2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	$ – BCS representative as conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football
2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 16–10 vs. Auburn
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
2001 record	8–5 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach	John Bunting (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	John Tenuta (1st season)
Captain	Ronald Curry, Quincy Monk, Jeff Reed
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium; (capacity: 60,000)
	Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

The 2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach John Bunting, the Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina finished the season 8–5 overall and 5–3 in ACC play to place third. They beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 25	7:45 p.m.	at No. 3 Oklahoma*		Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Hispanic College Fund Football Classic)	ESPN	L 27–41	75,423
September 1	12:00 p.m.	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	ABC	L 7–23	44,080
September 8	12:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Texas*		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 14–44	83,106
September 22	12:00 p.m.	No. 6 Florida State		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ABC	W 41–9	53,000
September 29	12:00 p.m.	at NC State		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	JPS	W 17–9	51,500
October 6	3:30 p.m.	East Carolina*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN+	W 24–21	58,500	^[1]
October 13	1:30 p.m.	Virginia		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry)		W 30–24	53,500
October 20	12:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Clemson		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN2	W 38–3	84,869
November 1	7:30 p.m.	at No. 23 Georgia Tech	No. 22	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN	L 21–28	41,893
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Wake Forest		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	JPS	L 31–32	53,000
November 17	1:30 p.m.	Duke		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell)		W 52–17	52,000
December 1	1:30 p.m.	SMU*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 19–10	45,500
December 31	7:30 p.m.	vs. Auburn*		Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	ESPN	W 16–10	71,827
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster[]

2001 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`88`	Sam Aiken	Jr
QB	`1`	Ronald Curry	Sr
QB	`4`	Darian Durant	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`41`	Quincy Monk	Sr
DE	`49`	Julius Peppers	Jr
DT	`87`	Ryan Sims	Sr
LB	`30`	David Thornton	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`45`	Jeff Reed	Sr

Head coach

John Bunting

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Coaching staff[]

Name	Position	Seasons in Position
John Bunting	Head Coach	1st
Gunter Brewer	Wide Receivers	2nd
Rod Broadway	Defensive tackles	1st
Ken Browning	Tight Ends / Recruiting Coordinator	8th
Jeff Connors	Strength and Conditioning Coordinator	1st
John Tenuta	Defensive Backs / Defensive Coordinator	1st
Robbie Caldwell	Offensive Line	2nd
Dave Huxtable	Linebackers	1st
Andre' Powell	Running Backs	1st
Gary Tranquill	Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks	1st
James Webster, Jr.	Defensive Ends	1st

Team players drafted in the NFL[]

The following players were selected in the 2002 NFL Draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Julius Peppers	Defensive end	1	2	Carolina Panthers
Ryan Sims	Defensive tackle	1	6	Kansas City Chiefs
David Thornton	Linebacker	4	106	Indianapolis Colts
	Defensive end	7	219	Cincinnati Bengals
Ronald Curry	Wide receiver	7	235	Oakland Raiders
Quincy Monk	Linebacker	7	245	New York Giants

^[2]

References[]

^ "Tar Heels hold off East Carolina". The Miami Herald. October 7, 2001. Retrieved March 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "2002 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.

[1] "Tar Heels hold off East Carolina". The Miami Herald. October 7, 2001. Retrieved March 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "2002 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.

[1]

[2]

v t North Carolina Tar Heels football
Venues	Emerson Field (1916–1926) Kenan Memorial Stadium (1927–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Duke: Victory Bell NC State South Carolina Virginia: South's Oldest Rivalry Wake Forest
Culture & lore	First forward pass Rameses The Marching Tar Heels 2010 football scandal 2011 academic-athletic scandal
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

2001 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 11 Maryland $		7	–	1		10	–	2
No. 15 Florida State		6	–	2		8	–	4
North Carolina		5	–	3		8	–	5
Clemson		4	–	4		7	–	5
No. 24 Georgia Tech		4	–	4		8	–	5
NC State		4	–	4		7	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	5		6	–	5
Virginia		3	–	5		5	–	7
Duke		0	–	8		0	–	11

$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll