2001 Fiesta Bowl

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
APCoachesBCS
566
APCoachesBCS
101011
1234 Total
Oregon State 39290 41
Notre Dame 0306 9
DateJanuary 1, 2001
Season2000
StadiumSun Devil Stadium
LocationTempe, Arizona
MVPJonathan Smith   (QB, OSU)
Darnell Robinson (LB, OSU)
FavoriteOregon State by 3½ points[1][2]
RefereeJohn Smith (Big East)
Halftime showChandlerp.
Attendance75,428
United States TV coverage
NetworkABC
AnnouncersSean McDonough, Ed Cunningham
Nielsen ratings10.7
International TV coverage
NetworkABC
Fiesta Bowl
 < 2000  2002 > 

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][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.

  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. ^ a b "Bowl Championship Series - Oregon State 41, Notre Dame 9". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  6. ^ a b King, Kelley (January 8, 2001). "Fiesta feast". Sports Illustrated. p. 46.
  7. ^ Rodman, Bob (January 2, 2001). "Fiesta fireworks". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1E.
  8. ^ Baum, Bob (January 2, 2001). "Brash Beavers bash the Irish". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. C1.
  9. ^ "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.