Sitting at a 0-0 draw with seven minutes remaining in the first half, the Central Michigan Chippewas (7-6, 5-3 MAC) were situated for a second-and-nine at their own 26-yard line, looking to advance the ball after forcing Northwestern to a punt on the prior drive.
To that point, the game against Northwestern (7-6, 4-5 Big Ten) was hotly contested; CMU’s defense had forced a four-and-out on the game’s first possession, giving them an early opportunity to take the lead, but Cade Graham missed a field
goal try from 48 yards out to keep the game tied.
The two teams exchanged four punts to end the first quarter, with the Chippewas forcing a Northwestern punt after a 10-play, 44-yard drive went nowhere.
Quarterback Angel Flores, fresh from a four-week recovery stint after suffering an injury vs. UMass, substituted into the game and immediately found himself under pressure, eluding Northwestern’s Michael Kilbane before attempting to dirt the pass in the direction of a receiver.
Defensive back Braden Turner made an alert play, peeling off his assignment and diving after the underthown ball to pick it off one-handed, granting the Wildcats the ball at CMU’s 29-yard line.
That was the beginning of a 34-0 run which would see the Wildcats take advantage of three-straight CMU miscues to dominate the pace of play and take home a 34-7 victory over the Chippewas in the 2025 edition of the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
Central would have fumbles on their next two plays from scrimmage, with quarterback Joe Labas fumbling on a pass attempt to give Northwestern the ball and a 14-0 lead, then Labas botching a handoff exchange with Brock Townsend to put the ball on the ground to help set up another Northwestern scoring drive to go up 21-0 with 3:31 remaining before the halftime break.
The Chippewas got the ball back to start the third quarter, and seemed to be settling into a rhythm on third-and-one at their own 44-yard line, but Angel Flores was crunched on a tackle by Mac Uihlein after crossing the line to gain, and Braden Turner was able to play the hero once again, returning the fumble 44 yards to the endzone to extend their already-dominant lead to 27-0 after a missed extra point.
Northwestern scored their first touchdown on a drive from outside Central Michigan territory late in the third quarter, capping a 10-play, 92-yard drive with an 11-yard passing score from Preston Stone to Griffin Wilde to go up 34-0, while the Chippewas would finally get on the scoreboard with 6:13 to go on a Brock Townsend receiving touchdown from three yards out to put the game at its final tally.
It was a nightmare outing for the Chippewas offense, who became the first FBS team to commit three-straight turnovers on three-straight plays since Florida State accomplished the feat against Duke on October 18th, 2024. The performance was uncharacteristic in general for Central, who came into the game with a +8 turnover margin and notched an interception in eight different games in 2025.
The unit as a whole had three first downs, three punts and three turnovers on their first eight possessions, and had a missed field goal on their only scoring attempt. CMU totaled 56 yards of offense over the first 30 minutes. On the game, the offense had four turnovers and a turnover-on-downs in the middle quarters, with two punts and the end of a half on the other possessions.
CMU’s primary QB Joe Labas finished 21-of-25 for 178 yards, a touchdown and two lost fumbles (three total). Backup QB Angel Flores had eight rushing yards, an interception and a lost fumble before exiting the game. Wide receiver Langston Lewis was one of the few bright spots on the CMU offense, with eight catches for 83 yards on the afternoon. Trey Cornist led the rushers with 11 carries for 66 yards.
The Chippewa defense put up a spirited effort in the first 20 minutes of the game, forcing a four-and-out at game’s start, then two-straight three-and-outs and another punt before having to defend short fields under duress the entire second quarter.
To wit: Northwestern’s first-half scoring drives never exceeded 30 yards, with the Wildcats scoring on drives of 29 yards, 18 yards and 23 yards.
Michael Heldman left the game early due to injury, but fellow seniors Jordan Kwiatkowski (eight tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss) and Caleb Spann (five tackles) stepped up to lead the defense. Brenden Deasfernandes, playing in his final game as a Chippewa in front of the hometown crowd, set a GameAbove Bowl record with four pass break-ups on the evening. Keshawn Hayden picked up the team’s lone QB pressure and sack. Kalen Carroll picked up a late interception.
The pace of the game was dictated by the Northwestern defense, but the offense also did a great job taking advantage of Central’s miscues.
Preston Stone finished 19-of-31 passing for 226 yards and three touchdowns, with Griffin Wilde catching 10 of those completions for 97 yards and two touchdowns to lead all receivers. Tight end Lawson Albright also hauled in a touchdown from 23 yards out to help the effort. Caleb Komolafe led the Wildcats in rushing, with 15 carries for 55 yards— including a two-yard rushing touchdown.
Northwestern’s defense had a field day, limiting Central to 1-of-2 in the redzone and 3-of-11 on third-down, while collecting five sacks and tackles-for-loss. The Wildcats forced seven fumbles in total and recovered three, aiding in 27 of the team’s 34 total points on the afternoon.
Linebacker Braydon Brus led all tacklers with 11 tackles, while also getting a pass break-up and a quarterback pressure, but Braden Turner was the star of the game, with the first earned turnover of the game on an interception and a defensive touchdown on a fumble return.
With the win, Northwestern has now won their last six bowl game matchups. Central lost in their first postseason action since the 2021 Sun Bowl victory over Washington State.
