Taylor, who captained the Grecians and also held a role in their youth set-up, managed the Gulls to victory back at St James Park in the absence of manager Martin Ling.
And the former centre-back was delighted with the way an out-of-form Torquay team coped with 16 Exeter corners, including 14 during the second half.
"They are a good group of lads and I think they showed that collectively," he said.
"There were nearly 20 (Exeter) corners which was commendable. We practice and we train and we do things, not that we expected to face that many.
"I think the situation meant that they had so many corners that they had a bit of thinking time about where they were going to be.
"But the same players marked the same people two weeks ago. Some were inswingers and some were over-hit but the conditions probably helped us at times."
Rene Howe's penalty secured the points for the Gulls who are now six points below the play-off places with a game in hand on seventh-placed Southend.
