2001 New Orleans Bowl

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]

2001 New Orleans Bowl
Colorado State Rams North Texas Mean Green
(6–5) (5–6)
Mountain West Sun Belt
45 20
Head coach: 
Sonny Lubick		 Head coach: 
Darrell Dickey
1234 Total
Colorado State 177714 45
North Texas 01406 20
DateDecember 18, 2001
Season2001
StadiumLouisiana Superdome
LocationNew Orleans, Louisiana
MVPColorado State DB Justin Gallimore
RefereeTom DeJoseph (Big East)
Attendance27,004[1]
PayoutUS$750,000[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2[3]
Nielsen ratings1.37[3]

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.

References
  1. "NewOrleansBowl.com - History". Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
  2. "CNNSI.com - 2001 College Bowls - 2001-02 bowl games schedule - Thursday January 03, 2002 11:38 PM". Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  3. "New Orleans Bowl". Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
  4. "College Football Teams Which Played in Bowl Games Despite Losing Records". thesportsseer.com. December 30, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
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