2001 Washington Huskies football team

The 2001 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its third season under head coach Rick Neuheisel, the team compiled an 8-4 record, finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and was outscored 370 to 353.^[1]

2001 Washington Huskies football
Holiday Bowl, L 43–47 vs. Texas
Conference	Pacific-10
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 19
Record	8–4 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Rick Neuheisel (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Keith Gilbertson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Tim Hundley (3rd season)
Base defense	Multiple
MVP	Willie Hurst (O) Ben Mahdavi (D)
Captain	Kyle Benn Willie Hurst Larry Tripplett (2)
Home stadium	Husky Stadium
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Oregon $		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 10 Washington State		6	–	2					10	–	2
No. 16 Stanford		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 19 Washington		6	–	2					8	–	4
USC		5	–	3					6	–	6
UCLA		4	–	4					7	–	4
Oregon State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Arizona		2	–	6					5	–	6
Arizona State		1	–	7					4	–	7
California		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Running back Willie Hurst and linebacker Ben Mahdavi were selected as the team's most valuable players on offense and defense, respectively.

The season opened with tragedy when 16 UW alumni and fans were killed in a plane crash in the Yucatan Peninsula on September 12.^[2] The Chichen Itza sightseers were participants on a week-long Husky-themed Caribbean cruise with Don James, Sonny Sixkiller and other Husky coaches and players prior to the Washington-Miami game scheduled for Sept. 15 in the Orange Bowl.^[2] This game was cancelled following the September 11 attacks and rescheduled to November 24.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	12:30 p.m.	No. 11 Michigan*	No. 15	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	ABC	W 23–18	74,080
September 22	12:30 p.m.	Idaho*	No. 13	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	FSN	W 53–3	70,145
September 29	2:00 p.m.	at California	No. 13	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FSN	W 31–28	35,172
October 6	12:30 p.m.	USC	No. 11	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	FSN	W 27–24	72,946
October 13	12:30 p.m.	at No. 7 UCLA	No. 10	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	L 13–35	70,377
October 20	3:30 p.m.	Arizona	No. 15	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	FSN	W 31–28	71,108
October 27	6:15 p.m.	at Arizona State	No. 13	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	FSN	W 33–31	50,106
November 3	12:30 p.m.	No. 10 Stanford	No. 11	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	FSN	W 42–28	72,090
November 10	12:30 p.m.	at Oregon State	No. 8	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	FSN	L 24–49	36,682
November 17	12:30 p.m.	No. 9 Washington State	No. 16	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	ABC	W 26–14	74,442
November 24	5:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Miami*	No. 12	Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ABC	L 7–65	78,114
December 28	7:30 p.m.	vs. No. 9 Texas*	No. 21	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	L 43–47	60,548
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

• Due to Pac-10 scheduling, rival Oregon was not played for the only time since 1944.^[3][4]
• Following the September 11 attacks, the Miami game was moved from September 15 to November 24.^[5]

Roster

2001 Washington Huskies football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 24 Rich Alexis So WR 20 Paul Arnold Jr OT 72 Todd Bachert So QB 12 Taylor Barton Jr C 64 Kyle Benn (C) Sr OT 65 Khalif Barnes Fr RB 29 Braxton Cleman   Sr TE 97 Joe Collier Sr WR 18 Todd Elstrom Sr RB 8 Willie Hurst (C) Sr WR 7 Wilbur Hooks Jr G 67 Nick Newton So QB 3 Cody Pickett So WR 5 Patrick Reddick Sr TE 14 Jerramy Stevens Jr FB 45 Ken Walker Sr TE 84 Kevin Ware Jr WR 1 Reggie Williams Fr FB 48 Matthias Wilson Jr G 75 Elliott Zajac Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 3 Roc Alexander So LB 31 Sam Blanche Sr FS 43 Owen Biddle Jr SS 34 Greg Carothers So LB 88 Marquis Cooper So FS 19 Wondame Davis Sr LB 90 Kai Ellis Jr SS 9 Roderick Green Sr DT 99 Tank Johnson So LB 47 Anthony Kelley Sr CB 12 Omare Lowe Sr LB 41 Ben Mahdavi Jr CB 28 Chris Massey So DT 65 Josh Miller Fr DE 98 Marcus Roberson Sr DT 70 Larry Tripplett (C) Sr LB 5 Zach Tuiasosopo Fr LB 6 Jamaun Willis Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 15 John Anderson Jr P 17 Derek McLaughlin Fr	Head coach Rick Neuheisel (3rd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Keith Gilbertson (OC, TE) Tim Hundley (DC, OLB) Tony Alford (RB) Steve Axman (AHC, QB, WR) Randy Hart (DL) Bobby Hauck (S, ST) Chuck Heater (CB) Brent Myers (OL) Tom Williams (LB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

NFL draft

Three Huskies were selected in the 2002 NFL draft, which lasted seven rounds (261 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Jerramy Stevens	TE	1st	28	Seattle Seahawks
Larry Tripplett	DT	2nd	42	Indianapolis Colts
Omare Lowe	CB	5th	161	Miami Dolphins

References

1. "Washington Yearly Results (2000–2004)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
2. Marmor, Jon (December 2001). "9/12/2001: Remember the Huskies". Columns. UW Alumni Association. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
3. Clark, Bob (November 13, 2002). "Time turns down rivalry's heat". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
4. Clark, Bob (November 16, 2002). "Northwest rivalry resumes, no love lost". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
5. Rosenblatt, Richard (September 16, 2011). "NCAA weighing options". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1G.