TLDR: Two 1-1 teams looking to shake off ugly openers meet for just the second time ever, and the last one ended with Josh Allen throwing four touchdowns in his final college start.
Tyler Hughes gets his third start of the year for Wyoming after a rough debut turned into a clean bounce-back, and he'll see a Central Michigan defense that's given up 45 points across two games. On the other side, Angel Flores is CMU's named starter, but head coach Matt Drinkall has made clear the competition with Jadyn Glasser hasn't stopped just because the games have started — expect both arms in Mount Pleasant on Saturday.
Wyoming and Central Michigan both enter Saturday 1-1 after ugly openers and better second weeks, with Wyoming's defense trending up and Central Michigan's offense still searching for consistency behind a two-quarterback plan. Rain in the forecast and a market that's moved steadily toward the Cowboys since the picks were made are the two things shaping how this one is priced.
+Flores ran for 122 yards and a score to beat Colgate
+Held serve at home in a tight one
−Managed only 7 points in a blowout loss at New Mexico
−QB competition with Glasser still open per the staff
Wyoming's depth chart took a hit before the season even started. Backup Taylor Hasselbeck tore his ACL in a summer drill and is done for the year, and the Cowboys are also without an offensive lineman and a defensive tackle to injury. None of that showed up against Northern Colorado, where Hughes threw for 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions after his 3-pick opener at Colorado State. The number here has started to catch up to that turnaround.
Central Michigan's own opener was worse — a 7-38 blowout at New Mexico — before Flores carried the offense on the ground to edge Colgate 13-10 at home. Saturday's forecast calls for light rain and modest wind at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, the kind of afternoon that tends to keep both punt units busy.
Neither team has strung together the kind of performance that settles anything yet. Wyoming's defense has now allowed one touchdown across its last 2 quarters of work against an admittedly lesser opponent, while CMU's offense has cleared 13 points in one of two games so far. Both programs are still figuring out who they are this early in September.
This is only the second all-time meeting between these two, and the first was that 2017 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where a young Josh Allen torched the Chippewas on his way out of college. Nobody on either sideline Saturday was part of that one, but it's the only history these programs share heading into a fresh nonconference date.
