Central Michigan QB Angel Flores healthy, will play GameAbove Sports Bowl vs. Northwestern
Flores has been out for more than a month, but is back for the Chippewas, as expected, for the bowl game on Boxing Day.
Mt. Pleasant — Central Michigan head coach Matt Drinkall shared some promising news on Wednesday.
In early November, after Flores had missed some time with an injury, Drinkall offered a prognosis for the quarterback: If the Chippewas played in a late enough bowl game, Flores could be healthy and ready to play. Drinkall then set the line of demarcation around Dec. 17, saying a bowl later than that would give the optimal chance for Flores to play.
“He’s cleared, he’s going to play in this game, for sure,” Drinkall said on Wednesday, nine days prior to the bowl game.
The Chippewas (7-5, 5-3 MAC) drew the GameAbove Sports Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26 at 1 p.m., and the quarterback that propelled much of Central Michigan’s running game when healthy will be available come Friday’s game against Northwestern (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten).
“We’re figuring out in the process of bowl prep what and how much he’s going to be able to do,” Drinkall said. “But he’s been pretty much cleared and doing everything just fine.”
Flores missed the final month of the regular season (four games) with the undisclosed injury, and altered the complexion of the Central Michigan offense.
At the start of the season, Central Michigan used three quarterbacks, with senior Joe Labas spelled by Flores and redshirt freshman Jadyn Glasser. Glasser went down after Week 2 with a knee injury that required surgery — he’s back to practicing in a limited capacity and is expected to be a full go by spring. That made it a two-man system with Labas and Flores, the latter powering much of the Central Michigan rushing attack.
Despite missing four games, Flores finished second on the team in rushing yards with 519. And his eight rushing touchdowns still lead the Chippewas. He was used minimally as a passer, but efficient in his looks, completing 19-of-27 for 195 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
And with Flores out, the splits were stark.
Central Michigan averaged 201.6 yards per game rushing with Flores in the lineup, and 102.3 with him out in the final four games. The yards per carry crater, too: 4.4 with Flores, 2.7 without.
CMU rushed for more than 200 yards six times in the first eight games, and didn’t go over that mark at all in the final four.
He’ll need to knock the rust off come game time, and the coaching staff is still dialing in just how much they think they can use Flores, but his impact will be felt for certain.
“He looks really good but he’s been out for a while, needs to get tackled some, that whole bit,” Drinkall said. “But yeah, he’ll play for sure.”
When Flores went down, more onus fell on Labas and his right arm to win CMU some games, and he largely did that. He threw five touchdowns in the final four games after throwing seven in the prior eight.
He also got spelled by Marcus Beamon, who played in the final four games after Flores went down, serving as the primary running option at quarterback while preserving his redshirt. Beamon is expected to play some in the bowl, too, as he can play that game and still redshirt.
And for Labas, it’s the first year of his college career that he’s been healthy as a starter and managed to play in a full slate of games. That was part of the design with using multiple quarterbacks all year long.
Now gearing up for his final college game, Labas is thankful for the ride and for this class of seniors, particularly those who spent four or more years at CMU — Labas is an Iowa transfer from a few years back — to get a chance to bask in a bowl spotlight.
“The guys who have been here the longest, they’ve had some rough seasons,” Labas said. “And just going to a bowl game and having a winning season, that says a lot and it means a lot to the guys in this locker room.”
And in front of what should be a fairly pro-Central Michigan crowd, Labas will have some reinforcements in the form of Flores.
