2001 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

American college football season

2001 Penn State Nittany Lions football

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Record| 5–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Joe Paterno (36th season)

Offensive coordinator| Fran Ganter (18th season)
Offensive scheme| Pro-style
Defensive coordinator| Tom Bradley (2nd season)
Base defense| 4–3
Home stadium| Beaver Stadium

Seasons

<- 2000

2002 ->

2001 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
No. 12 Illinois $  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 10  | - | 2  |
No. 20 Michigan |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 4  |
Ohio State |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 5  |
Iowa |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 5  |
Purdue |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
Penn State |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 6  |
Indiana |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 6  |
Michigan State |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 5  |
Wisconsin |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 7  |
Minnesota |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 7  |
Northwestern |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 7  |

* $ - BCS representative as conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team's head coach was Joe Paterno. It played its home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

## Schedule

[edit]

Due to the September 11 attacks, the Virginia game was rescheduled from September 13, 2001 to December 1, 2001.

Date| Time| Opponent| Site| TV| Result| Attendance| Source

|
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|
|
|
|
|

September 1| 8:00 p.m.| No. 2 Miami (FL)*|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA

| ABC| L 7–33| 109,313|
September 22| 12:00 p.m.| Wisconsin|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA

| ABC| L 6–18| 107,253|
September 29| 12:00 p.m.| at Iowa|

* Kinnick Stadium
* Iowa City, IA

| ESPN| L 18–24| 69,422|
October 6| 3:30 p.m.| No. 15 Michigan|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA (rivalry)

| ABC| L 0–20| 107,879|
October 20| 3:30 p.m.| at No. 22 Northwestern|

* Ryan Field
* Evanston, IL

| ABC| W 38–35| 42,512|
October 27| 12:00 p.m.| Ohio State|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA (rivalry)

| ESPN| W 29–27| 108,327|
November 3| 12:00 p.m.| Southern Miss*|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA

| ESPN2| W 38–20| 106,158| [2]
November 10| 3:30 p.m.| at No. 15 Illinois|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| ABC| L 28–33| 70,904|
November 17| 12:00 p.m.| Indiana|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA

| ESPN Plus| W 28–14| 106,527|
November 24| 3:30 p.m.| at Michigan State|

* Spartan Stadium
* East Lansing, MI (rivalry)

| ESPN| W 42–37| 72,658|
December 1| 12:00 p.m.| at Virginia*|

* Scott Stadium
* Charlottesville, VA

| ESPN| L 14–20| 57,005|

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Eastern time

## Roster

[edit]

2001 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

QB | `3` | Chris Ganter | Fr
QB | `4` | Matt Senneca |  Jr
RB | `5` | Larry Johnson |  Jr
TE | `6` | R. J. Luke |  Jr
QB | `7` | Zack Mills |  Fr
RB | `8` | Eric McCoo | Sr
WR | `11` | Tony Johnson | So
QB | `12` | Michael Robinson | Fr
WR | `13` | Kinta Palmer | Fr
WR | `17` | Terrance Phillips | Fr
WR | `19` | Gerald Smith |  Fr
WR | `20` | Eddie Drummond | Sr
RB | `22` | Pete Gilmore |  Fr
WR | `24` | Bryant Johnson | Jr
RB | `30` | Anthony Butler |  Fr
WR | `28` | Anwar Phillips | Fr
WR | `31` | Ernie Terrell | Fr
FB | `31` | Terrence Glover |  So
FB | `33` | Mike Lukac |  So
RB | `34` | Omar Easy | Sr
RB | `35` | Aric Heffelfinger | Fr
WR | `36` | Mike Drenning |  Fr
FB | `39` | Paul Jefferson | So
FB | `42` | Mick Blosser | Sr
RB | `44` | Ricky Upton |  So
RB | `45` | Adam Senk | Fr
WR | `48` | Munya Maraire | Jr
G | `50` | Tyler Lenda |  Jr
OL | `52` | Brian Fairchild | Fr
OL | `53` | Tommy McHugh | Fr
G | `54` | Scott Davis |  Fr
G | `55` | Greg Ransom | Sr
C | `56` | Geoff Stryker | Sr
OL | `57` | Carl Hunt | Fr
C | `59` | Eric Rickenbach |  Jr
C | `61` | David Costlow |  So
OL | `62` | Nick Daise | Fr
C | `63` | Joe Iorio | Jr
OT | `64` | Matt Schmitt | Sr
G | `66` | B. J. Evangelista |  Fr
G | `67` | Jonathan Nabavi |  So
OT | `70` | Nick Marmo |  Fr
G | `71` | Joe Hartings |  Sr
OT | `72` | Gus Felder | Sr
OL | `74` | Tyler Reed | Fr
OT | `75` | Chris McKelvy | So
OT | `76` | Damone Jones |  So
OL | `77` | E.Z. Smith | Fr
WR | `80` | Scott Shirley |  So
WR | `81` | Jason Stryker |  Fr
FB | `82` | Sean McHugh | So
WR | `83` | Ryan Scott |  Fr
WR | `84` | Steve Delich |  Jr
TE | `85` | John Gilmore |  Sr
WR | `88` | Matt Kranchick |  So
TE | `89` | Andrew Richardson | Fr
TE | `90` | Isaac Smolko | Fr
TE | `91` | Mike Pawlikowski |  Fr
TE | `93` | Casey Williams |  So
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

CB | `1` | Bruce Branch | Sr
LB | `2` | Deryck Toles |  So
DE | `3` | Ron Graham | Sr
S | `9` | Sam Crenshaw | Sr
LB | `10` | Jesse Neumeyer | Fr
CB | `13` | Scott Sanden | Fr
S | `15` | Yaacov Yisrael |  So
LB | `16` | Andy Ryland |  So
DB | `18` | Andrew Guman | Fr
LB | `21` | Shamar Finney | Sr
S | `23` | Shawn Mayer |  Jr
CB | `25` | Rich Gardner |  So
DB | `26` | Nolan McCready | Fr
DB | `27` | Chris Harrell | Fr
LB | `28` | Erik Holt |  Jr
S | `28` | James Millon |  Jr
DB | `29` | Paul Cronin | Fr
LB | `29` | Ryan Pinckney |  Jr
DL | `70` | Michael Butler |  Fr
CB | `32` | Bryan Scott | Jr
LB | `35` | Dave Benfatti | Sr
DB | `36` | Alan Zemaitis | Fr
LB | `37` | LaMar Stewart | Fr
S | `38` | Jimi Mitchell |  Fr
LB | `40` | T.C. Cosby |  Fr
LB | `41` | Tom Williams |  Sr
DB | `43` | Adam Taliaferro | So
DB | `44` | Marcus Mills | Fr
CB | `45` | Tom Humphrey | Sr
DB | `46` | Geo Vendemia | Fr
LB | `47` | Gino Capone |  So
DB | `48` | Ben Lago | So
LB | `49` | Dave Jens |  So
LB | `51` | Tim Johnson |  Fr
DE | `53` | Jason Crosby |  Fr
LB | `58` | Dethrell Garcia | Fr
DL | `59` | Charles Rush | Fr
DT | `60` | Tyler Valoczki |  Jr
LB | `94` | Israel Paniagua | Jr
DT | `62` | Randy Buck |  Jr
LB | `65` | Sam Ruhe | So
DT | `69` | Jason Robinson |  Fr
DT | `73` | Jimmy Kennedy |  Jr
DT | `78` | Erik Noll |  Fr
DE | `80` | Scott Paxson | Fr
DE | `81` | Michael Haynes |  Jr
DE | `84` | Matthew Rice | Fr
DE | `86` | Jeremiah Davis |  Fr
DE | `87` | John Bronson |  Fr
DE | `92` | Lavon Chisley | Fr
DE | `92` | T. J. Gholston |  Jr
LB | `94` | Derek Wake | So
DE | `96` | Bob Jones |  Sr
DL | `97` | Greg Bauer | Fr
DT | `98` | Anthony Adams |  Jr
DT | `99` | Tim Falls |  Jr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

P | `14` | David Royer |  Jr
K | `16` | Robbie Gould | Fr
K | `19` | Mike Savage |  So
K | `33` | Matt Huet |  Fr
P | `39` | Woody Schmidt | Fr
K | `95` | David Kimball | So

Head coach

* Joe Paterno

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* * *

Legend

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

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster
Last update: December 11, 2001

## NFL draft

[edit]

Two Nittany Lions were drafted in the 2002 NFL draft.

Round | Pick | Overall | Name | Position | Team

|
|
|
|
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4th | 9 | 107 | Omar Easy | Fullback | Kansas City Chiefs
6th | 24 | 196 | John Gilmore | Tight end | New Orleans Saints

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (2000-2004)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
2. ^ "Penn State thumps USM". Hattiesburg American. November 4, 2001. Retrieved September 10, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.

* v
* t
* e

Penn State Nittany Lions football

Venues|

* Old Main lawn (until 1891)
* Beaver Field (1892–1908)
* New Beaver Field (1909–1959)
* Beaver Stadium (1960–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Alabama
* Maryland
* Michigan
* Michigan State
* Minnesota: Governor's Victory Bell
* Ohio State
* Old Ironsides
* Pittsburgh
* Syracuse
* West Virginia

Culture & lore|

* Nittany Lion
* "Fight On, State"
* Penn State Blue Band
* Uplifting Athletes
* Joe Paterno statue
* Something for Joey
* 1982 Nebraska game
* Child sex abuse scandal
* 2016 Ohio State game
* Paterno
* White Out
* 2021 Illinois game

People|

* Head coaches
* All-Americans
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1881
* 1882–1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889
* 1890
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* 1892
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National championship seasons in bold

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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number