2001 Colorado Buffaloes football
Big 12 champion Big 12 North co-champion
Big 12 Championship Game, W 39–37 vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl, L 16–38 vs. Oregon
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 9
Record	10–3 (7–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Gary Barnett (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Shawn Watson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Co-defensive coordinator	Tom McMahon
Co-defensive coordinator	Vince Okruch
Base defense	4–3 multiple
MVP	Daniel Graham
Captains	Justin Bannan Andre Gurode Michael Lewis John Minardi
Home stadium	Folsom Field (capacity: 50,942)
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Big 12 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Northern Division
No. 9 Colorado xy$	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 8 Nebraska x%	7	–	1	11	–	2
Iowa State	4	–	4	7	–	5
Kansas State	3	–	5	6	–	6
Missouri	3	–	5	4	–	7
Kansas	1	–	7	3	–	8
Southern Division
No. 5 Texas xy	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 6 Oklahoma	6	–	2	11	–	2
Texas Tech	4	–	4	7	–	5
Texas A&M	4	–	4	8	–	4
Oklahoma State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Baylor	0	–	8	3	–	8
Championship: Colorado 39, Texas 37
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team played their home games at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. They participated in the Big 12 Conference in the North Division. They were coached by head coach Gary Barnett. Colorado played in the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time and secured its first BCS bowl berth.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 26	6:00 pm	Fresno State*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO (Jim Thorpe Classic)	ESPN2	L 22–24	47,762
September 1	1:30 pm	vs. No. 24 Colorado State*		Invesco Field at Mile High Denver, CO (Rocky Mountain Showdown)	ABC	W 41–14	75,022
September 8	1:30 pm	San Jose State*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 51–15	40,338
September 22	1:30 pm	Kansas		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 27–16	47,495
October 6	10:30 am	at No. 12 Kansas State		KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	FSN	W 16–6	51,101
October 13	1:30 pm	No. 25 Texas A&M	No. 20	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	PPV	W 31–21	49,521
October 20	1:30 pm	at No. 9 Texas	No. 14	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 7–41	83,156
October 27	6:00 pm	at Oklahoma State	No. 25	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	FSN	W 22–19	41,070
November 3	1:00 pm	Missouri	No. 25	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 38–24	45,942
November 10	6:00 pm	at Iowa State	No. 21	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	FSN	W 40–27	39,204
November 23	1:30 pm	No. 2 Nebraska	No. 14	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	ABC	W 62–36	53,790
December 1	7:00 pm	vs. No. 3 Texas	No. 9	Texas Stadium Irving, TX (Big 12 Championship Game)	ABC	W 39–37	65,675
January 1	2:30 pm	vs. No. 2 Oregon*	No. 3	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	ABC	L 16–38	74,118
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Note: Colorado was scheduled to play at Washington State on September 15 but the game was canceled due to the September 11 attacks.

Roster

2001 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`22`	Chris Brown	So
FB	`33`	Brandon Drumm	Jr
TE	`89`	Daniel Graham	Sr
G	`65`	Andre Gurode (C)	Sr
WR	`5`	Roman Hollowell	Sr
RB	`27`	Cortlen Johnson	Sr
C	`78`	Wayne Lucier	Jr
WR	`2`	John Minardi (C)	Sr
QB	`1`	Craig Ochs	So
QB	`4`	Bobby Pesavento	Sr
RB	`42`	Bobby Purify	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`97`	Justin Bannan (C)	Sr
DE	`99`	Tyler Brayton	Jr
DT	`94`	DeAndre Fluellen	So
DE	`30`	Marques Harris	Fr
LB	`43`	Joey Johnson	Jr
SS	`31`	Michael Lewis (C)	Sr
FS	`9`	Robbie Robinson	Sr
CB	`26`	Roderick Sneed	Jr
CB	`4`	Donald Strickland	Jr
LB	`54`	Sean Tufts	So
LB	`16`	Drew Wahlroos	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`25`	Pat Brougham	Jr
K	`3`	Jeremy Flores	Sr
P	`8`	Mark Mariscal	Jr

Head coach

Gary Barnett

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Shawn Watson – Offensive coordinator
Tom McMahon – Co-Defensive coordinator
Vince Okruch – Co-Defensive coordinator
Vance Joseph Graduate Assistant
Eric Bieniemy – Running backs
Jon Embree – Wide receivers/ kicking

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

Fresno State

Colorado State

#24 Colorado State vs. Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	0	7	14
• Buffaloes	14	3	14	10	41

Date: September 1
Location: Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado
Game attendance: 75,022
Television network: ABC

San Jose State

Kansas

Kansas State

Texas A&M Aggies

#25 Texas A&M at #20 Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	14	0	7	21
• Buffaloes	3	11	3	14	31

Date: November 23
Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Game attendance: 49,521

Texas

Oklahoma State

Missouri

Iowa State

Nebraska

#1 Nebraska at #14 Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornhuskers	3	20	7	6	36
• Buffaloes	28	14	0	20	62

Date: November 23
Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado
Game attendance: 53,790
TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger (Play–by–play), Gary Danielson (Color) & Jack Arute (Sideline)

Scoring summary

1	13:00	COL	Bobby Purify 39-yard run (Brougham kick)	COL 7–0

1	12:03	COL	Daniel Graham 21-yard pass from Bobby Pesavento (Brougham kick)	COL 14–0

1	5:45	COL	Bobby Pesavento 1-yard run (Flores kick)	COL 21–0

1	3:31	Neb	Josh Brown 28-yard field goal	COL 21–3

1	1:50	COL	Chris Brown 11-yard run (Flores kick)	COL 28–3

2	12:21	COL	Chris Brown 1-yard run (Flores kick)	COL 35–3

2	9:37	Neb	Steve Kriewald 25-yard run (Brown kick)	COL 35–10

2	6:03	Neb	Dahrran Diedrick 32-yard run (two-point conversion failed)	COL 35–16

2	3:19	COL	Chris Brown 36-yard run (Flores kick)	COL 42–16

2	2:53	Neb	Dahrran Diedrick 1-yard run (Brown kick)	COL 42–23

3	4:17	Neb	Eric Crouch 6-yard run (Brown kick)	COL 42–30

4	12:50	COL	Chris Brown 1-yard run (Flores kick)	COL 49–30

4	11:38	COL	Chris Brown 13-yard run (kick failed)	COL 55–30

4	9:41	COL	Chris Brown 8-yard run (Flores kick)	COL 62–30

4	7:30	Neb	Eric Crouch 6-yard run (two-point conversion failed)	COL 62–36

^[1]^[2]

Big 12 Championship Game

#3 Texas vs. #9 Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Longhorns	7	10	3	17	37
• Buffaloes	7	22	7	3	39

Date: December 1
Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Game start: 7:07 pm
Elapsed time: 3:31
Game attendance: 65,675
Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), Partly cloudy, Wind S 8 mph (13 km/h)
Referee: John Laurie
TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson, Jack Arute

Fiesta Bowl

#3 Colorado vs. #2 Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buffaloes	7	0	0	9	16
• Ducks	7	14	7	10	38

Date: January 1
Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game start: 5:00 p.m. PST
Game attendance: 74,118
TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson, Jack Arute

Scoring summary

1	6:26	COL	Brandon Drumm 1-yard run (Brougham kick)	COL 7–0

1	3:48	ORE	Keenan Howry 28-yard pass from Joey Harrington (Siegel kick)	Tied 7–7

2	3:13	ORE	Samie Parker 79-yard pass from Harrington (Siegel kick)	ORE 14–7

2	2:29	ORE	Onterrio Smith 6-yard pass from Harrington (Siegel kick)	ORE 21–7

3	12:33	ORE	Maurice Morris 49-yard run (Siegel kick)	ORE 28–7

4	12:03	ORE	Jared Siegel 47-yard field goal	ORE 31–7

4	9:38	ORE	Justin Peelle 4-yard pass from Harrington (Siegel kick)	ORE 38–7

4	5:47	COL	Flores 39-yard field goal	ORE 38–10

4	0:18	COL	Daniel Graham 4-yard pass from Ochs (kick failed)	ORE 38–16

Main article: 2002 Fiesta Bowl

^[5]

Rankings

Further information: 2001 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Awards and honors

Daniel Graham, TE – John Mackey Award, Consensus First-team All-American
Andre Gurode, G – Consensus First-team All-American
Gary Barnett – Big 12 Coach of the Year

References

^ "Colorado 62, Nebraska 36: Huskers trampled in Boulder". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. November 23, 2001. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
^ Murphy, Austin (December 3, 2001). "RUN TO GLORY ONRUSHING COLORADO SCRAMBLED THE NATIONAL TITLE PICTURE BY STEPPING ALL OVER NO. 2 NEBRASKA". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
^ "2001 Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship Set: Colorado Faces Texas". Big 12 Conference. November 24, 2001. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
^ "2001 Sixth Annual Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. December 1, 2001. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
^ "Ducks snuff Buffs". Missoulian. January 2, 2002. Retrieved June 23, 2019.

v t e Colorado Buffaloes football
Venues	Campus fields (1890–1901) Gamble Field (1901–1924) Folsom Field (1924–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colorado State: Rocky Mountain Showdown Nebraska Utah: Rumble in the Rockies
Culture & lore	Ralphie the Buffalo "CU Fight Song" "Golden Buffalo" Marching band Fifth Down Game Miracle at Michigan
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold

Big 12 Conference football champions

Texas (1996)
Nebraska (1997)
Texas A&M (1998)
Nebraska (1999)
Oklahoma (2000)
Colorado (2001)
Oklahoma (2002)
Kansas State (2003)
Oklahoma (2004)
Texas (2005)
Oklahoma (2006)
Oklahoma (2007)
Oklahoma (2008)
Texas (2009)
Oklahoma (2010)
Oklahoma State (2011)
Kansas State & Oklahoma (2012)
Baylor (2013)
Baylor & TCU (2014)
Oklahoma (2015)
Oklahoma (2016)
Oklahoma (2017)
Oklahoma (2018)
Oklahoma (2019)
Oklahoma (2020)
Baylor (2021)
Kansas State (2022)

National championships in bold