The 2001 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in the

2001 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first college football season of the 21st century. It ended with the University of Miami winning the national title for the fifth time. The Hurricanes were led by Larry Coker, who was in his f ...

. It marked their first season under new head coach Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes compiled a 7–5 record, capped by a 26–20 victory over their

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor in the regular season finale. The Buckeyes went on to play in the 2002 Outback Bowl in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, where they lost, 31–28, to the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

Preseason

The 2001

Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium i ...

season marked a transition from former head coach John Cooper to new head coach Jim Tressel. Tressel was beginning his first season as head coach at the Division I-A level as the 22nd head coach of the Buckeyes. He came from

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges a ...

where he led the

Penguins Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

to four national championships at the Division I-AA level. The Buckeyes finished the 2000 season with an 8–4 record and Coach Cooper was later fired on January 2, 2001. Prior to Cooper's firing, the Buckeyes were ranked 23rd in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

, losing in the

2001 Outback Bowl The 2001 Outback Bowl featured the South Carolina Gamecocks, and the Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are ...

to the

by a score of 24–7.

Schedule

Roster

Coaching staff

* Jim Tressel - Head Coach (1st year) * Jim Bollman - Offensive Line/OC (1st year) * Ken Conaster - Special Teams (1st year) * Bill Conley - Tight Ends / Recruiting Coordinator (15th year) * Joe Daniels - Quarterbacks (1st year) * Mark Dantonio - Defensive Coordinator (1st year) *

Jim Heacock Jim Heacock (born June 23, 1948) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Illinois State University from 1988 to 1995, compiling a record of 37–49–2. In 1996, he became an assistant coach at Ohio State Un ...

- Defensive Line (6th year) * Mark Snyder - Defensive Linebackers (1st year) * Tim Spencer - Running Backs (8th year) *

Mel Tucker Melvin Tucker II (born January 4, 1972) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Michigan State University, a position he has held since 2020. Previously, Tucker served as the head football coac ...

- Defensive Backs (1st year) * Bob Tucker - Director of Football Operations (7th year) * Dick Tressel - Associate Director of Football Operations (1st year)

Depth chart

Source: Athletic Department official site, 2001 football archive 12-01 depth chart

Game summaries

Akron

USA Today
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UCLA

Indiana

Northwestern

Wisconsin

San Diego State

Penn State

Minnesota

Purdue

Illinois

Michigan

2002 Outback Bowl

Rankings

2002 NFL draftees

References

{{Ohio State Buckeyes football navbox

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Ohio State Buckeyes football seasons