College Football Rewind: 5 most important games from 2001 season

4. Fresno State 24, Colorado 22

Yes, a Week 1 battle between unranked teams had serious repercussions on the entire college football season. Little did anyone know, this game probably kept Colorado from reaching the national championship and that is evidenced by them finishing third in the final BCS standings.

This game was a perfect example of why you can’t turn the ball over, as Colorado did just that five times while Fresno State didn’t cough it up once.

Starting quarterback and future first overall pick David Carr had Fresno State in the lead the whole game and the Bulldogs’ defense stopped Colorado on the last drive of the game to secure the improbable victory to spoil Colorado’s season.

Colorado did go onto lose another game that season to Texas 41-7, but got revenge on the Longhorns in the Big 12 Title game (more on that one in a bit).

This would be the best chance that Colorado would have a national title shot to this day