2001 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

2001 Alabama Crimson Tide football
Independence Bowl champion
Conference Southeastern Conference
Division Western Division
2001 record 7–5 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach Dennis Franchione (1st season)
Offensive coordinator Les Koenning
Defensive coordinator Carl Torbush
Captain
Home stadium Bryant–Denny Stadium
(Capacity: 83,818)
Legion Field
(Capacity: 83,091)
2001 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 4 Tennessee x   7 1         11 2  
No. 3 Florida %   6 2         10 2  
No. 13 South Carolina   5 3         9 3  
No. 22 Georgia   5 3         8 4  
Kentucky   1 7         2 9  
Vanderbilt   0 8         2 9  
Western Division
No. 7 LSU xy$   5 3         10 3  
Auburn x   5 3         7 5  
Ole Miss   4 4         7 4  
Alabama   4 4         7 5  
Arkansas   4 4         7 5  
Mississippi State   2 6         3 8  
Championship: LSU 31, Tennessee 20
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama during 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. They began their season trying to improve upon a 3–8 (3–5) record during the 2000 season. This was the team's 69th season in the SEC. This marked Dennis Franchione's first season as head coach of the Crimson Tide following the dismissal of Mike DuBose. The team finished with a victory in the 2001 Independence Bowl and an overall record of 7–5.

Recruiting class

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 1 6:45 p.m. No. 17 UCLA* No. 25 Bryant–Denny StadiumTuscaloosa, AL ESPN L 17–20   83,818
September 8 11:30 a.m. at Vanderbilt Vanderbilt StadiumNashville, TN JPS W 12–9   37,318
September 22 2:30 p.m. Arkansas Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL CBS W 31–10   83,818
September 29 11:30 a.m. at No. 15 South Carolina Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC JPS L 36–37   84,100
October 6 2:00 p.m. UTEP* Legion FieldBirmingham, AL PPV W 56–7   77,146
October 13 11:30 a.m. at Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway StadiumOxford, MS (Rivalry) JPS L 24–27   47,110
October 20 2:30 p.m. No. 11 Tennessee Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (Third Saturday in October) CBS L 24–35   83,818
November 3 2:30 p.m. LSUdagger Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (Rivalry) CBS L 21–35   83,818
November 10 11:30 a.m. Mississippi State Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (Rivalry) JPS W 24–17   83,818
November 17 2:30 p.m. at No. 17 Auburn Jordan–Hare StadiumAuburn, AL (Iron Bowl) CBS W 31–7   86,063
November 29 6:05 p.m. Southern Miss* Legion Field • Birmingham, AL ESPN2 W 28–15   79,947
December 27 6:30 p.m. vs. Iowa State* Independence StadiumShreveport, LA (Independence Bowl) ESPN W 14–13   45,627
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Game summaries

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total
Bruins 0 7 13 0 20
Crimson Tide 7 3 0 7 17

Dennis Franchione's first game as Alabama's head coach pitted the Crimson Tide against the Bruins of the Pacific-10 Conference. ESPN's College Gameday was in Tuscaloosa for the first time ever (they had previously visited Alabama home games at Legion Field in Birmingham). Although Alabama outgained UCLA in total offense 458–291, the Bruins were victorious by a final score of 20–17 before a sold-out home crowd. The Tide took an early 10–0 lead on a 78-yard Antonio Carter touchdown reception from Tyler Watts and 30-yard Neal Thomas field goal. UCLA responded with 20 consecutive points to take a lead that would not be relinquished. The final Alabama score came late in the fourth on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Zow to Freddie Milons.[2]

Vanderbilt

1 2 3 4 Total
Crimson Tide 0 6 3 3 12
Commodores 3 3 0 3 9

Dennis Franchione notched his first win as head coach of the Crimson Tide, in a game of field goals, and defeated Vanderbilt 12–9.[3]

Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total
Arkansas 3 7 0 0 10
Crimson Tide 7 7 10 7 31

As a result of the September 11 Attacks, the September 15, 2001, contest with Southern Miss was postponed, resulting in the Razorbacks being the Tide's third opponent on the season. Although outgained in total offense, a pair of defensive touchdowns put the Tide over the top before an emotional home crowd 31–10. Bama would score its first points on an 11-yard Ahmaad Galloway touchdown run to take a 7–3 lead in the first quarter. In the second, the teams would alternate touchdowns with Reggie Myles scoring on a 42-yard fumble recovery for the Tide and Brandon Holmes scoring on a 1-yard run to have Bama leading 14–10 at the half.[4] The Tide would open their second half scoring with a 36-yard Neal Thomas field goal followed by a 39-yard Freddie Milons touchdown reception from Tyler Watts. The final points of the evening would come with only 00:20 remaining in the game when Thurman Ward returning an interception 60-yards for a touchdown.[4]

South Carolina

1 2 3 4 Total
Crimson Tide 6 17 6 7 36
South Carolina 0 10 14 13 37

Although the Tide gained 516 yards of total offense, the Gamecocks prevailed by a final score of 37–36. The South Carolina victory marked their first victory over Alabama in school history.[5]

UTEP

1 2 3 4 Total
UTEP 0 0 0 7 7
Crimson Tide 21 21 7 7 56

The Tide gained 588 yards of total offense, and defeated the Miners by a final score of 56–7 in the first Legion Field game of the 2001 season. Bama scored 21 points in first on a pair of Donnie Lowe touchdown runs (2 and 1 yard respectively) and a 10-yard Triandos Luke touchdown reception from Tyler Watts. Another 21 points were scored in the second on a pair of Watts touchdown runs (16 and 9 yard respectively) and a 2-yard Luke touchdown reception to give Bama a 42–0 halftime lead.[6] The scoring continued in the second half on a 12-yard Marvin Brown touchdown run and 2-yard Ray Hudson touchdown run.

Ole Miss

1 2 3 4 Total
Crimson Tide 7 10 7 0 24
Ole Miss 0 14 0 13 27

Thirteen unanswered points in the fourth resulted in the Rebels defeating the Tide before the home crowd by a final score of 27–24. Bama scored first on a 6-yard Ahmaad Galloway touchdown run, only to have Ole Miss take the lead after touchdown runs on a 1-yard Toward Sanford run and 25-yard Joe Gunn run. The Tide responded with a 58-yard Sam Collins touchdown reception from Tyler Watts and 31 yard Neal Thomas field goal to take a 17–14 halftime lead.[7]

Alabama extended their lead to 24–14 in the third on a 7-yard Triandos Luke touchdown reception. Ole Miss would respond with a 19-yard Charles Stackhouse touchdown run and Eli Manning hitting Gunn for a 3-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory with 00:46 remaining in the game. For the game, Ole Miss outgained the Tide 430–363 in total offense.[7]

Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total
Volunteers 7 7 7 14 35
Crimson Tide 3 7 14 0 24

Although Alabama took a 24–21 lead into the fourth quarter, 14 unanswered points in the fourth resulted in Bama losing its seventh consecutive contest to the Vols in the annual Third Saturday in October game. After falling behind 14–3 on a 21-yard pass from Casey Clausen to Donte Stallworth and a 60-yard Travis Stephens run, the Tide responded with a pair of Sam Collins touchdown receptions to take a 17–14 lead.[8]

The Vols responded and took a 21–17 lead following a 21-yard Jason Witten touchdown reception, only to again fall behind 24–21 after a four-yard Ahmaad Galloway touchdown run. Tennessee again came from behind and dominated the fourth quarter and seal the victory with a one-yard Clausen and one-yard Stephens touchdown runs in the fourth.[8]

LSU

1 2 3 4 Total
Tigers 14 0 14 7 35
Crimson Tide 0 10 11 0 21

On Homecoming in Tuscaloosa, LSU dominated in gaining 611 yards of total offense (with a record 528 yards through the air) and defeated the Tide 35–21. LSU took a 14–0 lead in the first quarter on a 3-yard LaBrandon Toefield run and a 34-yard touchdown pass from Rohan Davey to Jerel Myers. Bama responded in the second with a 22-yard Neal Thomas field goal and 5-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Watts to Terry Jones, Jr. to make the score to 14–10 at the half.[9]

Early in the third, Toefield again scored on a two-yard run to give the Tigers a 21–10 lead. Bama tied the game at 21 after another Thomas field goal and 22-yard Watts touchdown run. LSU responded and scored on a 25-yard Josh Reed touchdown reception late in the third and on a 6-yard Toefield touchdown run in the fourth. Reed's 293 yards receiving set a SEC record for receiving yardage in a game.[9]

Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 0 7 10 0 17
Crimson Tide 7 3 0 14 24

Bama put an end to a three-game losing streak and defeated the Bulldogs of Mississippi State 24–17 before the home crowd. The Tide took a 10–0 lead late into the second quarter on a 6-yard Santonio Beard touchdown run and 20-yard Neal Thomas field goal. The Bulldogs answered, and scored the next 17 points on a pair of Kevin Fant touchdown passes and a 43-yard John M. Marlin field goal to take a 17–10 lead into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Andrew Zow hit Donnie Lowe for a 10-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 17, with Beard scoring his second touchdown on a game-winning, 14-yard run.[10]

Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total
Crimson Tide 0 14 7 10 31
Tigers 0 7 0 0 7

On The Plains, Alabama outgained the Tigers in total offense 549–272 and secured the Tide's victory at Auburn 31–10 in the 2001 Iron Bowl. After a scoreless first, Bama scored first on an eight-yard Santonio Beard touchdown run. Auburn answered with their lone score on a 5-yard Ronnie Brown run. The Tide scored next with Andrew Zow connecting with Jason McAddley for a 45-yard touchdown strike to give the visitors a 14–7 lead at the half.[11]

The second half again saw the Tide strike early on a 47-yard Beard run, with the final scores coming in the fourth on a 10-yard Terry Jones, Jr. touchdown reception and a 26-yard Neal Thomas field goal.[11] Although slightly outgained in passing yardage 221–231, Bama outrushed the Tigers 328–41 to give Alabama the 31–7 victory.[11]

Southern Miss

1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Eagles 0 6 9 0 15
Crimson Tide 0 7 15 6 28

The contest against the Golden Eagles was originally to have been played on September 15, 2001; however, as a result of the September 11 attacks, the game was postponed and subsequently played on November 29, a Thursday night, at Legion Field. Although mired in rainy and windy conditions, both Ahmaad Galloway (on runs of 40 and 11 yards respectively) and Andrew Zow (on a 14-yard pass to Sam Collins, and a 26-yard pass to Freddie Milons) each notched a pair of touchdowns in the victory.[12]

Iowa State

1 2 3 4 Total
Cyclones 3 7 3 0 13
Crimson Tide 0 7 0 7 14

In the 26th annual Independence Bowl, the Tide struggled against the Cyclones offensively and were outgained 456 yards of offense to 269, but a missed 47-yard field goal attempt with 46 seconds left in the game sealed the victory for Alabama.[13]

Statistics

Team

Team Opp
Scoring 304 219
  Points per Game 27.6 19.9
First Downs 211 206
  Rushing 119 73
  Passing 80 114
  Penalty 12 19
Total Offense 4503 3972
  Avg per Play 6.2 5.4
  Avg per Game 409.4 361.1
Fumbles-Lost 24–10 27–13
Penalties-Yards 93–737 67–565
  Avg per Game 67.0 51.4
Team Opp
Punts-Yards 52–2,016 54–2,151
  Avg per Punt 38.8 39.8
Time of Possession/Game 30:16 29:44
3rd Down Conversions 66/156 60/154
4th Down Conversions 1–6 7–17
Touchdowns Scored 37 28
Field Goals-Attempts 15–21 8–16
PAT-Attempts 33–35 25–28
Attendance 576,183 254,591
  Games/Avg per Game 82,312 63,648

[14]

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total
Alabama 58 105 80 61 304
Opponents 27 68 67 57 219

[14]

Offense

Rushing

Name GP Att Yards Avg TD Long Avg/G
Ahmaad Galloway 11 174 881 5.1 6 40 80.1
Santonio Beard 8 77 633 8.2 4 69 79.1
Tyler Watts 9 111 564 5.1 5 32 62.7
Ray Hudson 11 37 205 5.5 1 35 18.6
Donnie Lowe 9 19 78 4.1 2 19 8.7
Andrew Zow 6 29 69 2.4 0 18 11.5
Marvin Brown 10 9 54 6.0 1 13 5.4
Freddie Milons 11 4 10 2.5 0 13 0.9
Jonathan Richey 11 3 6 2.0 0 6 0.5
Nick Signaigo 1 1 4 4.0 0 4 4.0
Brandon Miree 2 3 3 0.7 0 3 1.0
Neal Thomas 11 1 0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 4 3 −5 −1.7 0 0 −1.2
Dre Fulgham 8 1 −11 −11 0 0 −1.4
Total 11 472 2,490 5.3 19 69 226.4
Opponents 11 382 1,198 3.1 15 74 108.9

[14]

Passing

Name GP Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G
Tyler Watts 9 135.06 172–94–3 54.7 1,325 10 78 147.2
Andrew Zow 6 143.06 83–48–2 57.8 654 6 71 109.0
Antonio Carter 11 192.80 2–1–0 50.0 34 0 34 3.1
Jonathan Richey 11 0.00 2–0–0 50.0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 4 0.00 1–0–0 50.0 0 0 0 0
Total 11 136.50 260–143–5 55.0 2,013 16 78 183.0
Opponents 11 131.64 360–210–6 58.3 2,774 13 58 252.2

[14]

Receiving

Name GP No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
Freddie Milons 11 36 626 17.4 3 71 56.9
Antonio Carter 11 32 428 13.4 1 78 38.9
Jason McAddley 11 18 259 14.4 2 45 23.5
Sam Collins 11 18 252 14.0 4 58 22.9
Triandos Luke 11 15 152 10.1 3 29 13.8
Terry Jones, Jr. 11 12 156 13.0 2 39 14.2
Donnie Lowe 9 3 26 8.7 1 12 12.9
Ahmaad Galloway 11 3 20 6.7 0 7 1.8
Dre Fulgham 8 2 42 21.0 0 34 5.2
Ray Hudson 11 1 26 26.0 0 26 2.4
Theo Sanders 11 1 26 26.0 0 26 2.4
Santonio Beard 8 1 8 8.0 0 8 1.0
Marico Portis 11 1 −8 −8.0 0 0 −0.7
Total 11 143 2,013 14.1 16 78 183.0
Opponents 11 210 2,774 13.2 13 58 252.2

[14]

References

  1. "All-time Football Results: 2001 Season". RollTide.com. University of Alabama Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  2. "UCLA vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Spt 1, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  3. "Vanderbilt vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Spt 8, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Arkansas vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Spt 22, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  5. "South Carolina vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Spt 29, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  6. "UTEP vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Oct 6, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  7. 1 2 "Alabama Crimson Tide vs Ole Miss (Oct 13, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Tennessee vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Oct 20, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  9. 1 2 "LSU vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Nov 3, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  10. "Miss State vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Nov 10, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 "Alabama vs Auburn (Nov 17, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Archived from the original on August 20, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  12. "Southern Miss vs Alabama Crimson Tide (Nov 29, 2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  13. Kirk, Steve (December 28, 2001). "The great escape – Sputtering Bama defense bends, but Cyclones blow it wide right". The Birmingham News. pp. 1E.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Alabama Crimson Tide Cumulative Season Statistics (2001)". University of Alabama Sports Information. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
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