Central Michigan University Athletics
Wednesday, November 11
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7:30 p.m.
Central Michigan University
vs
Sacramento State
Sophomore Nick Woodford (43) ran for 123 yards and three touchdowns last week in CMU's 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan at Ford Field.
Photo by: Brayden Gallagher
11/10/2026 8:24:00 AM | Football
Buy TicketsWatch Live on ESPNUListen LiveLive StatsGame Day PageDigital Game Day Program (PDF)Flip Card (PDF)CMU Game Notes (PDF)Sac State Game Notes (PDF)
Improving Sacramento State comes to Kelly/Shorts; Chippewas look to build on dominant performance against Eastern Michigan
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A dominant win over Eastern Michigan changed the course, and the vibe, of the season for the Central Michigan football program.
The Chippewas are looking to continue that feel-good, upward trend on Wednesday when they entertain Sacramento State in a Mid-American Conference game (7:30 p.m.) on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
CMU is 4-5, 2-3 MAC and needs two wins to become bowl eligible. The Chippewas close the regular season with two league road games, at Buffalo (Nov. 18) and at Ball State (Nov. 28).
"We cleaned up what we needed to, executed a little better, and played really well," second-year CMU coach Matt Drinkall said of his team's 35-7 victory over Eastern a week ago. "We should be pretty hungry now to continue to improve and keep being the best version of ourselves."
Which was pretty darned good against the Eagles. CMU played perhaps its most complete game of the season, and perhaps the best it has played since Drinkall took over the program prior to the 2025 season.
The Chippewas finished with 26 first downs and held the Eagles to 177 total yards. EMU had just 52 yards and one first down heading into the fourth quarter as the Chippewas held a 28-0 lead.
Drinkall said the Chippewas have refocused as the season has hit its stretch run and the number of opportunities to step on the field dwindle.
"We've really changed the perception of how important every rep is," he said. "We do everything right. Our kids are in great physical shape, great emotional shape. We're banged up a little bit, but that's just because of the nature of the beast. Everyone is.
"Our kids are playing harder, we're getting better every week, and we kind of made it through the stormy part of our schedule. Go put on the tape from (the EMU game) and put on the tape from Colgate (second game of the season). I mean, that's a completely different looking beast."
Perhaps, Drinkall suggested, the sense of the season coming to an end has myopically morphed into a day-to-day and game-to-game urgency and translated into better starts.
The Chippewas fell behind early and never led in losses to Ohio and to Western Michigan, but in their last two games, they have scored first.
"That's the second week in a row where we started out so much better, and that really helped frame the game so well for us," Drinkall said in reference to the Eastern Michigan win. "That's two weeks in a row we've done that infinitely better."
Jadyn Glasser made his second consecutive start at quarterback for CMU in the win over Eastern, and he was an efficient 14-of-19 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown.
The Chippewas did not commit a turnover in either of their previous two games.
Glasser replaced injured starter Angel Flores late in the Chippewas' loss to Western Michigan. In his two starts, Glasser had thrown for 396 yards and two TDs on 32-of-40 passing. Flores, who appeared in seven games this season, rushed for a team-high 618 yards this season.
"It is a monumental shift" from Flores to Glasser, Drinkall said. "It changes the way you have to defend us completely because of his ability to throw the ball all over the field and distribute it quickly."
Sacramento State enters Wednesday's game 2-8, 1-6, but has played two of its best games of the season in its last two. The Hornets defeated Kent State, 31-10, and then lost to Toledo, 20-17. Both games were in Sacramento. Toledo is 7-2 and tied for second place in the MAC at 4-1.
The Hornets are in their first year in the MAC and their first year as a Football Bowl Subdivision program.
"I think maybe they were kind of getting the pieces figured out early in the season," Drinkall said. "They have made some changes with who's calling plays, who's on the field, who's on the staff. And in the last couple weeks, boy, has it made an enormous difference for them.
"I mean, they forced five turnovers against Kent State and won, and then immediately turned around and played Toledo tough and held them to a really low output. It is concerning how big of improvements they have made here in such a short amount of time."
The Chippewas are looking to continue that feel-good, upward trend on Wednesday when they entertain Sacramento State in a Mid-American Conference game (7:30 p.m.) on Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
CMU is 4-5, 2-3 MAC and needs two wins to become bowl eligible. The Chippewas close the regular season with two league road games, at Buffalo (Nov. 18) and at Ball State (Nov. 28).
"We cleaned up what we needed to, executed a little better, and played really well," second-year CMU coach Matt Drinkall said of his team's 35-7 victory over Eastern a week ago. "We should be pretty hungry now to continue to improve and keep being the best version of ourselves."
Which was pretty darned good against the Eagles. CMU played perhaps its most complete game of the season, and perhaps the best it has played since Drinkall took over the program prior to the 2025 season.
The Chippewas finished with 26 first downs and held the Eagles to 177 total yards. EMU had just 52 yards and one first down heading into the fourth quarter as the Chippewas held a 28-0 lead.
Drinkall said the Chippewas have refocused as the season has hit its stretch run and the number of opportunities to step on the field dwindle.
"We've really changed the perception of how important every rep is," he said. "We do everything right. Our kids are in great physical shape, great emotional shape. We're banged up a little bit, but that's just because of the nature of the beast. Everyone is.
"Our kids are playing harder, we're getting better every week, and we kind of made it through the stormy part of our schedule. Go put on the tape from (the EMU game) and put on the tape from Colgate (second game of the season). I mean, that's a completely different looking beast."
Perhaps, Drinkall suggested, the sense of the season coming to an end has myopically morphed into a day-to-day and game-to-game urgency and translated into better starts.
The Chippewas fell behind early and never led in losses to Ohio and to Western Michigan, but in their last two games, they have scored first.
"That's the second week in a row where we started out so much better, and that really helped frame the game so well for us," Drinkall said in reference to the Eastern Michigan win. "That's two weeks in a row we've done that infinitely better."
Jadyn Glasser made his second consecutive start at quarterback for CMU in the win over Eastern, and he was an efficient 14-of-19 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown.
The Chippewas did not commit a turnover in either of their previous two games.
Glasser replaced injured starter Angel Flores late in the Chippewas' loss to Western Michigan. In his two starts, Glasser had thrown for 396 yards and two TDs on 32-of-40 passing. Flores, who appeared in seven games this season, rushed for a team-high 618 yards this season.
"It is a monumental shift" from Flores to Glasser, Drinkall said. "It changes the way you have to defend us completely because of his ability to throw the ball all over the field and distribute it quickly."
Sacramento State enters Wednesday's game 2-8, 1-6, but has played two of its best games of the season in its last two. The Hornets defeated Kent State, 31-10, and then lost to Toledo, 20-17. Both games were in Sacramento. Toledo is 7-2 and tied for second place in the MAC at 4-1.
The Hornets are in their first year in the MAC and their first year as a Football Bowl Subdivision program.
"I think maybe they were kind of getting the pieces figured out early in the season," Drinkall said. "They have made some changes with who's calling plays, who's on the field, who's on the staff. And in the last couple weeks, boy, has it made an enormous difference for them.
"I mean, they forced five turnovers against Kent State and won, and then immediately turned around and played Toledo tough and held them to a really low output. It is concerning how big of improvements they have made here in such a short amount of time."
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
QB
/ FootballTuesday, November 10
Monday, November 09
Sunday, November 08
Sunday, November 08