2001 New Orleans Bowl Explained

Year Game Played:2001
Game Name:New Orleans Bowl
Football Season:2001
Visitor Name Short:Colorado State
Visitor Nickname:Rams
Visitor School:Colorado State University
Home Name Short:North Texas
Home Nickname:Mean Green
Home School:University of North Texas
Visitor Record:6 - 5
Visitor Conference:Mountain West
Home Record:5 - 6
Home Conference:Sun Belt
Visitor Coach:Sonny Lubick
Home Coach:Darrell Dickey
Visitor 1Q:17
Visitor 2Q:7
Visitor 3Q:7
Visitor 4Q:14
Home 1Q:0
Home 2Q:14
Home 3Q:0
Home 4Q:6
Date Game Played:December 18
Stadium:Louisiana Superdome
City:New Orleans, Louisiana
Mvp:Colorado State DB Justin Gallimore
Referee:Tom DeJoseph (Big East)
Attendance:27,004[1]
Payout:750,000[2]
Us Network:ESPN2[3]
Ratings:1.37
First Game Ever Played:Yes

The 2001 New Orleans Bowl featured the North Texas Mean Green and the Colorado State Rams. It was the inaugural playing of the bowl game. North Texas became the first team in NCAA college football history to play in a bowl after starting their season 0–5. They were the Sun Belt Conference co-champions (5–1 in conference), which gave them bowl eligibility despite having an overall losing record (5–6).[4]

Running back Brad Svoboda got Colorado State on the board first with a 2-yard touchdown run, to give them a 7–0 lead. Kent Naughton later connected on a 46-yard field goal to increase CSU's lead to 10–0. Quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jose Ochoa to give CSU a 17–0 lead.

Quarterback Scott Hall threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Dean to get North Texas on the scoreboard, 17–7. Bradlee Van Pelt rushed 6 yards for a touchdown, and a 24–7 Colorado State lead. Scott Hall threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Mel Branch to cut the lead to 24–14. In the third quarter, Justin Gallimore recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown and a 31–14 lead. In the fourth quarter, Chad Dixon rushed for a 2-yard touchdown, to increase the lead to 38–14. Running back Michael Vomhof rushed 20 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead again to 45–14. Back-up quarterback Michael Bridges threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Andy Blount, making the final score 45–20.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NewOrleansBowl.com - History . 2008-01-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080116000938/http://neworleansbowl.com/2007/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=36 . 2008-01-16 . dead .
  2. Web site: CNNSI.com - 2001 College Bowls - 2001-02 bowl games schedule - Thursday January 03, 2002 11:38 PM . 2008-12-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100419121329/http://quicktime.cnnsi.com/football/college/bowl_sked/ . 2010-04-19 . dead .
  3. Web site: New Orleans Bowl . 2008-01-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071006151734/http://www.neworleansbowl.org/ed/bookshow.pl?History_Summary . 2007-10-06 . dead .
  4. Web site: College Football Teams Which Played in Bowl Games Despite Losing Records . thesportsseer.com . December 30, 2013 . November 26, 2018.