A Chamber of Commerce day in Bowling Green, Ohio was spoiled for the home crowd at Doyt Perry Stadium, as the visiting Central Michigan Chippewas (4-3, 2-1 MAC) shut down the BGSU Falcons (3-4, 1-2 MAC) in all
phases to pick up a dominant 27-6 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The first quarter saw both teams feeling each other out for the most part, with BGSU’s Jackson Kleather giving the Falcons an initial 3-0 lead on the Falcons’ first possession of the game, but the Chippewa defense would get the best of backup quarterback Lucian Anderson III quickly after the second frame began.
Anderson, looking at second-and-seven from his own 26-yard line, dumped off a pass to Cameron Pettaway to avoid pressure— but the pass tipped off Pettaway’s fingers and right into the waiting arms of CMU linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski, who returned it 25 yards back to line up the Chippewa offense at the Bowling Green one-yard line.
Quarterback Angel Flores would punch it in on the next play, giving Central the 7-3 lead early in the second quarter.
The game looked to be slowing back to a crawl after that, with BGSU going three-and-out and CMU replying with two incompletions on their next possession. However, third time would be the charm for Joe Labas and Collin Payne, as the two would connect for a 63-yard scamper to get the Chippewas inside Falcon territory. Nahree Biggins would rush for a 13-yard gain on the next play, and Angel Flores would clock his second touchdown of the day to put the Chips up 14-3 four plays later.
Both teams exchanged field goals to end the half, putting the tally at 17-6 in favor of the visitors.
The Falcons had little else to offer after the halftime break, getting choked out by the Chippewas defense over their final five offensive drives to the tune of 89 yards on 21 plays prior to the last possession— which saw BGSU end the game after an 11-play, 57-yard drive over the last 5:17 of the game. In-between the first half and that fallow drive, the Falcons committed two turnovers-on-down, an interception and a punt.
Angel Flores would get his hat trick touchdown late in the third quarter, and Cade Graham would put CMU up by a crucial three-score gap on CMU’s next possession to put the final score at 27-6. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, with CMU opting to punt twice inside the Falcons’ 40-yard line late in the going.
The story of the game was Bowling Green’s offense being hamstrung by its inability to finish drives. BG went either three-and-out or four-and-out four times in the game, with three additional drives of five plays each ending in ignominy. Even on their scoring drives, the Falcons were unable to get necessary third-down conversions, forced to kick field goals from the CMU 25-yard line and the CMU 31-yard line.
Backup QB Lucian Anderson III, a hero from last week’s upset over Toledo, was a goat against Central on Saturday, tossing two careless interceptions and gaining only 32 rushing yards. Anderson also averaged six yards per pass attempt, finishing 17-of-25 for 153 yards, while being limited to 32 yards rushing.
Cam Pettaway led the rush game with 46 yards on nine carries in what was, overall, a less-than-stellar day on the ground for BG. Jyrin Johnson led the team with five catches for 36 yards, while RJ Garcia had a team-high 60 yards on three receptions.
Gideon Lampron once again had a double-digit day, with 13 total tackles, to lead the Falcons defense. AJ Odom led the unit with 1.5 TFLs, with three other BG defenders notching at least one TFL.
For Central Michigan, they won the game exactly the way they wanted to: by controlling the ground and forcing the opponent into making mistakes.
CMU put up service academy-esque numbers, calling 46 rushes to just five passes on the afternoon, accumulating 203 yards on the ground and holding the ball for 31:20 of game clock. The team also converted on all four of their redzone trips, three of which were touchdowns.
Joe Labas’ 63-yard pass to Collin Payne would be the lone highlight play through the air for CMU, as he and Angel Flores combined for 72 yards on 3-of-5 passing.
Flores was the star of the show, leading all rushers with 18 carries for 72 yards and three redzone rushing touchdowns. Nahree Biggins (10 carries, 41 yards), Brock Townsend (six carries, 35 yards) and Labas (five carries, 30 yards) were major contributors on the afternoon.
All-MAC linebacker Jordan Kwaitkowski once again had an electric performance, leading all tacklers with 14 total stops and 2.5 TFLs, while also plucking his second interception of the season to set up a CMU touchdown. Michael Heldman continued to improve his campaign with two TFLs and two sacks on the afternoon, while Jaion Jackson got an interception in the second half to kill a promising BGSU drive. Keshawn Hayden notched his first career sack late in the contest.
The victory took a major burden off the back of the Chippewas program, logging in as the team’s first road win in MAC play since taking down Northern Illinois 35-22 on Nov. 2, 2022.
Now, CMU looks forward to starting a new winning streak against UMass back on home grounds. The game is scheduled for next Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, with ESPN+ on the broadcast.
Bowling Green gets set to travel to Kent State for the latest edition of the Anniversary Award rivalry. Kickoff is scheduled for noon Eastern time, with ESPN+ carrying the game.
