2001 Mountain West Conference football season

2001 Mountain West Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Number of teams	8
2002 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Chester Pitts (San Diego State)
Picked by	Houston Texans, 50th overall
Regular Season
Champion	Brigham Young
Runners-up	Colorado State
Top scorer	Luke Staley (168 points)

2001 Mountain West Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 25 BYU $		7	–	0					12	–	2
Colorado State		5	–	2					7	–	5
Utah		4	–	3					8	–	4
New Mexico		4	–	3					6	–	5
Air Force		3	–	4					6	–	6
UNLV		3	–	4					4	–	7
San Diego State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Wyoming		0	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001 Mountain West Conference football season was the third since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the Mountain West Conference. BYU won the conference championship in 2001, the Cougars' second title since the league began in 1999.

Coaching changes

• Tom Craft took over at San Diego State, replacing Ted Tollner.
• Gary Crowton took over at BYU, replacing BYU legend LaVell Edwards.

Bowl games

Bowl	Date	Stadium	City	Result
New Orleans Bowl	December 18, 2001	Louisiana Superdome	New Orleans, Louisiana	Colorado State 45, North Texas 20
Las Vegas Bowl	December 25, 2001	Sam Boyd Stadium	Las Vegas, Nevada	Utah 10, Southern Cal 6
Liberty Bowl	December 31, 2001	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	Memphis, Tennessee	Louisville 28, BYU 10

Awards

• Coach of the Year: Gary Crowton, BYU[1]
• Offensive Player of the Year: RB Luke Staley, Jr, BYU[1]
• Defensive Player of the Year: DB Kevin Thomas, Sr, UNLV[1]
• Freshman of the Year: RB Dominique Dorsey, UNLV[1]

All Conference Teams

First-team:

Offense
Quarterback	Brandon Doman, Sr, BYU
Running back	Luke Staley, Jr, BYU Larry Ned, Sr, San Diego State
Wide receiver	Reno Mahe, Jr, BYU Ryan McGuffey, So, Wyoming
Tight end	Doug Jolley, Sr, BYU
Offensive Line	Doug Kaufusi, Sr, Utah David Moreno, Sr, San Diego State Adam Goldberg, Jr, Wyoming David Shohet, Sr, Colorado State Jason Scukanec, Sr, BYU
Kicker	V. Borombozin, Sr, New Mexico
Kick returner	Pete Rebstock, Sr, Colorado State

Defense
Defensive line	Ryan Denney, Sr, BYU Jason Kaufusi, Jr, Utah Brian Johnson, Sr, New Mexico Garrett Smith, Sr, Utah
Linebacker	Gary Davis, Sr, New Mexico Justin Ena, Sr, BYU Sheldon Deckart, Jr, Utah
Defensive back	Kevin Thomas, Sr, UNLV Will Demps, Sr, San Diego State Sam Brandon, Sr, UNLV Jernaro Gilford, So, BYU
Punter	Joey Huber, Jr, Colorado State

Second-team:

Offense
Quarterback	Casey Bramlet, So, Wyoming
Running back	Dameon Hunter, Sr, Utah Joe Haro, Jr, UNLV
Wide receiver	J. R. Tolver, Jr, San Diego State Cliff Russell, Sr, Utah
Tight end	Jose Ochoa, Sr, Colorado State
Offensive Line	Ben Miller, Sr, Air Force Peter Tramontanas, Sr, UNLV Jeremy Sorenson, Sr, New Mexico Ben Archibald, Jr, BYU Broc Finlayson, Sr, Colorado State
Kicker	Jarvis Wallum, So, Wyoming
Kick returner	Dexter Wynn, So, Colorado State

Defense
Defensive line	Jerome Haywood, Sr, San Diego State Lauvale Sape, Sr, Utah Anton Palepoi, Sr, UNLV Zach Johnson, Sr, Air Force
Linebacker	Eric Pauley, So, Colorado State Leo Caires, Sr, Wyoming Drew Wood, So, Colorado State
Defensive back	Jason Gallimore, Sr, Colorado State Antwoine Sanders, So, Utah Stephen Persley, Sr, New Mexico Justin Gallimore, Sr, Colorado State
Punter	Brian Simnjanovski, Jr, San Diego State

References

1. "All-conference 2001 All-MWC football team". Deseret News. December 6, 2001. Retrieved February 5, 2024.