2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach John Bunting, the Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina finished the season 8–5 overall and 5–3 in ACC play to place third. They beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 16–10 vs. Auburn
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	8–5 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach	John Bunting (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jon Tenuta (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Ronald Curry, Quincy Monk, Jeff Reed
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 11 Maryland $		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 15 Florida State		6	–	2					8	–	4
North Carolina		5	–	3					8	–	5
Clemson		4	–	4					7	–	5
No. 24 Georgia Tech		4	–	4					8	–	5
NC State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	5					6	–	5
Virginia		3	–	5					5	–	7
Duke		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 25	7:45 p.m.	at No. 3 Oklahoma*		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Hispanic College Fund Football Classic)	ESPN	L 27–41	75,423[1]
September 1	12:00 p.m.	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ABC	L 7–23	44,080[1]
September 8	12:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Texas*		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 14–44	83,106[1]
September 22	12:00 p.m.	No. 6 Florida State		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ABC	W 41–9	53,000[1]
September 29	12:00 p.m.	at NC State		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	JPS	W 17–9	51,500[1]
October 6	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN+	W 24–21	58,500[1]	[2]
October 13	1:30 p.m.	Virginia		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry)		W 30–24	53,500[1]
October 20	12:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Clemson		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN2	W 38–3	84,800[1]
November 1	7:30 p.m.	at No. 23 Georgia Tech	No. 22	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN	L 21–28	41,893[1]
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Wake Forest		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	JPS	L 31–32	53,000[1]
November 17	1:30 p.m.	Duke		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell)		W 52–17	52,000[1]
December 1	1:30 p.m.	SMU*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 19–10	45,500[1]
December 31	7:30 p.m.	vs. Auburn*		Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	ESPN	W 16–10	71,827[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 88 Sam Aiken Jr QB 1 Ronald Curry Sr QB 4 Darian Durant Fr RB 15 Willie Parker So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 41 Quincy Monk Sr DE 49 Julius Peppers Jr DT 87 Ryan Sims Sr LB 30 David Thornton Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 45 Jeff Reed Sr	Head coach John Bunting Coordinators/assistant coaches Rod Broadway Defensive line Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons in Position
John Bunting	Head coach	1st
Gunter Brewer	Wide Receivers	2nd
Rod Broadway	Defensive tackles	1st
Ken Browning	Tight Ends / recruiting coordinator	8th
Jeff Connors	Strength and conditioning coordinator	1st
John Tenuta	Defensive Backs / defensive coordinator	1st
Robbie Caldwell	Offensive Line	2nd
Dave Huxtable	Linebackers	1st
Andre' Powell	Running backs	1st
Gary Tranquill	Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks	1st
James Webster, Jr.	Defensive ends	1st

Game summaries

at No. 3 Oklahoma

See also: 2001 Oklahoma Sooners football team

North Carolina Tar Heels at No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners

1 2 3 4 Total Tar Heels 7 7 0 13 27 • No. 3 Sooners 31 10 0 0 41 Date: August 25 Location: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma Game attendance: 75,423 TV announcers (ESPN): Ron Franklin (Play–by–play), Mike Gottfried (Color) & Adrian Karsten (Sideline)

at Maryland

North Carolina at Maryland

1 2 3 4 Total Tar Heels 7 0 0 0 7 • Terrapins 7 2 0 14 23 Date: September 1 Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park, MD Game start: 12:10 pm EDT Elapsed time: 2:50 Game attendance: 44,080 Referee: Jack Childress Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 13:12 UNC Willie Parker 77-yard run (J. Reed kick) UNC 7–0 6:33 MD J. Williams 20-yard pass from S. Hill (N. Novak kick) Tied 7–7 2 11:43 MD Safety, T. Stewart MD 9–7 4 13:19 MD S. Monroe 5-yard pass from S. Hill (N. Novak kick) MD 16–7 6:35 MD M. Riley 1-yard run (N. Novak kick) MD 23–7

See also: 2001 Maryland Terrapins football team

Team players drafted in the NFL

The following players were selected in the 2002 NFL draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Julius Peppers	Defensive end	1	2	Carolina Panthers
Ryan Sims	Defensive tackle	1	6	Kansas City Chiefs
David Thornton	Linebacker	4	106	Indianapolis Colts
Joey Evans	Defensive end	7	219	Cincinnati Bengals
Ronald Curry	Wide receiver	7	235	Oakland Raiders
Quincy Monk	Linebacker	7	245	New York Giants

^[3]

References

1. "Carolina Football". 2002.
2. "Tar Heels hold off East Carolina". The Miami Herald. October 7, 2001. Retrieved March 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "2002 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.