Nov. 7, 2001

Recap| Final Stats| Notes| Photo Gallery

Toledo Head Coach Tom Amstutz

"We are 7-1 and I love winning. I am really proud of our players. I thought Chester Taylor had a great day. Here is a young man who came back and finished up his degree. He wanted to play one more year of football and he is putting some records out of reach. I am proud of the offensive line. They all had a good day today. This is just a real great win."

"I give Western Michigan a lot of credit. They are a very-good football team and very-well coached. They did a very nice job."

Comparing Chester Taylor to former Rocket great Wasean Tait: "I recruited both guys and I love both of those players. Chester and Wasean are two special players. They are both special in their own way. I think Chester and Wasean are hand-in-hand, two outstanding running backs."

On Still Being in the Title Race: "We are 7-1 and I am so happy to still be alive. We are still among the elite in the nation. I am really proud of our team for the win. We will enjoy this win for 24 hours and we'll begin to make corrections and tighten things up that need to be tightened. We have some work to do on both sides of the ball but again we are happy with the win."

On penalties "Tonight we had fewer procedure penalties. This team is playing hard. Our team is out there playing hard with a lot of emotion. I like the spirit of our team, because we play very hard."

Senior tailback Chester Taylor

On breaking the Toledo career rushing record: "It feels great that I accomplished it and was able to leave my mark here. None of this could have been accomplished without my offensive line. Without them making holes, I wouldn't have accomplished this."

On his 75-yard run being called back in the first quarter: "I slipped and knew I caught my balance. I knew if I hit the ground I would have stopped running because that was a long run. But their player kept chasing me so I kept going."

On the game in general: "I just saw holes and our offensive line did a great job. I just hit the openings and the only thing our line has to do is get me past the defensive line. Then I can do the rest."

Junior linebacker David Gardner

"It was one of those games that you have to step up. We have to take it one game at a time, but this was our bowl game tonight. Every time out we have to win if we want to go to any bowl games or the MAC Championship."

"We have a much better defense than what we showed. You have to give Western Michigan credit because they have a great offensive team. But we have to play a lot better because we gave up too many big plays."

Western Michigan Head Coach Gary Darnell

"I always felt there would be plays going back and forth during the game, and this particular game. Toledo was moving a lot faster than we were in every part of the game."

" I was encouraged at the start of the game with our offense. I felt that if we could ever catch up defensively that we could certainly have the game close. In final, that's what happened. It was just to much to early."

"Toledo's offense out-paced us too early in the game."

"Chester (Taylor) could make us miss in tight corners. With the speed he showed, I think he is a major league player. With the right style he can do many things."