When Tom Amstutz became head football coach at Toledo in 2001, he changed every word in the offensive playbook.

Every formation was new or renamed, providing a challenge to then-senior quarterback Tavares Bolden.

Bolden responded by becoming a Second Team All-MAC selection and finishing 16th in the nation in passing efficiency and 23 in total offense. Toledo finished 10-2 and won the MAC West Division.

Bolden was the first of Amstutz’s three quarterbacks in three years as coach.

Last year, senior Brian Jones was third in the nation in pass efficiency. This year sophomore Bruce Gradkowski is eighth in the nation is pass efficiency, with 22 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

“We don’t like having a new quarterback every year,” Amstutz said.

New or not, all three quarterbacks have excelled in Toledo’s spread-offense system.

Bolden was the quarterback when Amstutz took over at Toledo. He now is the backup quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

“We asked a senior to learn a whole new system,” Amstutz said. “He did a great job of applying his old football knowledge. He was a great athlete who could throw and run.”

Toledo was thin at quarterback after the loss of Bolden, Amstutz said. They brought in Jones, who was a transfer from Shasta Junior College in Redding, Calf.

Jones played with a spread offense through high school and junior college before using a similar system at Toledo. He finished 13th in the nation in total offense.

Toledo again won the West Division, finishing 9-5.

Coming into this season, the main question around Toledo was at quarterback.

Just like the last two years, Amstutz found his man.

Sophomore Gradkowski has completed 71 percent of his passes for 2,500 yards this year. In an upset win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, Gradowski threw completed 20 of his 22 passes.

“He’s really good,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “He’s a good athlete that can run it and throw it well.”

The spread offense of Toledo has given the Huskies trouble in the past. In the last two games between the teams, Toledo gained 471 and 563 total yards of offense.

“We are not going to stop it,” said Novak, about Toledo’s spread offense. “We need to stop the big plays and swarm the ball.”

Toledo also benefits from an experienced offensive line that starts three seniors and two juniors.

At 6-foot-9, 353 pounds, tackle Erik Faasen is the biggest lineman in Toledo history. The other tackle, junior Nick Kaczur, has been an All-MAC selection since his freshman year and has started every game since arriving at Toledo.

“It definitely helps to have a large offensive line,” Amstutz said. “They’re big and physical. Nick Kaczur in one of the best in the country.”