Chippewas Can't Complete Comeback at Akron, Drop 28-22 MAC Decision

Saturday, October 4

Akron, Ohio/InfoCision Stadium

3:30 PM

Central Michigan University

3-3 , 1-1

Akron

2-4 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Central Mich.

Akron

Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography

Chippewas Can't Complete Comeback at Akron, Drop 28-22 MAC Decision

10/4/2025 8:57:00 PM | Football

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By: Andy Sneddon

AKRON, Ohio – There will be plenty to unpack and rethink about this one.

The bottom line is, Central Michigan simply could not stop a balanced Akron offense. Throw in five sacks by the Zip defense and it added up on Saturday to a 28-22 Akron victory at InfoCision Stadium.

The loss snapped a two-game CMU win streak as the Chippewas slipped to 3-3, 1-1 MAC. They are off until Oct. 18, when they go to Bowling Green for a conference game.

"Very frustrating day for sure," CMU coach Matt Drinkall said. "But credit to Akron. I thought they were well prepared, I thought they played very well. I don't know that we came out necessarily as hard, as energetic, as we want to, which I think is my fault.

"In any of the phases, including coaching, we didn't really execute with the consistency that we needed to."

The Chippewas lost their 10th consecutive MAC road game and saw their three-game win streak over the Zips come to an end.

Akron finished with 417 yards – 162 on the ground, 255 through the air. Jordan Gant, a redshirt junior transfer from Tennessee State, finished with 204 yards from scrimmage (176 of it on the ground) to lead the Zips.

Gant scored on a 16-yard pass from Ben Finley with 5:12 to play in the first half to put the Zips in front, 14-10.

The Chippewas never regained the lead. Akron scored on its first two drives of the second half in extending its lead to 28-10.

The Chippewas got a Cade Graham 35-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the third quarter and then Angel Flores scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter. CMU was turned away on its two-point conversion try and, while it was within shouting distance at 28-19, it still had a major hill to climb.

The Chippewas could muster only a field goal, Graham's career-long 47-yarder with 1:33 remaining, the rest of the way.

CMU's onside kick after Graham's field goal drew them to 28-22 was covered by the Zips, and they then kneeled out the clock.

Akron finished a combined 10 for 16 on third and fourth down.

"That's tough," Drinkall said. "That's hard to overcome. That really added up over the course of the game. Every time that we got back and were punching, their third down execution made it really difficult on us."

Chippewa Leaders
CMU quarterbacks Joe Labas and Angel Flores combined to finish 14-for-25 passing for 135 yards.

Labas was sacked four times, Flores once. The five sacks tied the season high allowed by the Chippewas. They were also sacked five times in a 45-17 loss at Pitt on Sept. 6.

"Part of our deal on offense this season is if we limit the tackles for loss and negative yardage plays, we do a pretty good job," Drinkall said. "And if we don't … our style of play is not conducive to playing from behind like that."

Brock Townsend, a redshirt freshman running back, led the CMU run game with 108 yards on just eight carries for a 13.5-yard-per-carry average. It marked his first 100-yard game and the 108 yards are a career high, eclipsing the 51 yards (also on eight carries) he gained a week ago in CMU's 24-13 win over Eastern Michigan

"I had a decent game last week and I'm just trying to be better, be tougher on myself and have a better game this week," Townsend said. "Shoutout to the O line; they blocked their (butts) off. Just not the outcome we wanted."

Squandered Scoring Opportunity
Trailing 14-10, the Chippewas had a chance to take the lead just before halftime.

They took possession at their own 7-yard line with 3:11 remaining in the half and impressively drove all the way to the Akron 2 with 11 seconds left.

Flores rolled out to his right and was pressured immediately by an Akron defender and threw the ball incomplete, drawing a flag for intentional grounding.

Under that penalty – intentional grounding with under 10 seconds left – the clock is run off. As a result, the Chippewas came up empty and trailed, 14-10, at the break.

"A hundred percent my fault," Drinkall said. "I put Angel in a really tough spot because we hadn't probably practiced the scenario enough. So the idea was that, if it's not there right away, throw the thing away and go.

"In hindsight you wish you had just kicked (a field goal), taken the points, and then go and see what happens."

Steps for the Program
The Chippewas are at the midway point of the 12-game season. All six of their remaining games are within the MAC, three at home, three on the road.

That they are 3-3 at this point is unsurprising, given the level of competition they have faced.

Still, a loss stings when it comes to the Zips. CMU is 13-3 since 1998 against Akron.

"The big thing is, (we're) a program that's learning how to win and handle adversity and how to survive," Drinkall said. "That's a big part of it. The reality is, I thought we had as good of a week of preparation as we could have. We didn't execute in the game very well. We need to go look at that and figure out what we need to do.

"I'm so happy with how the kids battled and fought. We had a million chances to turn on each other or fold up shop and they didn't. They went until the very end and gave themselves a chance to win. I was happy with that."

Next
The Chippewas go to Bowling Green on Oct. 18, giving them two weeks of regroup and prep time.

"We need a break mentally and physically," Drinkall said. "It's been a little bit of a grind so this will be really good to mentally and physically get some rest. Obviously, we would like to be going into it sitting 4-2.

"You've got to make your corrections and get back on the horse."

Defense
Jordan Kwiatkowski led the Chippewa defense with 10 tackles, while Fernando Sanchez III made seven stops.

Caleb Spann made an interception, his first of the season and the second of his career, and defensive back Jaion Jackson recorded his first career sack.

It marked the seventh time in his Chippewa career that Kwiatkowski, a senior, has posted a double-digit tackle total.

"That definitely wasn't our best brand of football and we know that," said Kwiatkowski, a team captain. "I could have played better; we all could have played better.

"We've got a bye week coming up where we can correct a lot of things and really get our bodies back. It's a long season, a long way ahead. We're not out of this thing. It's not a loss, it's a learning experience."