CMU football bounces back in win at Bowling Green
An explosive second quarter was all CMU needed to overcome the Falcons
Central Michigan pushes toward the endzone during a scoring drive at Doyt L. Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, OH, on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Central Michigan led 17-6 at halftime. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
Early in the second quarter, Bowling Green was attempting to convert a second-and-seven to extend its drive. Instead, linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski came up with an interception, which he ran back for 26 yards before being brought down at the one-yard line.
The interception led to Central Michigan’s first points of the game and stole the momentum CMU needed to pull away from the Falcons. Central Michigan would eventually win the game 27-6, improving its record to 4-3 and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
Coming out of its first bye week of the season, Central Michigan was looking to get back on track after losing its previous game to the Akron Zips.
“Bad taste in our mouth from the Akron loss but you just gotta keep moving forward,” Kwiatkowski said. “That bye week really helped us get our bodies back, feel a hundred percent. So this is amazing… It's always good to get a win on the road, especially in this conference because right now this conference is unpredictable. So, it feels great. We're gonna enjoy it for 24 hours and then move on.”
Coming into the game against Bowling Green, head coach Matt Drinkall wanted to make one point a clear focus to his team; starting drives quickly. To illustrate his point, Drinkall gave his team an example to help the team prepare.
"So I showed in meetings this week the 1985 Hagler-Hearns fight, the first round, called ‘The War’,” Drinkall said. “It's one of the best fights ever… We watched that this week and talked about that, the importance of starting fast and coming out swinging and fighting… Every time we were coming out from the sideline, a new round was starting and we had to come out like that.”
In the end, Central Michigan’s stingy defense, successful rushing attack and explosive second quarter was enough to propel itself to a victory. For Drinkall, this win was important because of how the game in Akron played out.
"Coaching here’s (the MAC) just strange because you play those Power Four games, which are tough ones to win, so when you're trying to become bowl eligible, it's not quite the same schedule as everybody else has,” Drinkall said. “So your margin of error is so small.”
After a slow first quarter to begin the game in which the only points scored were from a field goal from the Falcons, the tide changed in a big way to start the second, sparked by the interception by Kwiatkowski.
“ (I) got the call from the sideline and, you know, the play developed,” Kwiatkowski said. “(I) saw a screen, so I planted my foot to go get it. (The) ball was tipped, (I) caught it… We scored after, got it down to the one (yard line) and we punched it in right after. So it felt good to do that and all credit to my teammates and coaches.”
The interception marked Kwiatkowski’s second pick of the year and the third of his career. Central Michigan has seen steady success forcing turnovers this season. The team has had at least one takeaway in each game so far this season.
The defense was one of the highlights of the day for the Chippewas. Along with Kwiatkowski, Michael Heldman found success going after the quarterback, totaling two sacks. Defensive back Jaion Jackson also snagged a pick late in the game.
“We were playing their offense really good,” Heldman said. “So it's really just the energy we had going in that we kept it rolling.”
After Kwiatkowski’s interception, the Chippewas punched the ball in on the next play as quarterback Angel Flores rushed up the middle for the score to put them up 7-3. Flores was a major piece of the Chippewa offense, finishing the game with three rushing touchdowns.
Following the opening touchdown, the momentum continued to swing in the Chippewa's favor as the defense forced a punt on Bowling Green’s next drive. With 10:56 left in the first half, Central Michigan’s offense finally broke through. After two straight incompletions, quarterback Joe Labas launched a 63-yard bomb down the field to wide receiver Collin Payne, putting the Chippewas deep into Bowling Green’s red zone.
"I think we were trying to get the pass game going a little bit on that one,” Labas said. “We had two incompletions before that which were a little unfortunate, but (we) went right back to it. We had a third long and he (Payne) opened up right in the middle of the field. (I) was able to give him a good ball and it worked out. So, set us up for great field position.”
Although the passing game was scarcely used against the Falcons, the Chippewas finished the game with 73 yards through the air after completing just three-of-five attempts.
Central Michigan capped off the drive with a second rushing touchdown from Flores. With 8:04 left in the first half, Central Michigan held a 14-3 lead over the Falcons.
Central Michigan’s special teams group also made a big play in the victory. Deep in its own territory late in the first half, Bowling Green elected to run a fake punt on their own 27-yard line on fourth-and-two, but the Chippewas came up with the big stop. CMU then converted the prime field position into three more points with a field goal.
The Falcons recovered slightly before the half, tacking on three points with 53 seconds left to cut the lead to 11 going into halftime.
The focus during the break for the Chippewas was keeping the pressure on Bowling Green into the second half. In their previous contest against Toledo, the Falcons were able to overcome a 21-point deficit and win the game.
“You see Toledo last week playing them, they (Toledo) were up by like 20 points, 21 points, and then they just came crashing down and then they lost the game,” Heldman said. “And we knew we could not do that. We have to play energetic and excited every quarter, every down, every play.”
Central Michigan came out of the locker room and picked up where it left off, driving down the field using almost entirely run plays and scoring a touchdown. The ground game found plenty of success against the Falcons throughout the game and finished with 203 total yards.
“I thought Coach Chapin did a tremendous job in the sense that, like I said, we came into the game really wanting to kind of spread the ball and punch the ball around the field and take some play action shots down the field, and the wind really didn't allow us to do that,” Drinkall said.
Another failed fourth-down attempt with about nine minutes left in the third quarter from Bowling Green set the Chippewas up in good field position yet again, which they converted into three points on a field goal. Central Michigan’s defense only allowed the Falcons to convert 1-of-4 fourth-down attempts and 5-of-15 third down attempts throughout the afternoon.
Ultimately, the Central Michigan defense kept Bowling Green scoreless for the entirety of the second half, sealing the win. The victory marks the first time the Chippewas have won a road game in conference play in 10 games.
“Huge confidence boost,” Labas said. “(We) just (need to) keep stacking these wins, you know? We don't want to win then lose, win then lose, you know, we wanna stay consistent in that win column we have another great opportunity next week.”
Next up on the schedule, the Chippewas will come back to Mount Pleasant to play the University of Massachusetts for their homecoming game at 3:30 p.m.
