2001 Fiesta Bowl

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]

2001 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
BCS Bowl Game
Oregon State Beavers Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10–1) (9–2) Pac-10 Independent 41 9 Head coach:  Dennis Erickson Head coach:  Bob Davie AP Coaches BCS 5 6 6 AP Coaches BCS 10 10 11
1 2 3 4 Total Oregon State 3 9 29 0 41 Notre Dame 0 3 0 6 9
Date	January 1, 2001
Season	2000
Stadium	Sun Devil Stadium
Location	Tempe, Arizona
MVP	Jonathan Smith   (QB, OSU) Darnell Robinson (LB, OSU)
Favorite	Oregon State by 3½ points[1][2]
Referee	John Smith (Big East)
Halftime show	Chandlerp.
Attendance	75,428
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Sean McDonough, Ed Cunningham
Nielsen ratings	10.7
International TV coverage
Network	ABC

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. 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.[5][6][7][8] Notre Dame's sole touchdown came with under seven minutes remaining in the game, against OSU reserves, 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 were penalized 18 times for 174 yards.[5]

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.

References

1. "Game facts". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). January 1, 2001. p. 6E.
2. "America's Line: College". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). January 1, 2001. p. C4.
3. Rodman, Bob (January 1, 2001). "Beavers ready to get this party started". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1E.
4. "Fiesta pits glorious vs. hideous". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. January 1, 2001. p. C2.
5. King, Kelley (January 8, 2001). "Fiesta feast". Sports Illustrated. p. 46.
6. Rodman, Bob (January 2, 2001). "Fiesta fireworks". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1E.
7. Baum, Bob (January 2, 2001). "Brash Beavers bash the Irish". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. C1.
8. "2001 Fiesta Bowl" (PDF). Oregon State University Football 2007 Media Guide. OSUBeavers.com. p. 170. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2007.