2025 GameAbove Bowl Game Preview: Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Northwestern Wildcats

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One of the most-respected postseason traditions in the Midwest is ready to be played once again, as a representative from the Mid-American Conference and Big Ten Conference congregate in the Motor City for a Boxing Day celebration on the gridiron.

The game now known as the GameAbove Bowl (nee Quick Lane Bowl) has been a very punchy matchup over the last decade or so as far as close games go; Toledo defeated ACC foe Pittsburgh in 2024, while Minnesota had to fend off Bowling Green to win by less than a touchdown in 2023. Eastern Michigan was a penalty for fighting away from a potential win over Pitt in 2019, while Central Michigan gave Minnesota everything they had in a one-score loss in 2015.

After some seasons where conference bids were shuffled around, we’re back to a Big Ten/MAC matchup, which has typically been the case dating back to this game’s days as the Motor City Bowl. This year, it’ll be the Central Michigan Chippewas (7-5, 5-3 MAC) taking on the Northwestern Wildcats (6-6, 3-6 Big Ten) at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

Game Notes

• Time and date: Friday, December 26th, 2025 at 1 p.m. Eastern time
• Location: Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
• TV network options: The game will be aired exclusively on ESPN; a valid subscription is required for viewing. Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (color) will provide commentary.
• Streaming options: The game will be available for streaming on the ESPN App or on applicable cable/satellite services. A valid subscription is required for viewing on either platform. Other streaming carriers include Sling, DirecTV Stream, fuboTV, Hulu Live TV, or YouTube TV.
• Radio options: Adam Jaksa (play-by-play) and Brock Gutierrez (color) will provide the CMU call for WUPS-FM 98.5. A national radio broadcast with Kyle Wiggs (play-by-play) and John Denton (color) on the call will be provided by Bowl Season and available on the Varsity Network.
• Gambling considerations: Northwestern is listed as a 10.5-point road favorite, with an over/under 43.5, per FanDuel.
• All-Time Series: Northwestern won the first and only meeting between the two schools on Sept. 25, 2010, taking a 30-25 victory at home.

About the Central Michigan Chippewas

Central has had a lot of time to lick their wounds after a loss at home to Toledo to end the regular season. If they had won the game and a few results elsewhere had fallen their way, the Chippewas had an outside chance of playing at Ford Field at the start of December on tiebreakers.

Instead, they’ll see Ford Field during the holiday season, getting a chance to prove their mettle against a Big Ten team in front of what should be a fairly friendly “neutral” crowd.

CMU made their hay with a power spread-oriented offense which ran the ball at the highest rate by a non-service academy and an aggressive, ball-hawking defense which was amongst the tops in the MAC in takeaways— a season after being one of the worst units in the NCAA in that stat.

The Chippewas won’t have starting running back Nahree Biggins and his team-leading 540 rushing yards available, as he has left the program to focus on the NFL Draft, but they’ll still have a stable of runners to lean on. Brock Townsend (394 yards, four rushing touchdowns) was a riser in the second half of the season, and will likely split carries with Tulane transfer Trey Cornist (404 yards, one touchdown). Backup quarterback Angel Flores, who missed half the season with injury, could be healthy in time for the game; he leads CMU with eight rushing touchdowns and 519 yards in just eight games. If Flores can’t go, JUCO transfer Marcus Beamon (88 yards, one rushing TD, one passing TD) could also get reps on special packages.

Primary quarterback Joe Labas has seen his efficiency improve from 2024 under the new-look offense, sitting at 1,676 yards and 12 touchdowns on 68.8 percent completion. Of his six interceptions, only one came during league play. Langston Lewis is the speed option in the offense who has also served efficiently as a blocker in the run game, with 35 catches for 513 yards and three touchdowns. Former Wisconsin Badger Tommy McIntosh has been depended on for deep contested catches, with his six-foot-five frame hauling in 27 passes for 401 yards and three scores. Townsend will be a receiving option out of the backfield as well, with 142 yards and three touchdowns.

Central’s defense is centered on experienced starters. Jordan Kwiatkowski, Michael Heldman, Caleb Spann, Dakota Cochran, Elijah Rikard and Brenden Deasfernandes are all multiple-year starters in their senior campaigns, with all having key parts in the quick turnaround under Drinkall.

Kwiatkowski, a first-team all-MAC linebacker, is the team’s unquestioned vocal leader, with 109 tackles, 12.5 TFLs, three sacks, three interceptions, five pass break-ups, three QB pressures and three forced fumbles. Michael Heldman was also a force from the EDGE position, with a team-leading 16 TFLs, 10.5 sacks and eight QB pressures in 2025. Those two will be Central’s most intriguing potential pro prospects. At least nine different Chippewas have notched at least one interception, with the team clinching 20 turnovers (including 12 interceptions.)

About the Northwestern Wildcats

The Northwestern Wildcats, in their third season under head coach David Braun, finished 6-6 overall (with a 4-5 conference record) in the 2025 regular season. It was an uneven campaign for the unit from Evanston, as they started 0-2 against FBS opponents to start off 2025 before settling in around the end of September. A four-game winning streak with a marquee win over Penn State buoyed the team’s resume— which had started with a 20-point loss to eventual College Football Playoff participant Tulane.

Northwestern lost four of their final five games to finish the season, but it wasn’t without a fight; the Wildcats lost to Nebraska, Michigan and Illinois by a combined 16 points.

The Wildcats were able to stay in games thanks to an opportunistic defense. They were second in the Big Ten in opposing lost fumbles per game (0.7) and eighth in interceptions per game (0.7), while hovering around the top 10 in most defensive stats in one of the deepest defensive leagues in the NCAA.

Safety Robert Fitzgerald leads the team in tackles (109), while defensive lineman Michael Kilbane leads the team in tackles-for-loss (7.5), Aidan Hubbard leads in sacks (4.5) and linebacker Mac Uihlein leads in interceptions (four.) Fitzgerald and Uihlein were tabbed to the second and third-team all-Big Ten rosters, respectively. The defense is a solidly deep unit, even if it isn’t laden with stars.

The offense worked through halfback Caleb Komolafe, who led the Wildcats with 886 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the season, avergaing an impressive 5.1 yards per rush. Komolafe is a tough one to bring down, losing only 15 yards over 12 games. No other Wildcat rusher had more than 486 yards or one touchdown (Joseph Himan II.)

South Dakota State transfer Griffin Wilde has been the team’s leading receiver, nearly doubling Northwestern’s next-best receiver in yards (783), receptions (61) and touchdowns (six.) Himon II, the backup halfback to Komolafe, is also a receiving threat, with 21 catches for 118 yards.

Graduate transfer quarterback Preston Stone, formerly of Playoff participant SMU, recovered from a four-interception performance to start the year against Tulane to finish with 2,174 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 59.8 percent completion.

Final Thoughts

This is a classic battle between two middle-of-the-road teams in their respective conferences, which typically means volatile on-field results.

Matt Drinkall has repeatedly stated in past press conferences that the rebuild in Mt. Pleasant is over, and that now is the time to win games. A landmark win against a Big Ten squad would go a long way towards proving the build at Central is working as intended.

For Northwestern, they’re looking to show their end-of-season results aren’t indicative of the team’s development over the course of 2025. Despite the 1-4 slide to end the season, they kept two nationally-ranked teams within grasp and showed much better fundamentals on both sides of the ball down the stretch.

Both programs should be properly motivated to finish the season off right— and largely remain unaffected by transfers. We should see both teams more or less at full strength in Detroit, an encouraging sign for a competitive game.

The GameAbove Bowl will likely be an old-fashioned knock-em-out, drag-em-out affair, with both teams focused on winning the game on the ground while taking away the pass game. The team which can convert more on third down on offense and force mistakes on defense will likely win this contest.

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