Playing at the Detroit Lions' Ford Field, it only makes sense that this year's GameAbove Sports Bowl projects to be defined by grit.
Northwestern's last postseason game was a physical, low-scoring slug-fest. The 2023 Las Vegas Bowl featured just 501 combined yards of total offense, 82 rushing attempts and exceptional defense on both sides, eventually resulting in a 14-7 Wildcat win over Utah.
On December 26, we very well could see a very similar style of game. The 'Cats are slated to face Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl, marking Northwestern's first trip to Detroit since the 2003 Motor City Bowl.
David Braun will look to earn his second bowl victory in three seasons at the helm for NU, and he'll have to get through the Chippewas to do it. Central Michigan went 7-5 (5-3 MAC) this fall in its first year under head coach Matt Drinkall, who previously served in various coaching roles at Army.
With two weeks until kickoff, both coaches know their teams will be challenged in their 2025 season finale. Braun and Drinkall were very complimentary of each other's squads during the bowl game's Thursday press conference, acknowledging the similarities between Northwestern and Central Michigan this year.
"I've had a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Drinkall for a long time, for the job that he's done throughout his career as a head coach and as an assistant," Braun said. "In a lot of ways, you turn on the tape and you feel like you're looking in the mirror a little bit. A team that plays really hard, is committed to running the football, plays great defense. You can tell that this group is well-coached, plays the game the right way. They play for one another, with great fundamentals and great technique, with a great deal of physicality."
The Central Michigan coach returned Braun's praise.
"I chuckled a little bit at what he said about looking in the mirror," Drinkall said. "I'm from Iowa originally, so I've been following Coach Braun's career since he was at UNI and then NDSU, and I've got a couple guys on my staff that have crossed paths with him. You knew exactly when you drew him in the bowl game, "Oh man, I already know what this film is going to look like before I turn it on." Then you turn it on, and it reaffirms everything. All the things that a disciplined, really good football team does shows up."
The Wildcats and Chippewas rank closely in several statistical categories. Central Michigan's 511 rushing attempts were the 19th-most in the FBS, and Northwestern finished 2.4 rushing yards per game behind the Chippewas (although an outlier game against Illinois in which the Wildcats' top four running backs were injured swayed the average). Both teams also dominate the time of possession battle (Northwestern 11th, CMU 21st) and boast stout scoring defenses.
As close as these teams could seem on paper, though, Central Michigan did not perform well against power conference competition this year. The Chippewas lost to Pittsburgh and Michigan by a combined score of 108-20, including a 63-3 beatdown from the Wolverines. It took a field goal as time expired for Michigan to defeat Northwestern last month, and while the transitive property is not applicable in the sports world, the Wildcats may just be too much for their MAC opponents.