Football Travels to No. 23/22 Michigan for Saturday Game at Michigan Stadium

GAME 3: CENTRAL MICHIGAN (1-1) at No. 23/22 MICHIGAN (1-1)
Saturday, September 13, 2025 • 12:01 p.m. ET • Ann Arbor, Mich.
Michigan Stadium (107,601)

SATURDAY MATCHUP

Television: Big Ten Network (Jeff Levering, play-by-play; Jake Butt, analyst; Brook Fletcher, reporter; Bart Fox, producer).

Chippewa Sports Radio Network: Adam Jaksa, play-by-play; Brock Gutierrez, color analyst; spotter: Steve Powers; hosts: Nathan Arbaugh, Kyle Sandel.

Live Stats: visit https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=604628

CMU Social Media: Twitter (@cmu_football); Facebook (@cmufootball); Instagram (cmufootball); Website: www.cmuchippewas.com.

Coaches: Central Michigan-Matt Drinkall, 1^st year at CMU (1-1), 6^th year as a head coach (43-18), 22^nd year in coaching. Michigan- Sherrone Moore, 2^nd year at UM (9-6), 2^nd year overall (9-6).

Series: Central Michigan and Michigan meet for the fifth time in a series dating back to Oct. 3, 1931. The two schools meet for the fourth time since 2003 with Michigan owning a 4-0 overall record. The last time the teams met was on Aug. 13, 2013.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN GAME NOTES

ANN ARBOR, Mich.–Central Michigan (1-1) plays the third game of its 124th season of college football and third straight road game when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on No. 23/22 Michigan (1-1) on Saturday, Sept. 13 at Michigan Stadium. Kickoff is at noon ET on Big Ten Network.

WHERE TO WATCH THE GAME

The game will be televised on Big Ten Network with Jeff Levering (play-by-play), Jake Butt (color analyst), Brooke Fletcher (reporter) calling action. Bart Fox will produce.

WHERE TO LISTEN TO THE GAME

Fans can also listen to the CMU Chippewas Sports Network broadcast presented by Fabiano Brothers. Adam Jaksa (play-by-play) and former Central Michigan/NFL player and CMU Athletic Hall of Famer Brock Gutierrez (color analyst) call the action on the network which can be accessed on www.cmuchippewas.com, on the 98.5-FM WUPS website, or on the Black Diamond broadcasting app. Coverage begins with a one-hour pre-game show.

SATURDAY'S TOP STORYLINES

*Central Michigan enters its third game of the 2025 season with a 1-1 record following a loss at Pittsburgh.

*The Chippewas open a season with three straight road games for the first time since 1972.

*Central Michigan and Michigan meet for the fifth time in college football.

*Central Michigan plays its seventh Power-5 opponent in the last five years. It's previous win over a Power-5 team was a 24-21 win over Washington State in the 2021 Sun Bowl. The Chippewas have won six games vs. Power-5 opponents since 2009.

GAME NOTES

Central Michigan (1-1) plays its third game of the 2025 season when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on No. 23/22 Michigan (1-1) in a Saturday contest at Michigan Stadium. Kickoff is at Noon ET for a Big Ten Network televised game.

Central Michigan is opening its season with three straight road games for the first time since the 1972 season.

Central Michigan enters the game after dropping a 45-17 loss at Pittsburgh last Saturday. The Chippewas trailed 24-17 after DeCorion Temple scored on a 6-yard pass from Joe Labas in the third quarter, but Pitt answered 45 seconds later with a long kickoff return and 48-yard touchdown pass. The Panthers scored two more times for the final score. Central Michigan completed 20 of 27 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown in the game. The Chippewas led time of possession 36:43-23:17 but Pitt scored fast and finished with 464 yards of total offense and 340 passing yards.

In its season opener on Aug. 29, Central Michigan claimed a 16-14 come-from-behind victory at San Jose State. The Chippewas forced three first half turnovers and went up 13-0 in the second quarter. A Brenden Deasfernandes interception in the end zone stopped a Spartan scoring drive and led to a 29-yard touchdown run by Trey Cornist. A forced fumble by Michael Heldman led to a fumble return by Fernando Sanchez III and eventual 34-yard field goal by Cade Graham. Then Elijah Rikard intercepted another pass that set up a 28-yard field goal by Graham and 13-0 CMU lead. San Jose State scored before halftime and then took the lead 14-13 in the third quarter.

Central Michigan continued to battle. The Chippewas drove down to the SJSU one-yard line but couldn't convert. After the CMU defense forced a punt, Central Michigan drove 80 yards in 14 plays and used 7:16 of clock time in a drive that ended in a 28-yard field goal by Graham. That put the Chippewas up 16-14. The Chippewas defense forced two missed field goals by San Jose State to secure the win.

The win represented the first for coach Matt Drinkall as Central Michigan's football coach. He was named the 30th football coach at Central Michigan on Dec. 9, 2024 after serving the previous six seasons on staff at Army. His 2024 Army offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for top offensive line unit in the nation and helped guide the Black Knights to a 12-2 record, No. 22 national ranking in the College Football Playoff poll, and the American Athletic Conference title in the program's first year in the league.

In his first nine months with the Central Michigan Football program, Drinkall has initiated a culture change with numerous improvements to the student-athlete experience. With a 3.2 grade point average, the Chippewas put together their best-ever academic semester in spring 2025. The Chippewas now have top-notch meals provided at their facility by CMU Dining Services, have turned rooms into areas for player use such as the VIP Lounge which was converted into a player lounge, the practice schedule has been revamped, and the team took a team-building trip to amusement park Cedar Point in the summer. Those are just a few of the many changes that he has made since his arrival.

Drinkall became the first coach at Central Michigan to win a debut game on the road since Bill Kelly won a 34-13 victory at Southern Illinois on Sept. 22, 1951.

Ranked as one of the nation's top-40 winningest FBS programs of all-time and with 13 players in the National Football League, Central Michigan is coming off three consecutive sub-.500 seasons for the first time since 2002-04. The Chippewas went 4-8 last season and 2-6 in the MAC.

CMU WINS OVER POWER-5 TEAMS

Central Michigan has a history of winning games against Power-5 opponents. Since 2009, Central Michigan has won six games against FBS Power Five opponents. CMU's last victory over a Power-Five opponent came on December 31, 2021 against Washington State (24-21) in the Sun Bowl. Those victories have come against Washington State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Iowa, and Michigan State. Three of those wins came against Big Ten Conference opponents.

Here is a list of those victories (most recent to least recent):

Date	Opponent	Score
Dec. 31, 2021	vs. Washington State	W, 24-21
Sept. 9, 2017	at Kansas	W, 45-27
Sept. 10, 2016	at Oklahoma State	W, 30-27
Sept. 6, 2014	at Purdue	W, 38-17
Sept. 22, 2012	at Iowa	W, 32-31
Sept. 14, 2009	at Michigan State	W, 29-27

NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS

No. 23/22 ranked Michigan represents the fifth nationally ranked opponent for Central Michigan in the last five years. Central Michigan's last victory over a nationally ranked team was at No. 22/17 Oklahoma State, a 30-27 win on Sept. 10, 2016. Since then, CMU has dropped six straight games vs. nationally ranked teams.

Here is a list of the last seven games that CMU has played against nationally ranked teams (chronological order):

Date	Opponent	Score
Sept. 10, 2016	at 22/17 Okla. State	W, 30-27
Sept. 29, 2018	at 20/18 Mich. State	L, 31-20
Sept. 7, 2019	at 17/16 Wisconsin	L, 61-0
Sept. 1, 2022	at 12/11 Okla. State	L, 58-44
Sept. 24, 2022	at 14/15 Penn State	L, 33-14
Sept. 16, 2023	at 9/11 Notre Dame	L, 41-17
Nov. 25, 2023	23/nr Toledo	L, 32-17

CHIPPEWAS VS. THE BIG TEN

Central Michigan will play its 37th all-time game vs. a Big Ten opponent. The Chippewas are a combined 6-30 all-time vs. the Big Ten. Victories have come against Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State (three times), and Purdue.

CMU's last victory over a Big Ten opponent came on Sept. 6, 2014 at Purdue (38-17). The Chippewas have lost each of their last seven matchups vs. Big Ten opponents, but have claimed two of their last 11.

CMU AMONG WINNINGEST G5 TEAMS

Central Michigan enters the 2025 season tied for the fifth winningest Group of Five team in the all-time rankings (source: CFB Home). Here is the list:

1.	Navy	750 wins
2.	Army	740 wins
3.	Miami (Ohio)	733 wins
4.	Appalachian State	670 wins
5.	Fresno State	654 wins
6.	Central Michigan	652 wins
7.	Tulsa	651 wins
8.	Louisiana Tech	647 wins
9.	Marshall	639 wins
10.	Western Kentucky	624 wins
11.	Jacksonville State	623 wins

Historically, Central Michigan has been ranked among the nation's top-50 all-time football programs by a variety of organizations. The Pro Football Hall of Fame and ESPN both rated Central Michigan No. 41 on its list of all-time most successful college football programs.

Of MAC schools, the two highest-rated college football programs of all-time are Miami (Ohio) and Central Michigan.

Also, on display at the College Football Hall of Fame is Central Michigan and Western Michigan, one of the top rivalries in all of college football.

A WIN OVER MICHIGAN WOULD…

*Give Central Michigan a 2-1 record to start a season for the first time since the COVID shortened 2020 season.

*Give Central Michigan its first-ever win over Michigan. The Chippewas are 0-4 in games played vs. Michigan. All four were played in Ann Arbor.

*Give Central Michigan its seventh win over a Power Five opponent since 2009.

*Give Central Michigan its first win over a nationally ranked team since it defeated No. 22/17 Oklahoma State 30-27 in Stillwater on Sept. 10, 2016.

*Give Central Michigan its first win over a Big Ten team since it defeated Purdue in West Lafayette, 38-17 on Sept. 6, 2014.

*Give Central Michigan its first win over Michigan in any sport since a 63-61 victory in men's basketball on Dec. 29, 2022.

THREE QUARTERBACK SYSTEM

In its first two games, Central Michigan played three different quarterbacks: starter Joe Labas, Angel Flores, and Jadyn Glasser.

Combined, the three quarterbacks have completed 70 percent of their passes (28-40) for 292 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions.

Labas has completed 16 of 24 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, Glasser is 7-9 for 78 yards, and Flores is 5-6 for 69 yards and a team-long 47-yard completion.

RUN THE BALL

In its season opener at San Jose State, Central Michigan rushed 51 times for 256 yards and a touchdown. It marked the most yards rushing for Central Michigan since the Chippewas put up 285 yards at Eastern Michigan on Oct. 19, 2024. Nahree Biggins registered career-highs for attempts (18) and yards (102) with a long of 17, while Trey Cornist finished with 13 carries for 99 yards and a 29-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Quarterback Angel Flores carried the ball 12 times for 30 yards. Against Pitt, the Chippewas 41 times for 40 yards.

TURNOVER MARGIN TURNAROUND

In its first two games of the 2025 season, Central Michigan has a plus-3 turnover margin, which ranks No. 17 in FBS (4 turnovers gained/1 turnover lost). Last year, CMU was ranked No. 133 in turnover margin (-17) and tied a school record for worst turnover margin in a season.

At San Jose State, Central Michigan forced three first half turnovers including two interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Chippewas scored their first 13 points off those turnovers. CMU also limited San Jose State to just 74 yards rushing on 17 carries. The two interceptions by Brenden Deasfernandes and Elijah Rikard equaled Central Michigan's interception total from the entire 2024 season. Last year, CMU totaled just five turnovers (2 interceptions/3 fumble recoveries), the Chippewas already have registered four through two games.

At Pitt, Central Michigan registered one interception as Jordan Kwiatkowski stepped in front a pass and returned it 18 yards.

MICHIGAN COACH SHERRONE MOORE A FORMER CENTRAL MICHIGAN ASSISTANT

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was previously a Central Michigan assistant coach for three years from 2014-17 under then head coaches Dan Enos (2014) and John Bonamego (2015-17. From 2014-17 and during his entire tenure in Mount Pleasant, he served as the Chippewas' tight ends coach and was assistant head coach in 2017.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nahree Biggins

Trey Cornist

Brenden Deasfernandes

Angel Flores

Jadyn Glasser

Cade Graham

Michael Heldman

Jordan Kwiatkowski

Joe Labas

Elijah Rikard

Fernando Sanchez III

DeCorion Temple