Justin Taylor gets last laugh vs. former team as Central Michigan rolls Wyoming, 24-10
Taylor finished with an interception and a key fourth down stop that helped Central Michigan dominate Wyoming on Saturday.
Mt. Pleasant — Running down the Wyoming sideline, interception tucked into the crook of his arm, Central Michigan safety Justin Taylor remembered some sage advice from position coach Wes Fleming.
“So it's kind of funny,” Taylor said postgame, the game ball his teammates awarded him for his performance sitting on the lectern. “Coach Flem told me, he said, ‘If you make any plays, which you will, don't speak to their sideline because they will throw the flag.’ So I was really just running down the sideline just laughing. Like, I made eye contact with some of the coaches that I knew on that side, and I was just laughing. And then I went across the field, celebrated with my brothers, and that was it.”
In a week where Taylor, who transferred to Central Michigan (2-1) from Wyoming (1-2) this offseason kept his usual radio silence with his former team and teammates, his let his play on defense do the talking — and help swing the game — as the Chippewas rolled to a 24-10 victory.
Taylor came up with a key 4th down stop late in the first half that helped swing the game firmly in CMU’s favor, and then came across the field to intercept a lofted pass in the fourth quarter that helped his squad start to ice the game away. All that and nine tackles.
“Just straight to the locker room, celebrate with my team, my guys, and it feels great to be on the right side of it.”
Taylor first showed up in a big way with Wyoming threatening to score and cut into a 10-0 Chippewas lead five minutes before halftime.
Facing 4th and 4 from the CMU 13, Wyoming went for the conversion and quarterback Tyler Hughes completed a shallow crossing route to Eric Richardson, running toward the Central Michigan bench down the 10 yard line. Taylor had triggered hard downhill on the crosser, arriving as Richardson brought in the pass and slinging him down about a half yard shy of the line to gain. The play stood after review.
Big stop on 4th down for CMU’s defense — former Wyoming DB Justin Taylor flashed down to track the crosser and made the tackle a yard short. pic.twitter.com/zWZPjbDLUT
— Andrew E. Graham 🫡 (@AndrewEdGraham) September 19, 2026
After that play, Central Michigan's offense went on a 17 play, 90-yard drive that took 5:05 off the clock and resulted in Angel Flores' second rushing touchdown of the first half and a 17-0 lead.
CMU head coach Matt Drinkall didn’t need to overelaborate on how important Taylor’s contributions were.
“That was a big deal,” Drinkall said. “There was the one right before halftime. Yeah, like those are a big deal.”
Familiar with Wyoming’s offensive scheme, Taylor credited the visitors on Saturday for having a varied and unique set of ways to present the offense. But at the core of it, he understood what he was looking for, he said.
“So when you're out there and you got bullets flying, you got guys running across the formation, and you got guys orbiting, like, that was something that was kind of new for us,” Taylor said. “Going in, I kind of knew what their bread and butter was. You know, they tried to run the ball. But when they stopped the run, when we stopped the run, you know, it kind of forces them into a very dark place that they really don't want to go to.”
Taylor also gave the group up front, the one that helped gum up Wyoming’s rushing game for good portions of the afternoon, for helping to set up his interception.
“I was just reading the quarterback's eyes,” Taylor said, “and especially when you roll out, you kind of eliminate half of the field. So there's really only two-man routes on that side, and, I mean, I just read it all the way. I seen his eyes, and then thank our D-line for really the pick in general. Because without that pressure, he's probably rolling down the field and probably creates an explosive play for them. So, shout out to the D-line. Shout out to the front seven for that.”
Earlier in the week, the coaches let Taylor address the team, and he spoke to the importance of this game for himself personally, but also for Central Michigan as a building block in the still young season.
It was a message, and then a performance, that resonated.
“He shared his feelings about how he felt,” linebacker Xavier White said, “and this was a very big game for him and how much it meant to him, and that breathed life to all of us and made it so we felt the same as him, as a whole to play as one.”
And after heading up a defensive effort where Wyoming got shut out in the first half, didn’t score until 6:16 remaining and didn’t get into the end zone until the first play of the fourth quarter, Taylor got to do something fun.
He led the Central Michigan marching band from the podium.
“Definitely something new,” Taylor said. “That was definitely something new. It was pretty fun though. Pretty fun. One, two, you know what to do. I did not know what to say when I first got up there. So, and the guys have told me, they was like, ‘Hey, you're gonna go up and do the thing. I'm like, ‘Oh, crap. OK, what do I do? And I had to look down at the director and he told me, say, ‘One, two, you know what to do.’ So, I mean, that was pretty fun, though. That was really fun.”
Taylor’s play did the talking as he walked away with a game ball and a laugh.
Andrew Graham
