Preston Stone throws 3 TDs, Northwestern has 4 takeaways in 34-7 victory over Central Michigan at GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit

DETROIT — Preston Stone threw three landing passes, and Northwestern turned 4 turnovers into touchdowns and beat Central Michigan 34-7 in the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field on Friday.

The Wildcats (7-6) prolonged their bowl recreation profitable streak to 6. They have not misplaced in the postseason since a 45-6 loss to Pittsburgh in the 2015 Outback Bowl.

(*4*)

Central Michigan (7-6) is 0-3 towards the Big Ten in bowl video games, with all three losses coming at Ford Field. The Chippewas misplaced 51-48 to Purdue in the 2007 Motor City Bowl and 21-14 to Minnesota in the 2015 Quick Lane Bowl.

Central Michigan had the primary scoring alternative of the sport after stopping Northwestern on 4th-and-1 at the Wildcats 34, however Cade Graham missed a 43-yard discipline objective try.

The recreation was nonetheless scoreless halfway by the second quarter, however Braden Turner intercepted Angel Flores’ move at the Central Michigan 29. Three performs later, Stone threw a 23-yard landing move to Griffin Wilde to offer the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

Joe Labas, the opposite half of Central Michigan’s quarterbacking duo, fumbled on the primary play after the kickoff to offer Northwestern the ball on the Chippewas 18. Caleb Komolafe scored on a 2-yard run to place Northwestern forward 14-0.

Flores fumbled on first down, giving Central Michigan turnovers on three straight performs. Stone hit Lawson Albright for a 23-yard landing on the subsequent play – Northwestern’s third landing in a span of 3:02.

Flores fumbled for the second time on Central Michigan’s first drive of the second half and Turner returned it 47 yards for a landing. Jack Olson missed the additional level to depart the rating at 27-0. Stone hit Wilde for an additional landing in the quarter to make it 34-0.

Central Michigan prevented the shutout when Labas hit Brock Townsend for a 3-yard landing move with 6:11 to play.

Takeaways

Central Michigan: The Chippewas turned the ball over 4 instances – three fumbles and an interception – in a span of 12 performs spanning the second and third quarters. They solely picked up one first down in that sequence.

Northwestern: The Wildcats scored 4 touchdowns with a median drive size of 17.5 yards, together with Turner’s fumble-return landing. Their two longest drives in the primary half – 48 and 44 yards – each ended in punts.

Up subsequent

Central Michigan: Build an offense. Head coach Matt Drinkell constructed an impressive protection in his first season after six years as an assistant coach at Army, however the Chippewas completed 93rd in scoring offense (23.8 factors per recreation) and 107th in offensive yards per recreation (335.7). On Friday, they had been overmatched towards Big Ten opposition.

Northwestern: Find some playmakers in the switch portal. It wasn’t an issue on Friday, due to the turnovers, however the Wildcats did not put collectively a sustained scoring drive till late in the third quarter. Central Michigan has an excellent MAC protection, however Northwestern struggled to common three yards on the bottom.