The 2001 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on January 1, 2001, at the Cotton Bowl in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, USA. The Cotton Bowl was part of the

2000 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Oklahoma Sooners claiming their seventh national championship and their thirty-seventh conference championship, the first of each since the departure of head coach Barry Switzer. Oklahoma ...

. The bowl game featured the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

from the SEC and the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as c ...

from the Big 12 and was televised in the United States on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Game summary

The

became just the second team to win 11 games in four consecutive seasons by defeating The

, 35–21, in the 2001 Cotton Bowl Classic. Third-quarter touchdown runs of 12 and six yards by junior

Josh Scobey Joshua Payne Scobey (born December 11, 1979) is a former American football running back and kick returner who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kansas State and was drafted by the Arizona ...

three minutes apart were the difference as Kansas State improved its four-year record to 44–8, including three bowl victories. The Wildcats (11–3) joined The

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

as the only teams to reach the 11-win plateau in four consecutive seasons. After losing to #1

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

championship game, Wildcats head coach

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

gave his players the chance to vote on whether or not they wanted to accept a

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

bid. The vote was unanimous, and the Wildcats played well in their second trip to Dallas in five years. Having lost the 1997 Cotton Bowl Classic to

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

, the Wildcats scored on their second possession and led 21–7 just 19½ minutes into the contest. Senior quarterback Jonathan Beasley ran for a 14-yard score and threw TD passes of 56 and 10 yards to

Quincy Morgan Quincy Demond Earl Morgan (born September 23, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos. With the Steelers, he won S ...

to give Kansas State the two-touchdown advantage. The Wildcats frustrated Tennessee freshman quarterback Casey Clausen into a miserable 7-of-25, three-interception performance. Clausen did throw a 17-yard TD pass to TE

David Martin David or Dave Martin may refer to: Entertainment *David Martin (artist) (1737–1797), Scottish painter and engraver *David Stone Martin (1913–1992), American artist *David Martin (poet) (1915–1997), Hungarian-Australian poet and novelist *Dav ...

, forcing a 7–7 tie in the first minute of the second quarter. Scobey set a Kansas State bowl record by rushing for 147 yards on 28 carries, breaking the mark of 133 yards set by J.J. Smith in the 1993 Copper Bowl. Beasley added 98 yards on 17 attempts while completing 13-of-27 passes for 210 yards. Tennessee's

Travis Henry Travis Deion Henry (born October 29, 1978) is a former American football running back who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Tennessee. He was drafted by the Bills in t ...

carried 17 times for 180 yards, 81 coming on a late touchdown scamper. The Volunteers (8–4) had their seven-game winning streak halted.Game Summary
/ref>

References

Cotton Bowl Classic Kansas State Wildcats football bowl games Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games Cotton Bowl January 2001 sports events in the United States 2000s in Dallas 2001 in Texas {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub