The Central Michigan Chippewas (7-5, 5-3 MAC) get to stay close to home this holiday season, as they are set to take on the Big Ten’s Northwestern Wildcats (6-6, 4-5 B1G) in the GameAbove Bowl, scheduled
for December 26th at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
Central Michigan football confirmed the news via Twitter on Sunday afternoon.
Former Army West Point offensive line coach Matt Drinkall injected some much-needed juice into a flagging CMU program in his first campaign as head coach, keeping the team alive for a chance at the MAC title game all the way to the team’s final game against Toledo in late November before finishing the regular season 7-5 overall, with a 5-3 record in MAC play.
The Chippewas made headlines with a unique rushing-oriented offense, which ran the ball on over 70 percent of their plays and rotated between quarterbacks depending on the situation— but it was the senior-laden defense, led by two first-team all-MAC selections in EDGE rusher Michael Heldman and linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski, finishing with 19 forced turnovers (13 interceptions, six fumble recoveries) and two defensive touchdowns on the season.
Northwestern will come into Detroit off three-straight games decided by seven points or less at the end of the regular season to cap off a grueling conference campaign which saw them take on nationally-ranked Michigan, USC, and Oregon.
The Wildcats finished 11th in the expanded Big Ten table, with a 4-5 record in league play, and earned a reputation for aggressive and physical defensive play. In their best performance of the season, NW forced five turnovers on Michigan in a game at Wrigley Field.
This will be Northwestern’s second bowl game in the last three seasons, and will be their first visit to Detroit for a bowl game since 2003, when they lost to Bowling Green. They’re set to put their five-game postseason win streak on the line.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern time, with ESPN providing the broadcast
