2001 GMAC Bowl

2001 GMAC Bowl
Highest-scoring bowl game
Marshall Thundering Herd East Carolina Pirates
(10–2) (6–5)
MAC C-USA
64 61
Head coach: 
Bob Pruett		 Head coach: 
Steve Logan
APCoachesBCS
NR25NR
1234OT2OT Total
Marshall 08281576 64
East Carolina 211731073 61
DateDecember 19, 2001
Season2001
StadiumLadd–Peebles Stadium
LocationMobile, Alabama
MVPMarshall QB Byron Leftwich
RefereeBill LeMonnier (Big Ten)
Attendance40,139
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2
AnnouncersSteve Levy (Play by Play)
Todd Christensen (Analyst)
Dave Ryan (Sideline)
GMAC Bowl
 < 2000 2002 > 

The 2001 GMAC Bowl, a college football bowl game held on December 19 at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, pitted the Marshall Thundering Herd, then of the Mid-American Conference, against the East Carolina Pirates from Conference USA. This game featured what was then the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A (now Division I FBS) bowl history, as Marshall came back from a 38–8 halftime deficit to force overtime and eventually win 64–61 in double overtime. It was also the highest-scoring bowl game in history, breaking the previous record set when Texas Tech defeated Air Force 55–41 in the 1995 Copper Bowl.[1] Although the record for greatest bowl comeback was broken by Texas Tech when it returned to the Copper Bowl, by then renamed the Insight Bowl, in 2006,[2] the 2001 GMAC Bowl remains the highest-scoring bowl game ever.[3]

The game, with an official attendance of 40,139,[4] was telecast on ESPN2.[5] It was a rematch of one of Marshall's most historically significant games. On November 14, 1970, the two teams met at East Carolina, with the Pirates winning 17–14. That night, the plane carrying the Herd back to Huntington, West Virginia crashed just before landing, killing all 75 on board. The two teams had only met one time since the crash, a 45–0 East Carolina win in 1978.[6] They later played every year from 2005 to 2013, when both schools were members of the C-USA East Division.

  1. ^ "Good Lord, Byron". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. December 20, 2001. Archived from the original on December 29, 2001. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  2. ^ "Down 31, Texas Tech rallies for biggest bowl comeback". ESPN. Associated Press. December 29, 2006. Archived from the original on November 25, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  3. ^ "Bowl/All-Star Game Records: Team Records, Scoring" (PDF). Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Records Book. NCAA. p. 304. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  4. ^ "NCAA Football Scoreboard: Box Score – Marshall 64, East Carolina 61". CNNSI.com. December 20, 2001. Archived from the original on February 12, 2002. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  5. ^ "Marshall on National TV". Marshall Football 2007 Media Guide. Marshall University. p. 121. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  6. ^ "Marshall Year-By-Year Results". Marshall Football 2007 Media Guide. Marshall University. pp. 177–180. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2007.