The 2001 Sun Belt Conference football season was the inaugural college football season for the Sun Belt Conference . During the 2001 season, seven schools competed in Sun Belt football: Arkansas State , Idaho , Louisiana–Lafayette , Louisiana–Monroe , Middle Tennessee , New Mexico State and North Texas .[1]
The conference title was won by Middle Tennessee and North Texas.
Coaches
Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season
Team
Head Coach
Years at School
Overall Record
Record at School
Sun Belt Record
Arkansas State
Joe Hollis
4
15–39–1
11–34
0–0
Idaho
Tom Cable
1
5–6
5–6
0–0
Louisiana–Lafayette
Jerry Baldwin
2
3–19
3–19
0–0
Louisiana–Monroe
Bobby Keasler
2
84–50–2
6–16
0–0
Middle Tennessee
Andy McCollum
2
9–13
9–13
0–0
New Mexico State
Tony Samuel
4
14–30
14–30
0–0
North Texas
Darrell Dickey
3
8–25
8–25
0–0
Sun Belt vs. BCS AQ Conference matchups
Regular season
Index to colors and formatting
Sun Belt member won
Sun Belt member lost
Sun Belt teams in bold
Start times for non-conference games are local for the Sun Belt team; for conference games, starting times are local for the home team. The following list are the teams in their respective time zones: Arkansas State, Louisiana–Monroe, Louisiana–Lafayette, Middle Tennessee, North Texas are located in the Central Time Zone ; New Mexico State is in the Mountain Time Zone and Idaho is in the Pacific Time Zone .
Rankings reflect that of the USA Today Coaches poll for that week until week eight when the BCS poll will be used.
Week 1
Open Week: Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, North Texas
Week 2
Date
Visiting team
Home team
Site
Result
Attendance
August 30
Idaho
Washington State
Martin Stadium • Pullman, Washington
L 7–36
31,097
August 30
Middle Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tennessee
W 37–28
39,885
September 1
Arkansas State
Georgia
Sanford Stadium • Athens, Georgia
L 17–45
86,520
September 1
Nicholls State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana
W 20–0
September 1
Sam Houston State
Louisiana-Monroe
Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana
L 9–20
September 1
New Mexico State
#5 Texas
Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas
L 7–41
82,856
September 1
TCU
North Texas
Fouts Field • Denton, Texas
L 5–19
22,837
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Dwone Hicks
Middle Tennessee
Jykine Bradley
Middle Tennessee
Jonathan Knott
Louisiana-Lafayette
Week 3
Date
Visiting team
Home team
Site
Result
Attendance
September 8
Arkansas State
Baylor
Floyd Casey Stadium • Waco, Texas
L 3–24
28,953
September 8
Idaho
Arizona
Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona
L 29–36
44,250
September 8
Louisiana-Lafayette
Minnesota
H. H. H. Metrodome • Minneapolis
W 14–44
35,089
September 8
Louisiana-Monroe
#2 Florida
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida
L 6–55
85,011
September 8
Troy
Middle Tennessee
Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee
W 54–17
September 8
#22 Oregon State
New Mexico State
Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, New Mexico
L 22–27
27,238
September 8
North Texas
#3 Oklahoma
Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma
L 10–37
74,930
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
John Welsh
Idaho
Siddeeq Shabazz
New Mexico State
James Hickenbotham
Arkansas State
Week 4
All games scheduled for Week 4 were postponed or canceled as a result of the September 11 attacks .
Week 5
Date
Visiting team
Home team
Site
Result
Attendance
September 22
Jacksonville State
Arkansas State
Indian Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas
L 28–31
September 22
Idaho
#13 Washington
Huskie Stadium • Seattle, WA
L 3–53
70,145
September 22
Southern Miss
Louisiana-Lafayette
Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana
L 10–35
14,132
September 22
Middle Tennessee
Louisiana-Monroe
Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana
MTSU 38–20
September 22
New Mexico State
#12 Kansas State
KSU Stadium • Manhattan, Kansas
L 0–64
49,229
September 22
Texas Tech
North Texas
Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas
L 14–42
20,852
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Wes Counts
Middle Tennessee
Scotty Brown
Middle Tennessee
Robert Billings
Middle Tennessee
Week 6
Open Week: Arkansas State
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Reshard Lee
Middle Tennessee
Scotty Brown (2)
Middle Tennessee
Robert Billings (2)
Middle Tennessee
Week 7
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Wes Counts (2)
Middle Tennessee
Tony Lukins
New Mexico State
Tony Lukins
New Mexico State
Week 8
Open Week: Louisiana-Monroe
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Kevin Galbreath
North Texas
Chris Jones
Arkansas State
Josh Hill
North Texas
Week 9
Open Week: New Mexico State
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Jon Van Cleave
Louisiana-Lafayette
Brad Kassell
North Texas
Josh Hill (2)
North Texas
Week 10
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Kendall Newson
Middle Tennessee
Les Echols
Arkansas State
Jason Hickenbotham
Arkansas State
Week 11
Open Week: Louisiana-Lafayette
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
John Welsh (2)
Idaho
Brad Kassell (2)
North Texas
Jason Ball (3)
North Texas
Week 12
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Scott Hall
North Texas
Tony Lukins (2)
New Mexico State
Ty Jackson
North Texas
Week 13
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Patrick Cobbs
North Texas
Scotty Brown (3)
Middle Tennessee
Dario Aguiniga
New Mexico State
Week 14
Week 15
Open Week: Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State
Players of the week:
Offensive
Defensive
Special teams
Player
Team
Player
Team
Player
Team
Anthony Tenner
Idaho
Cody Spencer
North Texas
No candidates
Bowl games
In 2001, the Sun Belt Conference placed one team in bowl games through their tie-ins: 5-6 North Texas, who became the first team to play in a bowl game with a losing record.[2] Middle Tennessee was also bowl-eligible but did not receive a bowl invitation.
Note : All times are local
Players of the Year
2001 Sun Belt Player of the Year awards[3]
Award
Player
School
Player of the Year
Wes Counts
Middle Tennessee
Offensive Player of the Year
Dwone Hicks
Middle Tennessee
Defensive Player of the Year
Brad Kassell
North Texas
Freshman of the Year
Ja'Mel Branch
North Texas
Newcomer of the Year
Kevin Galbreath
North Texas
Coach of the Year
Darrell Dickey
North Texas
All-Conference Players
Coaches All-Conference Selections [3]
Position
Player
Class
Team
First Team Offense
QB
Wes Counts
SR
Middle Tennessee
RB
Kevin Galbreath
JR
North Texas
RB
Dwone Hicks
JR
Middle Tennessee
WR
Chris Lacy
SR
Idaho
WR
Kendall Newsom
SR
Middle Tennessee
TE
Jeff Muenchow
JR
North Texas
OL
Garry Johnson
JR
Arkansas State
OL
J. R. Randle
JR
North Texas
OL
Brandon Westbrook
SO
Middle Tennessee
OL
Tony Wragge
SR
New Mexico State
OL
Nick Zuniga
SO
North Texas
First Team Defense
DL
Brandon Kennedy
SO
North Texas
DL
Donald Malveaux
SR
Louisiana-Monroe
DL
Joe Olivo
So
New Mexico State
DL
Tanaka Scott
SR
Middle Tennessee
LB
Brad Kassell
SR
North Texas
LB
Scotty Brown
SR
Middle Tennessee
LB
D'Wayne Taylor
SR
New Mexico State
DB
Jykine Bradley
SR
Middle Tennessee
DB
Jonas Buckles
FR
North Texas
DB
Siddeeq Shabazz
JR
New Mexico State
DB
Charles Tillman
JR
Louisiana-Lafayette
First Team Special Teams
PK
Jason Ball
SR
North Texas
P
Jason Ball
SO
North Texas
RS
James Hickenbotham
JR
Arkansas State
AP
James Hickenbotham
JR
Arkansas State
Position
Player
Class
Team
Second Team Offense
QB
K. C. Enzminger
SR
New Mexico State
QB
John Welsh
SR
Idaho
RB
Jonathan Adams
SR
Arkansas State
RB
Kenton Keith
SR
New Mexico State
WR
Nick Dugas
JR
Louisiana-Lafayette
WR
George Marshall
JR
North Texas
TE
Jerry Pegues
SR
Arkansas State
OL
Glen Elarbee
JR
Middle Tennessee
OL
Shalimar Jackson
JR
New Mexico State
OL
Jonathon Raush
JR
Louisiana-Lafayette
OL
Jake Scott
SO
Idaho
OL
Matt Turney
JR
North Texas
Second Team Defense
DL
Jonathan Bradley
JR
Arkansas State
DL
Brandon Kania
FR
Idaho
DL
Alex Pahulu
SR
North Texas
DL
Ron Paris
SR
North Texas
LB
Ross Brupbacher
JR
Louisiana-Monroe
LB
Maurice Sonnier
SO
Louisiana-Monroe
LB
Cody Spencer
SO
North Texas
DB
Dedrick Buckels
SR
Louisiana-Monroe
DB
Kyries Hebert
SR
Louisiana-Lafayette
DB
Craig Jones
SO
North Texas
DB
Michael Woods
SO
Middle Tennessee
Second Team Special Teams
PK
Dario Aguiniga
SO
New Mexico State
P
Robert Billings
SO
Middle Tennessee
RS
Tony Lukins
SR
New Mexico State
AP
Reshard Lee
SO
Middle Tennessee
References
East Division West Division Championships & awards Seasons
Conference seasons Inter-conference All-Americans