Chippewas Fall at Miami, Look to MAC Opener at Home Next Week

Saturday, September 26

Miami Gardens, Fla./Hard Rock Stadium

6:30 p.m.

Central Michigan University

2-2 , 0-0

#6/5 Miami (Fla.)

4-0 , 2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Central Mich.	3	0	0	0	3
Miami (FL)	7	28	7	10	52

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CMU Football vs Miami, September 26th, 2026

Photo by: Kailey Hill '26 - @rahsignz

Chippewas Fall at Miami, Look to MAC Opener at Home Next Week

9/26/2026 11:14:00 PM | Football

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By: Andy Sneddon

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Not that he took any gratification in his prediction, but Matt Drinkall's was spot-on in his assessment of Miami (Fla.).

The sixth-ranked Hurricanes were every bit as good as advertised as they handed Drinkall's Central Michigan football team a 52-3 nonconference loss on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

"Humongous credit to our players," Drinkall said. "This is a very difficult environment to come into. It's an incredible opponent, an incredible coaching staff. When you make a couple mistakes, a team like this can bury you for it.

"On every front a very challenging game for us and I'm really, really happy with how our players fought the entire the game. All of that is impressive and gets you ready for league play."

The Chippewas (2-2) saw their two-game win streak come to an end. The Chippewas completed their non conference schedule with a 2-2 record for the fourth straight season. They open Mid-American Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 3 at home against Akron.

The Chippewas seized a 3-0 lead – the first time Hurricanes (4-0) have trailed all season – when Caden VanHuis kicked a 49-yard field goal to cap CMU's first possession.

The lead was brief as Miami flexed its offensive muscle, scoring on its eight possessions and finished with 572 yards in total offense.

Quarterback Darian Mensah completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns before sitting down midway through the third quarter.

"You know the quarterback is very good; seeing him in person is a completely different beast," Drinkall said. "From an operational function standpoint, commanding an offense, making reads, being on time, getting guys into the right routes, checking the team into the right plays, not panicking and being able to extend plays, he buried us.

"He does a tremendous job and that's easy to see. Whatever they are paying that guy, he is underpaid."

Miami's defense held the Chippewas to 21 net yards rushing. What success the Chippewas found on offense came through the air as three quarterbacks, Angel Flores, Jadyn Glasser and Marcus Beamon, combined for 137 yards on 21-of-26 passing. All three numbers are season highs.

They were sacked four times and intercepted once.

Flores, normally the No. 1 cog in CMU's run game, carried just three times as Drinkall wisely chose the live-to-fight-another-day approach against Miami's huge and talented defensive front.

"We really tried to protect him as much as we could," Drinkall said. "Their box players are so big and so long, during the course of a run block, those guys can just choke it out and squeeze it out. It's like a 150-pound wrestler trying to wrestle a heavyweight wrestler, it's hard to maintain it. You might the initial shot, but it's hard to keep those guys blocked."

The Hurricanes built a 35-3 halftime lead and Drinkall got a good look at his roster against clearly the best team the Chippewas will see all season, all in the hopes that it pays dividends beginning with the MAC opener next week.

"The majority of our team was playing NAIA, Division II, and FCS football last year, so getting ready for this environment is easier said than done," he said. "I'm really, really happy with our kids.

"I'm not kidding when I say this, I love our players. I love our team and our players. They are incredible men, they were awesome the entire game.

"In the second half, we got almost every kid on the roster in the game, so that was very beneficial for us in building depth throughout the course of the year. For us, we were just trying to get better and get those reps and this is a great opponent to do it against. It's a quality evaluation tool for us. Really beneficial to get all those reps in."

"Our players handled themselves professionally, they understand the big picture. I can't tell you how mature they were. We're in great shape, we're going into league play now, three of the next four games are at home, which is huge.

"It's so valuable, this first quarter of the season, all these reps and now you know this is what we're good at, this is what we're not … it paints a much bigger picture than just the score."

Defense
Safety Darrell Bryant Jr. led the Chippewas defense with seven tackles, while Jaxon Cherry and Brett McCalla added six each. Cherry and Nathan VanTimmermen each recorded a sack.

Big Boots
VanHuis' field goal is the longest of the sophomore's career.

Declan Duley had a 63-yard punt, the second longest of his career, in the third quarter. Duley punted five times for an average of 46.2 yards.

"Man is he awesome," Drinkall said of Duley, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior from El Paso, Ill., who transferred to CMU from Illinois before the 2025 season. "It's funny because physically he's one of our biggest dudes. If you saw him, you'd think he's one of our defensive ends or linebackers. He just crushes it. He's got a big leg, he's clutch, he's able to punt from all different locations, his drop punts are great, and he takes is very seriously. He's dedicated to his craft, he's got a great relationship with his coach and he's a true professional. Duley's the man."

Next
Kickoff for the Chippewas' MAC opener with Akron is set for 3:30 p.m. CMU will celebrate homecoming. The Zips are 1-3 after a 38-10 home loss on Saturday to UNLV.

Akron opened with a 38-16 loss to Wake Forest and then defeated Robert Morris, 45-10. The Zips then lost to Minnesota, 41-7.