The 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Miami Hurricanes' 76th season of football and 11th as a member of the Big East Conference. The Hurricanes were led by first-year head coach Larry Coker and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 12–0 overall and 7–0 in the Big East to finish as conference champion. They were invited to the Rose Bowl, which served as the BCS National Championship Game, and defeated Nebraska, 37–14, to win the school's fifth national championship.
2001 Hurricanes produced a record 38 NFL draft picks, and are considered to be one of the greatest college football teams.
Schedule
Rankings
Game summaries
At Penn State
The Hurricanes began the season with a nationally televised primetime win over Penn State in Beaver Stadium. With a 30-0 halftime Miami lead, Coker pulled his starters and Miami cruised in the second half to a 33–7 victory. The 26-point margin tied for Penn State's worst home loss under Joe Paterno.
Rutgers
Miami followed up the victory with wins over Rutgers, Pitt, and Troy State.
At Pittsburgh
Troy State
At Florida State
After building up a 4–0 record, Miami won over Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium, 49–27, ending the Seminoles' 47-game home unbeaten streak.
West Virginia
The Hurricanes then defeated West Virginia, 45–3, and Temple, 38–0, before heading to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College (BC).
Temple
At Boston College
Miami started with a 9–0 lead over the Boston College Eagles, but Miami's offense began to sputter as Dorsey struggled with the swirling winds, throwing four interceptions. The Hurricane defense picked up the slack by limiting BC to just seven points. However, in the final minute of the fourth quarter, with Miami clinging to a 12–7 lead, BC quarterback Brian St. Pierre led the Eagles from their own 30-yard line all the way down to the Hurricanes' 9-yard line. With BC on the verge of a momentous upset, St. Pierre attempted to pass to receiver Ryan Read at the Miami 2-yard line. However, the ball ricocheted off the leg of Miami cornerback Mike Rumph, landing in the hands of defensive end Matt Walters. Walters ran ten yards with the ball before teammate Ed Reed grabbed the ball out of his hands at around the Miami 20-yard line and raced the remaining 80-yards for a touchdown. Miami won 18–7.
Syracuse
After the close win over Boston College, Miami went on to win over #14 Syracuse, 59–0, and #12 Washington, 65–7, in consecutive weeks in the Orange Bowl. The combined 124–7 score is an NCAA record for largest margin of victory over consecutive ranked opponents.
Washington
At Virginia Tech
The final hurdle to the Rose Bowl BCS National Championship Game was at Virginia Tech. Miami jumped on Virginia Tech early, leading 20–3 at halftime, and 26–10 in the fourth quarter. But despite being outgained by the Hurricanes by 134 yards and being dominated in time-of-possession, the Hokies never quit. After a Virginia Tech touchdown and two-point conversion cut Miami's lead to 26–18, the Hokies blocked a Miami punt and returned it for another score, cutting Miami's lead to just two points. But with a chance to tie the game with another two-point conversion, Virginia Tech sophomore Ernest Wilford dropped a pass in the endzone. Still, the resilient Hokies had one more chance to win the game late, taking possession of the ball at midfield and needing only a field goal to take the lead. But a diving, game-saving interception by Ed Reed sealed the Miami victory, 26–24. Defeating Virginia Tech earned the top-ranked Hurricanes an invitation to the Rose Bowl to take on BCS #2 Nebraska for the national championship.
Vs. Nebraska—Rose Bowl
Nebraska proved to be no competition for Miami, which opened up a 34–0 halftime lead en route to a 37–14 final score. Miami won its fifth national championship in the last 18 years, and put the finishing touches on a perfect 12–0 season. Dorsey passed for 362 yards and 3 touchdowns, while wide receiver Andre Johnson caught 7 passes for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, the stifling Miami defense shut down Heisman-winner Eric Crouch and the Huskers vaunted option offense, holding Nebraska 200 yards below its season average. Dorsey and Johnson were named Rose Bowl co-Most Valuable Players.
Legacy The 2001 Miami Hurricanes are widely considered to be one of the greatest teams in college football history. The Hurricanes scored 512 (42.6 points per game) points while yielding only 117 (9.75 points allowed per game), for an average of 32.9 points a game, the largest in the school's history, and while they needed decisive plays late in the fourth quarter to secure victories over Boston College and Virginia Tech, Miami won every other game on its schedule by at least 22 points, and set the NCAA record for largest margin of victory over consecutive ranked teams (124–7). The offense set the school scoring record, while the defense led the nation in scoring defense (fewest points allowed), pass defense, and turnover margin. Additionally, the Hurricane defense scored eight touchdowns of its own, and those points would have been enough to give Miami an 8-4 record even if the offense had scored no touchdowns over the season. Six players earned All-American status and six players were finalists for national awards, including Maxwell Award winner, Ken Dorsey, and Outland Trophy winner, Bryant McKinnie. Dorsey was also a Heisman finalist, finishing third.
Among the numerous stars on the 2001 Miami squad were: quarterback Ken Dorsey; running backs Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Najeh Davenport, and Frank Gore; tight end Jeremy Shockey; wide receiver Andre Johnson; offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie; defensive linemen Jerome McDougle, William Joseph, and Vince Wilfork; linebackers Jonathan Vilma and D.J. Williams; and defensive backs Ed Reed, Mike Rumph, and Phillip Buchanon. Additional contributors included future stars Kellen Winslow II, Sean Taylor, Antrel Rolle, Vernon Carey, and Rocky McIntosh. In all, an extraordinary 17 players from the 2001 Miami football team were drafted in the first-round of the NFL draft (5 in the 2002 NFL draft: Buchanon, McKinnie, Reed, Rumph, and Shockey; 4 in 2003: Johnson, Joseph, McDougle, and McGahee; 6 in 2004: Carey, Taylor, Vilma, Wilfork, Williams, and Winslow; 1 in 2005: Rolle; and 1 in 2006: Kelly Jennings).
Overall, 38 members of the team would be selected in the NFL draft. As of 2013, they had earned a combined total of 43 trips to the Pro Bowl: Ed Reed (9), Andre Johnson (7), Frank Gore (5), Vince Wilfork (5), Jeremy Shockey (4), Jonathan Vilma (3), Willis McGahee (2), Chris Myers (2), Clinton Portis (2), Antrel Rolle (2), Sean Taylor (2), Bryant McKinnie (1), and Kellen Winslow II (1). In addition, Vilma, Shockey, Wilfork, Joseph, Rolle, McKinnie, and Reed have won the Super Bowl. It has been estimated that the 2001 Hurricanes would cost nearly $120 million as an NFL team as early as 2009.
Prior to the 2006 Rose Bowl, ESPN's SportsCenter ran a special in which the 2005 USC Trojans, led by stars Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and LenDale White, were compared with the greatest college teams of the past 50 years, as picked by sports fans voting on ESPN.com, to determine their place in history. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes were the only team picked by fans to defeat the '05 Trojan squad, reflecting the esteem with which the 2001 Hurricanes are held by fans. This was before the Texas Longhorns defeated USC. However ESPN analyst Mark May placed the 2005 Trojans only behind 1995 Nebraska. Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated later observed that, although the 05 team "may have had the greatest set of skill players in history," "ESPN spent the better part of Christmas season comparing that Trojans squad to some of the most acclaimed teams of all time only to find out that they weren’t even the best team that season
The team's first-, second- and third-string running backs all later became running backs with a start in the NFL, a feat only done six other times. It has only been achieved by the 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Alabama Crimson Tide football teams. They remain the only team to have its first-, second-, third- and fourth-string running backs all later become running backs to start in the NFL.
Personnel Roster
Starting lineup Offense Position Name QB Ken Dorsey HB Clinton Portis HB Najeh Davenport TE Jeremy Shockey WR Andre Johnson WR Kevin Beard LT Bryant McKinnie LG Sherko Haji-Rasouli C Brett Romberg RG Martin Bibla RT Joaquin Gonzalez
Defense Position Name RE Andrew Williams DT Matt Walters DT William Joseph LE Jerome McDougle OLB D.J. Williams MLB Jonathan Vilma OLB Chris Campbell RCB Mike Rumph FS Ed Reed SS James Lewis LCB Phillip Buchanon
Special teams Position Name K Todd SieversP Freddie CapshawKR PR Phillip Buchanon
Depth chart +Offense WR Andre Johnson Ethenic Sands Jason Geathers Alex Duk
LT LG C RG RT Bryant McKinnie Sherko Haji-Rasouli Brett Romberg Martin Bibla Joaquin Gonzalez Carlos JosephEd Wilkins Joel Rodriguez Joe Fantigrassi Vernon Carey Rashad ButlerScott Puckett Jim Wilson Chris Myers Joe McGrath James Sikora Tariq Vlaun Robert Bergman Tony TellaAlex Garcia Brad Kunz
TE Jeremy Shockey Robert Williams Kellen Winslow Enis Crafton Kevin Everett Aaron Greeno Brandon Sebald David Williams WR Daryl Jones Kevin Beard Roscoe Parrish Nate Smith
QB Ken Dorsey Hunter Lefler Tony Prasek Jeff Malley Buck Ortega FB Najeh Davenport Jarrett Payton Frank Bayless Kyle Cobia Jarvis Gray
TB Clinton Portis Willis McGahee Frank Gore Quadtrine Hill + Defense CB Phillip Buchanon Markese Fitzgerald Antrel Rolle Marcus Maxey Jair Clark Michael Langley DE DT DT DE Jerome McDougle William Joseph Matt Walters Andrew Williams LaVaar Scott Santonio ThomasVince WilforkCornelius Green Jamaal Green Orien Harris Larry AndersonJohn Square Kyle Morgan Jarvis Gray Thomas CarrollMiguel Robede CB Mike Rumph Alfonso Marshall Kelly Jennings Carl Walker Jean Leone
FS Ed Reed Sean Taylor Jermell Weaver WLB MLB SLB D.J. Williams Jonathan Vilma Chris Campbell Darrell McClover Howard ClarkJarrell Weaver Leon Williams Ken Dangerfield Roger McIntosh Steve Adzima Javon Nanton SS James Lewis Maurice Sikes
Statistics (From 1937 to 2001, bowl games did not count towards season statistics) QB Ken Dorsey: 184/318 (57.9%) for 2,652 yards (8.3) with 23 TD vs. 9 INT RB Clinton Portis: 220 carries for 1,200 yards (5.5) with 10 TD. 12 catches for 125 yards and 1 TD. RB Frank Gore: 62 carries for 562 yards (9.1) with 5 TD. RB Willis McGahee: 67 carries for 314 yards (4.7) with 3 TD. TE Jeremy Shockey: 40 catches for 519 yards (13.0) and 7 TD. WR Andre Johnson: 37 catches, 682 yards (18.43) and 10 TD. WR Kevin Beard: 25 catches for 409 yards (16.4) and 2 TD. K Todd Sievers: 21/26 FG (80.8%). S Ed Reed: 9 INT, 12 TD. LB Jonathan Vilma: 73 tackles DT William Joseph: 10 sacks
Awards and honors
First Team All-Americans
Phillip Buchanon, PR Joaquin Gonzalez, RT Bryant McKinnie, LT (consensus) Ed Reed, SS (consensus) Jeremy Shockey, TE Todd Sievers, K
All-Conference Selections (First Team) Martin Bibla, LG Phillip Buchanon, CB Freddie Capshaw, P Ken Dorsey, QB Joaquin Gonzalez, RT Jerome McDougle, DE Bryant McKinnie, LT Clinton Portis, RB Ed Reed, SS Brett Romberg, C Jeremy Shockey, TE Todd Sievers, K Jonathan Vilma, MLB
Awards Finalists Bold indicates winners Larry Coker, Coach - Paul "Bear" Bryant Award Phillip Buchanon, PR - Mosi Tatupu Award Freddie Capshaw, P - Ray Guy Award Ken Dorsey, QB - Maxwell Award, Heisman Trophy (3rd), Big East Offensive Player of the Year Joaquin Gonzalez, RT - Academic Heisman Bryant McKinnie, LT - Outland Trophy, Heisman Trophy (8th) Ed Reed, SS - Jim Thorpe Award Brett Romberg, C - Rimington Trophy