Central Michigan puts Cowboys out to pasture
Central Michigan University senior defensive back Justin Taylor looks on towards the Wyoming offense in Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. Taylor transferred to CMU from Wyoming during the offseason. (CM-Life | Trevor Sparks)
Just last season Justin Taylor was making plays for Wyoming, but with 8:46 left in the game and Central Michigan leading 24-10, when he soared through the air to snag a potentially game-sealing interception, he was wearing maroon and gold instead.
Taylor, who caught the ball in front of his former team's bench, ran down the sideline with his new team to celebrate a play that helped CMU football close out a 24-10 victory.
"It's kind of funny, coach Flem [Wes Fleming] told me, 'if you make plays, which you will, don't speak to their sideline because they will throw the flag,'" Taylor said. "So I was really just running down the sideline, just laughing. Like I made eye contact with some of the coaches I knew on that side and then I went across the field to celebrate with my brothers."
Central Michigan improves to 2-1 on the season.
"I am just really happy with all three phases how they played complementary football together finally," head coach Matt Drinkall said.
The Chippewas dominated the time of possession from the start of the game, only allowing the Wyoming offense to see the field three times in the first half as CMU jumped out to a 17-0 lead before halftime.
"Every single thing that was challenging about the trip for us in the game two weeks ago, we knew was being reciprocated in reverse this week," Drinkall said. "Our plan, the way to frame the game was to come out early and be really aggressive."
The aggression was apparent from the first drive through the play-calling as Drinkall opted to go for it on fourth-and-1, resulting in a 19-yard rush from quarterback Angel Flores that eventually lead to a 3-0 lead after Caden VanHuis' first field goal of the season.
Flores continued dominating in the running game all day, finishing with 28 carries for 163 yards and two touchdowns, ranking as the third-best rushing game for a quarterback in Central Michigan football history in terms of yards in a game.
"Angel is just like having an extra coach on the field," Drinkall said. "He just gets you right, into the right place, he makes the right reads all the time and he just did a tremendous job."
Flores finished four of seven through the air with 32 passing yards and notably did not attempt a pass in the second half. He was the only quarterback to play in the game after sharing time with Jadyn Glasser and Marcus Beamon last week.
Flores was not alone in the run game, as Jayden Clerveaux finished with 12 attempts for 81 yards and Vaughn Blue finished with 15 attempts for 57 yards.
However, Brock Townsend was the only running back to reach the end zone, capitalizing on one of his two rushing attempts for a 38-yard touch down with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter. Townsend finished with 41 yards on the game.
"That play was blocked perfectly," Townsend said. "That was probably one of the biggest holes I have ever had of my career and it just felt great to execute as an offense on that play and see everyone come together and do their job."
In the second half, Wyoming found its footing on offense enough to put together back-to-back drives that resulted in points, cutting the score to 24-10.
That is when Taylor killed his former teams' momentum on the following drive, hauling in an interception to give the Chippewas the ball with just 8:46 remaining in the game.
"Obviously coming from Wyoming this game meant a lot to him [Taylor] and he talked to the team on Tuesday about that, it meant a lot," Drinkall said. "So for our guys to rally and support him was really, really cool to see and for him to play as well as he did is cool to see. The captains awarded him the game ball afterward. That was awesome."
The game ball did not leave Taylor's side as he walked into the room for his postgame media interview.
"He shared his feelings about Wyoming, he shared how he felt and this was a very big game for him," linebacker Xavier White said. "You see one of your brothers and you know it means a lot to them. You have to take it seriously."
The Chippewas forced another interception with Kameran Hayward forcing the turnover in the end zone with 1:21 left on the clock, allowing CMU to run out the clock.
Central Michigan football will take to the road to play Miami in Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m.
