2001 Motor City Bowl

2001 Motor City Bowl
Cincinnati Bearcats Toledo Rockets (7–4) (9–2) C-USA MAC 16 23 Head coach:  Rick Minter Head coach:  Tom Amstutz AP Coaches BCS 25 NR NR
1 2 3 4 Total Cincinnati 0 13 0 3 16 Toledo 3 0 10 10 23
Date	December 29, 2001
Season	2001
Stadium	Pontiac Silverdome
Location	Pontiac, Michigan
MVP	Chester Taylor (RB, Toledo)
Favorite	Toledo by 4½
Attendance	44,164
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Pam Ward (Play by Play) Dean Blevins (Analyst) Alex Flanagan (Sideline)

The 2001 Motor City Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game part of 2001–02 NCAA football bowl games in which the Toledo Rockets of the MAC defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Conference USA 23–16. It was played on December 29, 2001, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. This was the last Bowl game that was played in the Pontiac Silverdome.

Teams

Cincinnati Bearcats

See also: 2001 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The Bearcats were C-USA runners-up. The Bearcats start the season with a loss to Purdue. They won against Louisiana–Monroe, and also won against Conference USA teams Army, Tulane, UAB, Houston, Connecticut, and Memphis. The Bearcats lost to Louisville, and against East Carolina. They also lost to Miami (OH). The Bearcats had lost its previous Motor City Bowl in 2000.

Toledo Rockets

See also: 2001 Toledo Rockets football team

The Rockets upset Minnesota to start the season. They won against Temple, Navy, and also won against Mid–American Conference teams Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan. The Rockets lost to Ball State, and against rival Bowling Green. The Rockets won the MAC West Division co champion and would end up beating Marshall 41–36 in the 2001 MAC Championship Game. This game marked the first time the Rockets appeared in the Motor City Bowl.

Last couple of minutes

Rockets running back Chester Taylor rushed for a bowl record 190 yards on 31 carries and the game-winning touchdown. Cincinnati got the ball back but Toledo safety Andy Boyd knocked a potentially game-tying pass out of the hands of Ray Jackson in the end zone. Taylor was selected as MVP of the game.

Scoring summary

Source.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Cincinnati Toledo 1 9:29 10 37 3:34 Toledo 27-yard field goal by Todd France 0 3 2 9:10 7 18 2:13 Cincinnati 29-yard field goal by Jonathan Ruffin 3 3 2 3:37 7 72 1:53 Cincinnati Tim Walker 28-yard touchdown reception from Gino Guidugli, Jonathan Ruffin kick good 10 7 2 0:00 8 19 2:09 Cincinnati 46-yard field goal by Jonathan Ruffin 13 3 3 11:37 8 55 2:36 Toledo 42-yard field goal by Todd France 13 6 3 1:52 5 80 1:43 Toledo Tavares Bolden 28-yard touchdown run, Todd France kick good 13 13 4 9:45 15 61 5:06 Toledo 30-yard field goal by Todd France 13 16 4 6:30 9 60 2:22 Cincinnati 25-yard field goal by Jonathan Ruffin 16 16 4 3:23 8 82 3:37 Toledo Chester Taylor 24-yard touchdown run, Todd France kick good 16 23 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 16 23

Statistics

Statistic	Toledo	Cincinnati
First Downs	24	19
Rushes-yards	51–322	20–13
Passing	135	283
Att-Comp-Int	28–14–1	47–29–0
Return yards	34	93
Punts-Avg	4–39	7–49
Fumbles-lost	0–0	1–0
Penalties-yards	8–75	6–48
Time of Possession	34:16	25:44