The Central Michigan Chippewas are staying on the road on Saturday to face off against the Toledo Rockets at 3:30 p.m. ET Oct. 1 at Glass Bowl. Given that these two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
The Chippewas might not have won anyway, but with 85 yards lost due to penalties, they really shot themselves in the foot last week. They lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions on the road by a decisive 33-14 margin. No one had a standout game offensively for CMU, but they got scores from TE Joel Wilson and WR Finn Hogan.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought matchup, but Toledo had to settle for a 17-14 loss against the San Diego State Aztecs last week. Like CMU, Toledo didn't have any clear offensive standouts, but they got scores from QB Dequan Finn and TE Jamal Turner.
CMU is expected to lose this next one by 7. However, those who like betting on the underdog should be happy to hear that they are 2-0 against the spread when expected to lose.
The Chippewas are now 1-3 while the Rockets sit at 2-2. A couple numbers to keep in mind before kickoff: CMU enters the game with 302 passing yards per game on average, good for 21st best in the nation. But Toledo ranks 16th in the nation when it comes to passing yards allowed per game, with only 165.8 on average. We'll see which of these strengths -- offense or defense -- will win out.