10 • Nebraska 17 10 0 0 27 Date: September 8 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 78,118 TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger (Play–by–play), Gary Danielson (Color) & Jack Arute (Sideline)

Rice at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Rice 0 0 0 3 3 • Nebraska 21 7 20 0 48 Date: September 20 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 77,344 TV announcers (FSN): Joel Meyers (Play–by–play), James Lofton (Color) & Eric Clemons (Sideline)

Nebraska at Missouri [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 0 13 9 14 36 Missouri 3 0 0 0 3 Date: September 29 Location: Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri Game attendance: 64,204 TV announcers (FSN): Drew Goodman (Play–by–play), Dave Lapham (Color) & Jim Knox (Sideline)

Iowa State at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Iowa State 0 0 14 0 14 • Nebraska 20 21 0 7 48 Date: October 6 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 78,002 TV announcers (FSN): Joel Meyers (Play–by–play), James Lofton (Color) & Eric Clemons (Sideline)

Nebraska at Baylor [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total • Nebraska 7 7 7 27 48 Baylor 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 13 Location: Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas Game attendance: 38,102

Texas Tech at Nebraska [box score]

1 2 3 4 Total Texas Tech 13 15 3 0 31 • Nebraska 21 7 10 3 41 Date: October 20 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 77,838 TV announcers (FSN): Joel Meyers (Play–by–play), James Lofton (Color) & Eric Clemons (Sideline)

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.

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.

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