2000 Toledo Rockets football team

The 2000 Toledo Rockets football team represented the University of Toledo during the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. They competed as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in the West Division. The Rockets were led by head coach Gary Pinkel, who left the school after the end of the season to coach at Missouri.

2000 Toledo Rockets football
MAC West Division co-champion
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	10–1 (6–1 MAC)
Head coach	Gary Pinkel (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Christensen (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Amstutz (7th season)
Home stadium	Glass Bowl

2000 Mid-American Conference football standings

	Div							Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L					W		L
East Division
Marshall xy$		5	–	1					5	–	3					8	–	5
Akron x		5	–	1					5	–	3					6	–	5
Ohio		4	–	2					5	–	3					7	–	4
Miami (OH)		4	–	2					5	–	3					6	–	5
Bowling Green		1	–	5					2	–	6					2	–	9
Buffalo		2	–	4					2	–	6					2	–	9
Kent State		0	–	6					1	–	7					1	–	10
West Division
Western Michigan xy		4	–	1					7	–	1					9	–	3
Toledo x		4	–	1					6	–	1					10	–	1
Northern Illinois		2	–	3					4	–	3					6	–	5
Ball State		2	–	3					4	–	3					5	–	6
Eastern Michigan		2	–	3					2	–	5					3	–	8
Central Michigan		1	–	4					2	–	6					2	–	9
Championship: Marshall 19, Western Michigan 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Due to an unbalanced conference schedule, the team with best division record within each division was awarded that division's championship game berth.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 pm	at Penn State*	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN2	W 24–6	94,296
September 9	7:00 pm	Weber State*	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH		W 51–0	32,726
September 16	7:00 pm	Eastern Illinois*	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH		W 31–26	27,318
September 23	6:00 pm	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI		L 14–21	24,816
September 30	7:00 pm	Central Michigan	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH		W 41–0	20,913
October 7	4:00 pm	at Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI		W 42–14	14,139
October 14	7:00 pm	Marshall	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN Plus	W 42–0	34,900
October 28	12:00 pm	at Navy*	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 35–14	27,355
November 4	2:00 pm	at Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		W 38–24	13,354
November 11	1:00 pm	at Ball State	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH		W 31–3	18,916
November 22	6:30 pm	Bowling Green	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH (Battle of I-75)	ESPN2	W 51–17	26,531
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

Roster

2000 Toledo Rockets football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 1 Tavares Bolden Sr WR 3 Manny Johnson So WR 14 Carl Ford So WR 17 Donta Greene So TB 19 Chester Taylor Sr OL 79 Noah Swartz So WR 80 Mel Long Sr WR 84 Erik Kost Sr TE 85 Greg Grothous So TE 86 Marcus Hairston Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 12 Brandon Hefflin  Fr CB 25 James Stanley Jr LB 30 Tom Ward So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Gary Pinkel (regular season) Coordinators/assistant coaches Dave Christensen – Offensive coordinator and offensive line David Yost – Quarterbacks and recruiting coordinator Brian Jones – Running backs Cornell Ford – Wide receivers Bruce Walker – Tight ends Tom Amstutz – Defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Craig Kuligowski – Defensive line David Walkosky – outside linebackers Matt Eberflus – Defensive backs David Hutchinson – Graduate assistant Mark Lister – Graduate assistant Justin Wooley – Graduate assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: December 5, 2023

Rankings

See also: 2000 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	25	—
Coaches Poll	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	25	—
BCS	Not released									—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released