Football Plays at Pittsburgh on Saturday

GAME 2: CENTRAL MICHIGAN (1-0) at PITTSBURGH (1-0)
Saturday, September 6, 2025 • 12:07 p.m. ET • Pittsburgh, Pa.
Acrisure Stadium (68,400)

SATURDAY MATCHUP

Television: ESPNU (Brian Custer, play-by-play; Max Starks, analyst; Jeff Graham, 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 www.pittsburghpanthers.com

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

Coaches: Central Michigan-Matt Drinkall, 1^st year at CMU (1-0), 6^th year as a head coach (43-17), 22^nd year in coaching. Pitt- Pat Narduzzi, 11^thyear at Pitt (73-56), 11^th year overall (73-56).

Series: Central Michigan and Pitt meet for the first time in college football. Central Michigan plays an Atlantic Coast Conference school for the 18^thtime. The last time CMU played an ACC school was at Miami, Fla., a close 17-12 loss on Sept. 21, 2019.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN GAME NOTES

PITTSBURGH, Pa.–Central Michigan (1-0) plays the second game of its 124th season of college football when it travels to Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on Pitt (1-0) on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Acrisure Stadium. Kickoff is at noon ET for an ESPNU national broadcast.

WHERE TO WATCH THE GAME

The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Brian Custer (play-by-play) and Max Starks (color analyst) calling action. Jeff Graham 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.

FRIDAY'S TOP STORYLINES

*Central Michigan enters its second game of the 2025 season with a 1-0 record following a 16-14 victory at San Jose State.

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

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

*Central Michigan plays its sixth 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 ESSENTIALS

Central Michigan (1-0) plays its second game of the 2025 season when it travels to Pittsburgh to take on Pitt (1-0) in a Saturday contest at Acrisure Stadium. Kickoff is at Noon ET at Acrisure Stadium for an ESPNU nationally televised game.

Central Michigan enters the game after claiming a 16-14 come-from-behind victory at San Jose State in its season opener last Friday night. 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 earned 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 becomes 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 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.

A WIN OVER PITT WOULD…

*Give Central Michigan a 2-0 overall record to start the season for the first time since the CoVID-shortened season in 2020. That year, CMU played only MAC opponents. The last time Central Michigan won two straight non-conference games to start a season was in 2017, a 30-27 win over Rhode Island and a 45-27 win at Kansas.

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

*Give Central Michigan its first-ever victory over an Atlantic Coast Conference team.

CMU AMONG TOP-50 PROGRAMS

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.

THREE QUARTERBACK SYSTEM

In its season opener, Central Michigan played three different quarterbacks: starter Joe Labas, Angel Flores, and Jadyn Glasser.

Combined, the three quarterbacks completed 8-13 passes for 115 yards with a long of 47 yards and rushed 18 times for 44 yards.

Labas was 5-10 for 56 yards, Flores rushed 12 times for 30 yards and completed 3-3 passes for 59 yards with a long pass play of 47 yards to Tommy McIntosh and Glasser rushed four times for seven yards.

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.

DEFENSIVE TURNOVERS

In its season opening win 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. CMU totaled just five turnovers last year (2 interceptions/3 fumble recoveries), the Chippewas already have registered three through one game.

2025 CAPTAINS

Four players will serve as team captains for the Central Michigan football program: RB Nahree Biggins, DL Michael Heldman, LB Jordan Kwiatkowski, and QB Joe Labas. All four are seniors.

CMU IN NATIONAL STATISTICS
   Following its season opener, Central Michigan is ranked among the nation's top 35 national leaders in 15 statistical categories. After one game played, the Chippewas rank:

•  No. 1 in fumbles lost (0).
•  No. 1 in passes had intercepted (0).
•  No. 1 in turnovers lost (0).
•  No. 4 in turnover margin (+3.00).
•  No. 7 in turnovers gained (3).
•  No. 8 in passes intercepted (2).
•  No. 15 in fumbles recovered (1).
•  No. 18 in passing yards per completion (14.38).
•  No. 20 in tackles for loss allowed (3.00).
•  No. 22 in red zone defense (33.3).
•  No. 26 in rushing offense (236.0).
•  No. 28 in time of possession (33:45).
•  No. 28 in fewest penalty yards (33).
•  No. 28 in fewest penalty yards per game (33.0).
•  No. 34 in rushing defense (75.0).

In addition, several individuals were ranked among the nation's top 35 in four different statistics:

•  Cade Graham, No. 3 in field goals per game (3.00).
•  Michael Heldman, No. 3 in forced fumbles (1).
•  Brenden Deasfernandes, No. 3 in interceptions per game (1).
•  Elijah Rikard, No. 3 in interceptions per per game (1).
•  Fernando Sanchez III, No. 4 in fumbles recovered (1).
•  Brenden Deasfernandes, No. 5 in interceptions (1).
•  Elijah Rikard, No. 5 in interceptions (1).
•  D.J. Bennett, No. 12 in passes defended (2).
•  Brenden Deasfernandes, No. 12 in passes defended (2).
•  Tommy McIntosh, No. 16 in yards per reception (30.50).
•  Trey Cornist, No. 18 in rushing yards per carry (7.62).
•  Nahree Biggins, No. 33 in rushing yards per game (102.0).
•.  Michael Heldman, No. 34 in sacks (1.00).

Players Mentioned

D.J. Bennett

Nahree Biggins

Trey Cornist

Brenden Deasfernandes

Angel Flores

Jadyn Glasser

Cade Graham

Michael Heldman

Jordan Kwiatkowski

Joe Labas

Tommy McIntosh

Elijah Rikard

Fernando Sanchez III

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