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Miami Hurricanes © |
Penn State Nittany Lions |
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Played September 1, 2001 at Beaver Stadium University Park, Pennsylvania |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Miami, FLA © | 2 | 10 | 7 | 0 | .588 | 5 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
| Penn State | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Miami, FLA |
13 |
17 |
0 |
3 |
33 |
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Penn State |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
The 2nd ranked Miami Hurricanes opened the 2001 season with a new coach in Larry Coker but expecting similar results from their star-studded roster. This was the third time in Belt history that a coaching change had occurred during a Belt reign. UCLA coach Dick Vermeil left for the NFL following the 1975 season before Terry Donahue took over becoming one of the top-ranked coaches in Belt victories & Frank Solich replaced the retiring Tom Osborne following the 1997 season. Coker hoped to have similar success & the Miami program seemed well stocked to make that a reality. The Penn State Nittany Lions & coach Joe Paterno provided the opening day opposition. Miami raced to a 30-0 halftime lead on their way to a 33-7 win. Hurricanes’ All-Big East QB Ken Dorsey threw 3 touchdown passes, all in the 1st half, & All-Big East PK Todd Sievers hit four goals to lead the rout. Penn State's starting QB Matt Senneca was injured in the 1st quarter & replaced by redshirt freshman QB Zack Mills. Mills completed 12 of 14 passes for 240 yards but it was Dorsey & his experienced Hurricanes' teammates that starred in this game. Miami amassed 602 yards of total offense in the rout. Miami scored on touchdown passes of 27 yards to WR Ethenic Sands, 28 yards to RB Najeh Davenport, & 10 yards to All-Big East TE Jeremy Shockey in the 1st half. The Nittany Lions only score came in the 4th quarter when Mills hit WR Bryant Johnson on a 44-yard touchdown pass. Dorsey finished with 344 yards passing to go with his 3 touchdowns & All-Big East RB Clinton Portis, led often by All-American OT Bryant McKinnie, added 164 yards rushing as Miami controlled the game. Johnson had 6 catches for 149 yards to go with his touchdown for Penn State. Miami finished the season 12-0; Big East & National Champions while the Nittany Lions finished 5-6. Penn State would play for The Belt again in 2006.
