Oct. 18, 2003

Recap| Final Stats| Notes

Toledo Post-Game Quotes

Head Coach Tom Amstutz:

"This was a championship game for us. In order for our future games to mean anything, we had to win this one. This was a tough football team. If we don't come in here mentally and physically ready to play, we could have gotten beat. It's that simple."

(Going for it on fourth down) "It's our style of play. We believe in ourselves. I like to put it on my players. I'm giving them the chance to win the game. At times it's high risk, but I believe if you look at the percentages on fourth down, you'll find that it usually works out in favor of the offense."

"It starts with my general mental instability, but from there it goes to my confidence in my coaches and a feel for my football team that we can make it. And when you make it, it gives the players confidence. When you make it once, then you believe you're going to do it again."

(on fake punt to Erik Faasen) "Erik is such a handsome and athletic-looking guy that he's a natural ball-carrier. I let him know I'm an old lineman, so I let Erik live out one of my fantasies. We like trick plays to keep teams off balance. It's also fun for our players to practice it. It was a good, sound play."

(wind) "The wind was definitely a factor. I wanted the wind in the fourth quarter, so we tried to use as much of the clock up in the third quarter and keep it out of their hands."

(Gradkowski) "Bruce is just a sophomore. Sometimes you have to blink your eyes and remind yourself about that. He has a presence on the field, a confidence in himself. He's well-coached and he accepts coaching. He's hungry to be the best player he can be. He's maturing as a player quickly because of his attitude."

(on playing at CMU) "I love it up here. I had the urge to go deer hunting at halftime."

(on Astin Martin) "Astin lives just an hour away. He had a lot of friends and family here, so I knew this game was important to him."

"We're still in the hunt. We just want to keep winning so each game means something. We're not favored. Bowling Green and Northern Illinois are favored. We're just a young team trying to learn and stay in the hunt."

Erik Faasen

"That's the first time I've ever touched a ball in a game in my life. My first thought was just get control of the ball. I saw some open space, then I saw someone trying to tackle me and I tried running over him. The other linemen were telling me before the play that I should try some moves. I said, no, I'm just going to try to run someone over."

Frank Ofili

"We knew they had an excellent running game. Our plan was to shut down the running game and get them to pass more."

"We have a lot of momentum and confidence going into next week's game."

Bruce Gradkowski

"We know Coach Amstutz is always willing to go for it on fourth down. He has a lot of faith in us. We just have to execute the play."

"The wind was tough. I can't imagine playing here every week."

"We really we're executing on all phases today. The offensive line was great. The tight ends were great, the running backs, the receivers."

"I'm glad it worked out that we ran the ball so much today. It just shows our versatility. We can throw the ball and we can run the ball."

Astin Martin

"At practice last Sunday, Coach Amstutz pulled me aside and challenged me to have a big game today. When the head man challenges you, you better step up."