The 2001 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the Big 12 Conference during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by head coach Dan McCarney, in his seventh year, and played their home games at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. They finished the season with a record of seven wins and five losses (7–5 overall, 4–4 in the Big 12) and with a loss to Alabama in the Independence Bowl.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	6:30 p.m.	No. 24 (I-AA) Northern Iowa*	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA		W 45–0	47,092
September 22	Noon	at Ohio*	Peden Stadium Athens, OH		W 31–28	24,000
September 29	1:00 p.m.	Baylor	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA		W 41–0	44,189
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	FSN	L 14–48	78,002
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at Missouri	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (Battle for the Telephone Trophy)		W 20–14	50,671
October 20	1:00 p.m.	Oklahoma State	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA		W 28–14	49,459
October 27	1:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX		L 21–24	85,661
November 3	1:00 p.m.	Kansas State	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)		L 3–42	40,228
November 10	6:00 p.m.	No. 21 Colorado	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	FSN	L 27–40	39,024
November 17	11:30 a.m.	at Kansas	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 49–7	33,500
November 24	11:30 a.m.	Iowa*	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA (Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy)	FSN	W 17–14	51,042
December 27	6:30 p.m.	vs. Alabama*	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)	ESPN	L 13–14	45,627
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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2001 Iowa State Cyclones football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 2 Ennis Haywood Sr RB 12 Hiawatha Rutland So QB 15 Seneca Wallace Jr QB 16 Chris Love  Fr WR 26 Jack Whitver So TE 31 Mike Banks Sr WR 82 Lane Danielsen So WR 83 Jamaul Montgomery So WR 87 Tom Anthony Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 7 Matt Word Jr DB 9 Nik Moser Fr LB 41 Jeremy Loyd Jr DL 92 Jordan Carstens So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 14 Tony Yelk  Fr	Head coach Dan McCarney Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2018-04-17

The annual battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy was scheduled originally for September 15, but due to the September 11 attacks, it was postponed or canceled like all sporting events planned for that weekend. The game was rescheduled for November 24, which turned out to be a natural fit since many other major rivalries were played that weekend.

Iowa State scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters to head into halftime with a 14–0 lead. Iowa finally responded in the third quarter with two touchdowns to tie the score.

The final scoring play of the game came early in the fourth quarter, with Tony Yelk kicking a 32-yard field goal to put the Cyclones up 17–14. An interception by Adam Runk with 1:37 remaining sealed the game for the Cyclones.

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