2001 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

2001 Vanderbilt Commodores football
Conference Southeastern Conference
Division Eastern Division
2001 record 2–9 (0–8 SEC)
Head coach Woody Widenhofer (5th year)
Offensive coordinator Steve Crosby (4th year)
Defensive coordinator Herb Paterra (2nd year)
Captain
Home stadium Vanderbilt Stadium
2001 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Eastern Division
#4 Tennessee x   7 – 1         11 – 2  
#3 Florida %   6 – 2         10 – 2  
#13 South Carolina   5 – 3         9 – 3  
#22 Georgia   5 – 3         8 – 4  
Kentucky   1 – 7         2 – 9  
Vanderbilt   0 – 8         2 – 9  
Western Division
#7 LSU xy$   5 – 3         10 – 3  
Auburn x   5 – 3         7 – 5  
Ole Miss   4 – 4         7 – 4  
Alabama   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Arkansas   4 – 4         7 – 5  
Mississippi State   2 – 6         3 – 8  
Championship: LSU 31, Tennessee 20
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented the Vanderbilt University in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by head coach Woody Widenhofer in his fifth year as the head coach, the Commodores finished with a 2–9 record for the season.

Vanderbilt top Players

Vanderbilt was led by Greg Zolman who passed for 2,512 yards with 14 TD’s and 9 INT’s he had a 52.1% passing 186 Completes for 357 Attempts 32.5 Attempts per game. Dan Stricker was the top passing target with 65 Receptions and 1,079 Yards 8 TDs. Lew Thomas was top rusher with 675 Yards on 105 Attempts for an Avg of 6.43 and 96.4 YPG 5TDs. Rodney Williams was second in rushing with 590 Yards on 131 Attempts for an Avg of 4.50 4TDs.[1]

Woody Widenhofer

Widenhofer, entered into his fifth season at Vandy, on the hot seat needing to improve his record at Vanderbilt. He met with Vanderbilt chancellor Gordon Gee and athletic director Todd Turner in November 2000. The gist of that meeting was clearly defined: There needed to be marked improvement in every aspect of the Vanderbilt program if Widenhofer is going to see a sixth year. The general feeling in Nashville was that Vanderbilt needs to make a bid for a winning season. And if the Commodores don’t get to six wins, they need to at least come very close.[2]

To that end, Widenhofer implemented a three-part plan during the off-season. There was some talk that he might make some changes on his staff. While he did shuffle some things around, he didn’t fire anyone. But Widenhofer had vowed to take a more “hands-on’’ approach the season with his staff and players. The second part of Widenhofer’s plan was to spreading out the special teams responsibilities to every member of the coaching staff. Bill Maskill handled those chores in the last season by himself.

The third part of Widenhofer’s plan was to center around developing leadership among the players. He thought his team lacked leadership the year before. The Commodores returned seven starters on each side of the ball. But the loss of Jared McGrath and Elliott Carson on offense and Jamie Winborn and Jimmy R. Williams on defense could not have been overlooked. New play-makers needed to emerge. And above all, Vanderbilt needed to do a better job of running the ball and stopping the run if it was going to improve on the 2000 season’s 3-8 finish. The Commodores were last in the league in rushing offense (96.5 yards) and tied for last in rushing defense (178.3 yards).

Offense

The offense was clearly the strength of this team and had a chance to be one of the best Vanderbilt had had in some time. But the Commodores needed a few receivers other than junior Dan Stricker to make some plays. 2000 Season, Stricker finished third in the SEC and 18th nationally with 90.4 receiving yards per game. Senior QB Greg Zolman entering his fifth year in the program and coming off his most productive season. Zolman had the kind of stability at quarterback Vanderbilt had not had much of over the years.

In 2000 Zolman finished second only to Kentucky’s Jared Lorenzen in passing yards per game. Zolman averaged 221.9 yards and had 2,441 for the 2000 season, the most by a Vanderbilt quarterback since 1988.

The year before, the Commodores were last in the league in rushing offense, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry. McGrath was the main cog in the rushing attack, and was gone after moving to fourth on Vandy’s all-time rushing list.[3]

Defense

Defense had been a constant under Widenhofer. That is, until the 2000 season. The Commodores fell off in just about every area. They were 11th in the league in total defense, 10th in scoring defense and tied for 12th in rushing defense.

Good defense always starts in the defensive line, and the Commodores weren’t loaded by any means in their three-man front. The best defensive lineman on the team was red shirt sophomore nose guard Brett Beard. He had 50 tackles, including two sacks. With Winborn giving up his final year of eligibility and being scooped up in the second round of the NFL draft, junior Mike Adam would get the chance fill Winborn’s inside linebacker position.

Lance Garner of Kempner, Texas was the heir apparent to kicker John Markham, who departed as the Commodores’ all-time leading scorer. Markham, who made 14-of-18 field goals in 2000, was the second place-kicker taken in April’s NFL draft, going to the New York Giants in the fifth round 162 pick.

Bottom line

Widenhofer did not make any bold predictions for the year. His only comment to the media before the start of spring practice in March was that he was “cautiously optimistic’’ about the 2001 season.

Widenhofer learned his lesson about making predictions after the 3-8 finish 2000 season. Due to the fact that Vanderbilt won only 2 games, Vanderbilt let Widenhofer go after the season and hired Bobby Johnson.

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
August 30 7:00 p.m. Middle Tennessee State* Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN L 28–37   39,885
September 8 11:30 a.m. Alabama Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN JPS L 9–12   37,318
September 22 6:00 p.m. Richmond* Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN W 28–22   23,107
September 29 6:00 p.m. Auburn Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN PPV L 21–24   39,366
October 13 1:00 p.m. No. 19 Georgia Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN (Rivalry) L 14–30   31,847
October 20 6:00 p.m. at No. 16 South Carolina Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC L 14–46   83,104
October 27 12:00 p.m. at Duke* Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC W 42–28   18,332
November 3 11:30 a.m. at No. 3 Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL JPS L 13–71   85,052
November 10 1:00 p.m. Kentucky Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, TN (Rivalry) L 30–56   32,422
November 24 2:30 p.m. at No. 6 Tennessee Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN (Rivalry) CBS L 0–38   102,519
December 1 11:30 a.m. at Mississippi Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS (Rivalry) JPS L 27–38   39,212
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from Coaches Poll. All times are in Central Time).

[4][5]

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player Position Round Pick NFL Club
No Players Taken---

[6]

Game notes

Middle Tennessee State 37 Vanderbilt 28

For the first time in 13 games MTSU defeated in-state rival Vanderbilt 37 to 28. This was the first meeting since 1956 the teams are approximately 25 miles apart. MTSU running back Dwone Hicks rushed the ball 37 times for 203 yards and QB Wes Counts was 13 of 36 passes for 308 yards as Middle Tennessee won a season-opening game on the road for the first time since 1994 at Tennessee State. Vanderbilt QB Greg Zolman was 13 of 32 for 300 yards passing. Vanderbilt scored 28 points but was shut out the other three.

Scoring summary

Player statistics

Team stats

1 234Total
• MTSU 14 1067 37
Vanderbilt 0 2800 28
  • Location: Nashville, TN
  • Game start: 12:49 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 39,885
  • Game weather: 88°, Partly cloudy

[7]

Alabama 12 Vanderbilt 9

This was Dennis Franchione's first win at Alabama as ahead football coach. With 5:01 remaining in the game Neal Thomas' fourth field goal sealed the victory for the Crimson Tide. Earlier in the week, Alabama had received official word from the NCAA detailing rules allegations that include payoffs and academic fraud. Chuck Folino kicked three field goals for the Commodores, who started the season 0–2 and 0–1 SEC West.

This was the 17th consecutive victory for Alabama over Vanderbilt and had an overall record of 55–19–4 over Vanderbilt. Entering the fourth period Alabama had a 3-point lead when Folino tied the game with a 38-yarder and 7:10 to play. Vanderbilt's Greg Zolman was 17 of 34 for 253 yards passing. Lew Thomas had 10 carries for 89 yards rushing. Alabama's Ahmad Galloway rushed the ball 24 times for 144 yards. Alabama's record was 1–1 and 1–0 in the SEC East.[8]

Scoring summary

Player statistics

Team statistics

1 234Total
• Alabama 0 633 12
Vanderbilt 3 303 9
  • Location: Nashville, TN.
  • Game start: 4:18 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 3,7318
  • Television network: JPS

Richmond 22 – Vanderbilt 28

Vanderbilt rallied back in the third quarter with two Lew Thomas 1-yard rushing touchdowns. This was Vandy's first victory of the year; it was over a D I-AA Richmond Spiders, who were (0 2) Richmond made it a close game on a Scott Fulton three yard run with 4:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. Richmond had lost to Virginia on September 1, 2001 17 16 both losses were to a Division I-A school.

Richmond took a 10–0 lead in the first quarter, on Gustus' four-yard TD run and Doug Kirchner's 31-yard field goal. Richmond was ahead 16   with 4:06 remaining in the first half. Vandy closed to 16–14 gaining momentum on Greg Zolman's second TD pass a 12 pass to Dan Stricker with 0:39 left remaining in the second quarter. Vanderbilt scored its first points on a 41-yard pass Zoleman to Stricker with 0;04 remaining in the first quarter.

This was the first meeting of the teams Richmond had a record of 0–12 all time against the SEC. Vanderbilt's Greg Zolman completed 20 of 32 passes for 236 yards, Lew Thomas rushed 93 yards on 15 carries. Dan Striker had 6 receptions for 84 yards and 2 TD's. Richmond's Gustus completed 6 passes of 14 for 125 yards and ran for 54 yards on 18 attempts.[9]

Scoring summary

Player statistics

Team Stats

1 234Total
Richmond 10 606 22
• Vanderbilt 7 7140 28
  • Location: Nashville, Tennessee
  • Game start: 10:11 a.m
  • Game attendance: 23,107

Auburn 24 Vanderbilt 21

Vanderbilt and Auburn Tigers had played only 10 time between 1955 and 2001. Auburn won them all the previous three meetings Auburn out scored Vanderbilt 78–17. This was a hard fought game by Vandy as the teams where tied 3 times in the game.

Auburn scored first on Chris Williams 51 yard touchdown run with 2:08 into the game. Vanderbilt scored on a four yard run by Lew Thomas with 8:43 in the third quarter and Tigers' freshman quarterback Jason Campbell passed to Robert Johnson for a 35 yard touchdown pass 1:11 later. The Commodores tied again on a two yard run by Thomas in the third before the Tigers' scored again on a one-yard run by Williams with 0:50 left in the third.

The forth Vanderbilt marched 83-yards and "scored" on a Dan Stricker four-yard "reception", which was not anywhere close to resembling a catch (see the replay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EwJUpoUXkQ), from Zolman for Vandy's final point of the game. The Tigers' scored last on a Damon Duval's 49 yard field goal with 2:58 remaining in the game. Vanderbilt made an effort to get into field goal range, however turned the ball over on downs after driving 52 yards.

Scoring Summary

Player Statistics

Team Stats

[10]

1 234Total
• Auburn 7 0143 24
Vanderbilt 0 0147 21
  • Location: Nashville, TN
  • Game start: 9:45 a.m.
  • Game attendance: 39,366

#19 Georgia 30 Vanderbilt 14

Scoring Summary

Player Statistics

Team Stats

1 234Total
• Georgia 14 1060 30
Vanderbilt 0 770 14
  • Location: Nashville, TN.
  • Game start: 5:10 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 31,847

At# 16 South Carolina 46 Vanderbilt 14

Vanderbilt was blown-out by South Carolina and the team was weakening. Before the Georgia game all games where close the next 5 SEC team would do the same thing to the down and out Dores. Other than Duke Vandy was at least a 14 point underdog.

Scoring Summary

1 234Total
Vanderbilt 0 770 14
• 16 South Carolina 14 51314 46
  • Location: Durham, SC
  • Game start: 3:19 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 83,104

At Duke 28 Vanderbilt 42

Vanderbilt has its only road win and last win of the year, to a Duke team that was 0–7 before the Vandy game, and finished 0–11.

Scoring Summary

Player Statistics

Team Stats

1 234Total
• Vanderbilt 0 14217 42
Duke 7 7014 28
  • Location: Durham, NC
  • Game start: 5:38 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 18,332

At #4 Florida 71 Vanderbilt 13

"I don't really like these kind of games," Spurrier said. "We got way ahead early and you can tell Vandy had lost their spirit, lost their fight somewhat. Sometimes these kinds of wins could be misleading to your players. So hopefully we don't get too full of ourselves and think we're that many points better than anybody."

Scoring Summary

Player Statistics

Team Stats

1 234Total
Vanderbilt 0 0013 13
• Florida 24 13286 71
  • Location: Gainesville, FL
  • Game start: 5:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 85,052

Kentucky 56 Vanderbilt 30

Jared Lorenzen threw for a season-high 453 yards and a career-high six touchdowns to lead Kentucky to a 56-30 rout over Vanderbilt in a Southeastern Conference matchup.

Dan Stricker caught 12 passes for a career-high 204 yards and two touchdowns for Vanderbilt. Rodney Williams had four catches for a season-high 102 yards and rushed for 85 yards on 18 carries.

Scoring Summary

Player Statistics

Team Stats

1 234Total
• Kentucky 13 171313 56
Vanderbilt 6 7170 30
  • Location: Nashville, TN
  • Game attendance: 32,422

At #7 Tennessee 38 Vanderbilt 0

"There is plenty to worry about this week," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We were able to get through this one and play a lot of people, but we have a lot of people banged up. Right now, our focus and attention is to get ready for Florida."

Scoring Summary

Player Statistics

Team Stats

1 234Total
Vanderbilt 0 000 0
• Tennessee 3 18107 38
  • Location: Knoxville, TN

At Ole Miss 38 Vanderbilt 27

Ole Miss (7-4, 4-4) trailed, 20-3, midway through the third quarter. But Eli Manning hit four different teammates for scores during a 14:24 span. He completed his third fourth-quarter comeback of the season with a 39-yard TD strike to freshman receiver Jason Armstead, giving the Rebels a 31–27 lead with 3:34 left.

Scoring summary

Player statistics

Team statistics

1 234Total
Vanderbilt 6 0147 27
• Ole Miss 3 0728 38
  • Location: Oxford, MS
  • Game attendance: 39,212
  • Television network: CBS

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/vanderbilt/2001.html
  2. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/woody-widenhofer-1.html
  3. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/vanderbilt/2001.html
  4. ↑ http://cfreference.net/cfr/school.s?id=341&season=2002
  5. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/boxscores/2001/12/01/mmo_vva/
  6. ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/2001.htm
  7. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/boxscores/2001/08/30/vva_mmm/
  8. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/boxscores/2001/09/08/vva_aad/
  9. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/boxscores/2001/09/22/vva_rrc/
  10. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/recaps/2001/09/29/vva_aar/
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