The 2001 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part ...

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 ...

. The team's coach was

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 201 ...

, who would leave the school before the bowl game to accept the head coaching job at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

. It played its home games at

Bobby Dodd Stadium Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. It has been home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets foo ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Preseason

Coming off of three strong seasons (including 3 straight

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...

bowl appearances and 3 wins over the archrival

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

), the Jackets were expected to contend for the national championship in 2001. In 2000, quarterback

George Godsey George Robert Godsey (born January 1, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is the tight ends coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Miami Dol ...

had picked up where his predecessor Joe Hamilton had left off, passing for 2,906 yards and 23 touchdowns (against just 6 interceptions). Armed with targets like

Kelly Campbell LeVaughn Kelly Campbell (born July 23, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former football wide receiver. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played high school football at Mays High School in Atlanta, an ...

for his senior season, a number of preseason magazines named Godsey to 1st Team All-ACC honors, and pundits predicted that a loaded Georgia Tech team would win the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

title with the departure of many key players from the defending champion

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 Subdivi ...

Schedule

Roster

Coaching staff

, head coach * Bill O'Brien,

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

, quarterbacks coach *

Ted Roof Terrence Edwin Roof Jr. (born December 11, 1963) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Oklahoma. He previously served as a defensive analyst at Clemson Universi ...

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

References

{{Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football navbox

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football seasons Seattle Bowl champion seasons

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football Program represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in the NCAA Division 1 Collegiate Competitors in the sport of American football. The Yellow Jackets college football team competes in the Footba ...