2001 Washington State Cougars football team

The 2001 Washington State Cougars football team represented Washington State University as a member of the Pacific-10 Conference during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by 12th-year head coach Mike Price and played its home games on campus at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

2001 Washington State Cougars football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 33–27 vs. Purdue
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	10–2 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Mike Price (13th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Levenseller (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Bill Doba (8th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Martin Stadium
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Oregon $		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 10 Washington State		6	–	2					10	–	2
No. 16 Stanford		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 19 Washington		6	–	2					8	–	4
USC		5	–	3					6	–	6
UCLA		4	–	4					7	–	4
Oregon State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Arizona		2	–	6					5	–	6
Arizona State		1	–	7					4	–	7
California		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Opening with seven straight wins,^[1] Washington State was 9–2 in the regular season and 6–2 in the conference play, placing in a three-way tie for second in the Pac-10.^[2] Invited to the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve,^[3] the Cougars defeated Purdue for their tenth win,^[4] and were tenth in the final rankings.

Four defensive backs on the team, Lamont Thompson, Jason David, Marcus Trufant, and Erik Coleman, went on to play in the National Football League (NFL).^[5]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	7:00 pm	Idaho*		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	FSNNW	W 36–7	31,097
September 8	5:00 pm	at Boise State*		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID		W 41–20	27,697
September 22	2:00 pm	California		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 51–20	21,534
September 29	7:00 pm	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 48–21	42,729
October 6	2:00 pm	Oregon State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	FSNNW	W 34–27	35,283
October 13	2:00 pm	at No. 23 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 45–39	40,950
October 18	7:00 pm	Montana State*	No. 19	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	FSNNW	W 53–28	14,325	[6]
October 27	4:00 pm	No. 11 Oregon	No. 14	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	L 17–24	34,150
November 3	3:30 pm	No. 9 UCLA	No. 16	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	FSN	W 20–14	33,462
November 10	3:30 pm	at Arizona State	No. 11	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	FSN	W 28–16	47,229
November 17	12:30 pm	at No. 16 Washington	No. 9	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	ABC	L 14–26	74,442
December 31	11:30 am	vs. Purdue*	No. 13	Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 33–27	47,812
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

Idaho

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Idaho	0	0	0	7	7
• Washington State	3	17	16	0	36

• Date: August 30
• Location: Martin Stadium, Pullman, Washington
• Game attendance: 31,097

Scoring summary

1	2:01	WSU	Drew Dunning 26 yard field goal	Wash St 3–0
2	13:35	WSU	Dave Minnich 30 yard run (Drew Dunning kick)	Wash St 10–0
2	7:22	WSU	Drew Dunning 27 yard field goal	Wash St 13–0
2	3:09	WSU	Trandon Harvey 18 yard pass from Jason Gesser (Drew Dunning kick)	Wash St 20–0
3	11:42	WSU	Nakoa McElrath 5 yard pass from Jason Gesser (Drew Dunning kick)	Wash St 27–0
3	8:38	WSU	Nakoa McElrath 35 yard pass from Jason Gesser (kick failed)	Wash St 33–0
3	4:51	WSU	Drew Dunning 32 yard field goal	Wash St 36–0
3	3:11	ID	Chris Lacy 4 yard pass from John Welsh (Keith Stamps kick)	Wash St 36–7

^[7]