RB Respect Month Vol. 2, Day 22: Chester Taylor and Toledo end Marshall's MAC Title reign (2001)
An all-time performance in a championship game.
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Welcome to day 22 of Running Back Respect Monthâ„¢! Yesterday, I dropped Arian Foster's Tennessee highlights and tried to make sense of his complicated legacy in Knoxville. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Chester Taylor vs. Marshall (2001 MAC Title)
RB Respect Month Vol. 2, Day 22: Chester Taylor and Toledo end Marshall's MAC Title reign (2001)
If there was one thing clear above all else heading into the the 2001 MAC Title, it's that Marshall was the undisputed king of the conference. Led by stars like Randy Moss, Chad Pennington, and Byron Leftwich, Bob Pruett's teams joined the MAC in 1997, instantly four-peated, and were essentially undefeated in big-game situations:
Two of those titles came at the expense of the Toledo Rockets. With legendary coach Gary Pinkel off to Missouri after the 2000 season, Tom Amstutz guided the Rockets to an 8-2 record in his first season and a third showdown with the Herd. This time the meeting would take place at The Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio - as opposed to the first two at Marshall's home field in Huntington, West Virginia. The Rockets finally had home field advantage, and certainly weren't scared of the big bad Thundering Herd. They'd smoked them 42-0 at home the year prior, and had superstar senior running back Chester Taylor attempting to close out his legendary career with a conference title:
They were down 14-0 before Taylor even touched the ball. The deficit grew to 23-0 by the start of the second quarter, with Marshall appearing destined to cakewalk to a fifth-straight MAC crown. Then, just as they had all season - Taylor and the Rockets fought back and pulled off a championship game comeback for the ages:
After gaining just 36 yards in the first half, Taylor rumbled for 252 all-purpose yards (188 rushing, 64 receiving) in the Rockets' 41-36 win. He thumped Marshall's defense with sheer power:
