2001 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

The 2001 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bob Davie and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

2001 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Bob Davie (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Kevin Rogers (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Option
Defensive coordinator	Greg Mattison (5th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 80,795, grass)
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
South Florida			–						8	–	3
Troy State			–						7	–	4
UCF			–						6	–	5
Notre Dame			–						5	–	6
Utah State			–						4	–	7
Connecticut			–						2	–	9
Navy			–						0	–	10
Rankings from AP Poll

Season overview

With 19 recruits signed to help replace the nine players leaving for the NFL,^[1] there were high expectations for the Irish for the 2001 season. Three players were named to pre-season All-America teams while the team was ranked as highly as 12th in the nation.^[2] With former starting quarterback, Arnaz Battle, moving in the off-season to wide receiver,^[3] Davie faced the decision of having to play his replacement from 2000, Matt LoVecchio, or to replace LoVecchio with fellow sophomore Carlyle Holiday. Prior to their first game, Davie hinted that he might have a surprise at quarterback,^[4] however, LoVecchio started at the fourth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. Notre Dame's first play from scrimmage proved to be a harbinger when the Irish fumbled and Nebraska recovered. With LoVecchio ineffective throughout the first quarter, Holiday took over and led the Irish to a field goal. Holiday, however, was ineffective throughout the rest of the game and the only other Irish score came after Shane Walton blocked a punt and gave the Irish the ball on the 4 yard line. Unable to capitalize on Nebraska's mistakes, and having four turnovers themselves, the Irish lost the game 27–10.^[5] With a small quarterback controversy, the season was interrupted by the September 11, 2001 attacks. With all Division I-A football games canceled after the attacks,^[6] the September 15 game against Purdue was moved to the end of the season. With promises of heightened security,^[7] prayers, and a stadium-wide fundraiser to help the victims of the attacks,^[8] the Irish returned to the field the next week to face the Michigan State Spartans. With LoVecchio getting the start, he had a better game than his first, but the Irish fell short of the Spartans for the fifth straight year.^[9]

After the loss, Davie named Holiday the starting quarterback for the Texas A&M game.^[10] Though LoVecchio would play in later games, he would never start again for the Irish and eventually transferred from the school.^[11] Playing in front of, at the time, the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in Texas, Holiday was knocked out of the game with a neck injury before halftime. The Irish were unable move the ball and lost 24–3, moving to 0–3 for the first time ever.^[12] With Holiday back the next week, he led the Irish to their first victory of the season against the Pittsburgh Panthers,^[13] and continued to roll with wins over West Virginia and USC to put the Irish back to a 3–3 record.^[14][15] With a loss the next week to Boston College,^[16] however, the Irish hopes for a bowl game were dwindling and all but gone with a loss the next week to the seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.^[17]

With a 3–5 record, the Irish would need to win all of their remaining games to avoid Davie's second losing season for the team. The Irish looked to turn it around with a dominating win over Navy that increased their record winning streak over them to 38 games,^[18] however, fell to Stanford the next week after both Holiday and LoVecchio completed only one pass each the entire game.^[19] Assured of Notre Dame's eighth losing season ever, the Irish traveled to face the Purdue Boilermakers for the game missed after the September 11 attacks. Though the Irish defense helped secure the win and the 5–6 record,^[20] it wasn't enough for the Notre Dame administration who fired Davie the next day.^[21]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	8:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Nebraska	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–27	78,118
September 22	2:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 23	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 10–17	80,795
September 29	3:30 p.m.	at Texas A&M		Kyle Field College Station, TX	ABC	L 3–24	87,206
October 6	2:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 24–7	80,795
October 13	2:30 p.m.	West Virginia		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	W 34–24	80,795
October 20	2:30 p.m.	USC		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 27–16	80,795
October 27	7:30 p.m.	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA (Holy War)	ESPN	L 17–21	44,500
November 3	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Tennessee		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	L 18–28	80,795
November 17	1:00 p.m.	Navy		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 34–16	80,795
November 24	8:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 13–17	51,780
December 1	3:30 p.m.	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	ABC	W 24–15	68,750
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

2001 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 1 Jared Clark So QB 2 Dan Novakov Jr WR 3 Arnaz Battle Sr WR 6 David Givens Sr QB 7 Carlyle Holiday So WR 8 Lorenzo Crawford So QB 8 Matt Krueger So QB 9 Pat Dillingham Fr QB 10 Ryan Krueger Sr QB 10 Matt LoVecchio So RB 11 Marcus Wilson Fr RB 12 Tony Fisher Sr TE 14 Gary Godsey Jr WR 18 Ronnie Rodamer So WR 21 Javin Hunter Sr RB 22 Julius Jones Jr RB 23 Chris Yura Jr RB 24 Cory Jones Fr RB 25 Ryan Grant Fr RB 27 Mike Profeta Fr RB 28 Cole Laux So RB 32 Terrance Howard Sr RB 35 Tim O'Neill Sr FB 36 Tom Lopienski Sr RB 37 Albert Gembara So FB 38 Eric Nelson Sr FB 40 Jason Murray Sr FB 47 Mike McNair Sr WR 48 Jonathan Gentine Jr C 52 Jeff Faine Jr C 55 Zachary Giles Fr G 62 Casey Robin Sr OT 63 Brennan Curtin Jr G 64 Casey Dunn Fr G 65 Sean Milligan Jr C 66 JW Jordan Sr G 67 Ryan Gillis Jr G 69 Darin Mitchell Fr OT 70 Jim Molinaro Jr OL 71 David Kowalski So G 72 Ryan Scarola Sr OT 73 Mark LeVoir Fr OT 74 Dan Stevenson Fr OT 75 Kurt Vollers Sr OT 76 John Teasdale Sr OT 78 Jordan Black Sr G 79 Sean Mahan Sr WR 80 Omar Jenkins So WR 82 Bernard Akatu Sr WR 82 Matt Shelton Fr TE 83 Matt Root Fr TE 84 John Owens Sr TE 85 Billy Palmer So TE 86 Brendan Hart So TE 87 Patrick Nally Fr WR 87 Jonathan Smith So WR 88 Carlos Campbell Fr OL 97 Chris Mahoney Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 2 Carlos Pierre-Antoine Sr FS 4 Justin Smith Sr SS 5 Ron Israel Sr CB 9 Jason Beckstrom Jr DB 14 Mike Klockner Jr CB 15 Clifford Jefferson Sr SS 16 Abram Elam So FS 19 Glenn Earl Jr SS 20 Gerome Sapp Jr LB 24 Chad DeBolt Sr CB 26 Garron Bible So SS 26 Billy Small So CB 27 Lionel Bolen Fr FS 28 Donald Dykes Sr CB 29 Quentin Burrell Fr OLB 30 Rocky Boiman Sr FS 31 Dwayne Francis Sr LB 33 Courtney Watson Jr CB 34 Vontez Duff So CB 37 Dwight Ellick Fr CB 38 Preston Jackson So SS 39 David Bemenderfer So LB 39 Brandon Hoyte Fr LB 41 Mike Goolsby So CB 42 Shane Walton Sr OLB 43 Rashon Powers-Neal Fr DE 44 Grant Irons Sr SS 45 Matt Sarb Sr LB 46 Corey Mays Fr OLB 48 Justin Tuck Fr LB 49 Derek Curry So NG 50 Cedric Hilliard Jr LB 51 Tyreo Harrison Sr OLB 52 Mark Mitchell Sr DL 53 Jason Halvorson Jr LB 56 Pat Ryan Jr OLB 57 Justin Thomas Jr LB 59 Brian Dierckman Sr DT 60 Darrell Campbell Jr LB 61 Jesse DeSplinter So DE 64 Jeffrey Campbell Sr LB 68 Ed O'Connell So DT 77 Greg Pauly So OLB 81 Jerome Collins So DL 90 Brian Beidatsch Fr DL 91 Jeff Thompson Fr DE 92 Kyle Budinscak So NG 94 Andy Wisne Sr DE 95 Ryan Roberts Sr DE 98 Anthony Weaver Sr DE 99 Jason Sapp So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 13 Nick Setta Jr P 17 Joey Hildbold Jr P 19 D. J. Fitzpatrick Fr K 31 Evan Driedger So K 35 David Miller Sr LS 56 John Crowther Sr K 80 Adam Tibble Sr P 83 Josh Gentine Jr	Head coach Bob Davie Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Last update: 2001-12-18

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Anthony Weaver	Defensive end	2	52	Baltimore Ravens
Rocky Boiman	Linebacker	4	133	Tennessee Titans
John Owens	Tight end	5	138	Detroit Lions
Tyreo Harrison	Linebacker	6	198	Philadelphia Eagles
Javin Hunter	Wide Receiver	6	206	Baltimore Ravens
David Givens	Wide Receiver	7	252	New England Patriots

References

1. "Football Announces 2001 Signees". UND.cstv.com. February 7, 2001. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
2. "Notre Dame Football Gets Early Praise In Preseason Polls". UND.cstv.com. July 3, 2001. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
3. "Battle Talks About Making The Switch". UND.cstv.com. March 30, 2001. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
4. Connolly, Mike (September 5, 2001). . The Observer. UK. Archived from the original on September 15, 2001. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
5. Rosenblatt, Richard (September 8, 2001). "No. 17 Irish Drop Season-Opener To No. 5 Nebraska, 27–10". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
6. "A day seared in time". Thoroughbred Times. September 15, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
7. "Football Fans Can Expect A Heightened Security Presence In And Around The Stadium This Saturday". UND.cstv.com. September 18, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
8. "Prayer, Song To Mark Football Home Opener". UND.cstv.com. September 19, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
9. "No. 23 Notre Dame Falls To Michigan State, 17–10". UND.cstv.com. September 22, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
10. "Carlyle Holiday Named Starting Quarterback". UND.cstv.com. September 24, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
11. "Notre Dame's LoVecchio to transfer". Sports Illustrated. May 22, 2002. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
12. Graczyk, Michael (September 29, 2001). "Irish Fall To Texas A&M, 24–3". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
13. "Football Earns First Win Of The Season Over Pittsburgh, 24–7". UND.cstv.com. October 6, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
14. Coyne, Tom (October 13, 2001). "Irish Football Puts Away West Virginia, 34–24". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
15. Coyne, Tom (October 20, 2001). "Irish Knock Off USC, 27–16". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
16. Ulman, Howard (October 27, 2001). "Irish Fall To The Eagles, 21–17". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
17. Coyne, Tom (November 3, 2001). "No. 7 Tennessee Tops Notre Dame, 28–18". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
18. Coyne, Tom (November 17, 2001). "Notre Dame Knocks Off Navy, 34–16". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
19. Beacham, Greg (November 24, 2001). "Football Falls To No. 13 Stanford, 17–13". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
20. Gelston, Dan (December 1, 2001). "Irish Football Puts Away Purdue, 24–18". UND.cstv.com. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
21. "Davie's tenure at ND ends after five seasons". ESPN. December 2, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2007.