| Year Game Played: | 2001 |
| Title Sponsor: | Tostitos |
| Game Name: | Fiesta Bowl |
| Subheader: | BCS Bowl Game |
| Football Season: | 2000 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Oregon State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Beavers |
| Home Name Short: | Notre Dame |
| Home Nickname: | Fighting Irish |
| Visitor Record: | 10–1 |
| Visitor Conference: | Pac-10 |
| Home Record: | 9–2 |
| Home Conference: | Independent |
| Visitor Coach: | Dennis Erickson |
| Home Coach: | Bob Davie |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 5 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 6 |
| Visitor Rank Bcs: | 6 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 10 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 10 |
| Home Rank Bcs: | 11 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 9 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 29 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 3 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 6 |
| Date Game Played: | January 1 |
| Stadium: | Sun Devil Stadium |
| City: | Tempe, Arizona |
| Mvp: | Jonathan Smith(QB, OSU) Darnell Robinson (LB, OSU) |
| Odds: | Oregon State by 3½ points[1] [2] |
| Referee: | John Smith (Big East) |
| Halftime: | Chandlerp. |
| Attendance: | 75,428 |
| Us Network: | ABC |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Sean McDonough, Ed Cunningham |
| Ratings: | 10.7 |
| Intl Network Link: | Bowl Championship Series on television and radio |
| Intl Network: | ABC |
The 2001 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played on January 1, was the thirtieth edition of the Fiesta Bowl and part of the BCS bowl schedule of the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. Held on New Year's Day at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the night game matched the fifth-ranked Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-10 Conference and the #10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, an independent.[3] [4]
Oregon State quarterback Jonathan Smith threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns to lead the favored Beavers to a 41–9 rout. Wide receiver Chad Johnson had two touchdown receptions, and future Cincinnati Bengals teammate T. J. Houshmandzadeh caught the other. Ken Simonton added 85 yards rushing and a touchdown.[5] The Beavers led 12–3 at halftime, then scored 29 points in an eight-minute stretch of the third quarter to put the game away, including a score on an unusual play where OSU's Terrell Roberts recovered teammate Houshmandzadeh's fumble on a punt return and himself ran 45 yards to complete the return touchdown.[6] [7] [8] [9] Notre Dame's sole touchdown came with under seven minutes remaining in the game which completed the scoring.
Smith was named the offensive player of the game, and Beavers linebacker Darnell Robinson, who recorded two sacks, forced a fumble, and made an interception, was the defensive player of the game. The Beavers won despite being penalized 18 times for 174 yards, which set a school and Fiesta Bowl record.[6]
Oregon State (11–1) was ranked fourth in the final AP poll, which remains the highest in the history of the OSU program. Notre Dame (9–3) fell to fifteenth after its fifth consecutive bowl loss, a streak which reached nine.