Because force is the time derivative of momentum, and momentum is linked to the motion of the center of mass.
If you consider a rigid body as a collection of particles glued together and their position split into the position of the center of mass $\boldsymbol{r}_{\rm COM}$ plus some other relative position $\boldsymbol{d}_i$, then
$$ \boldsymbol{r}_i = \boldsymbol{r}_{\rm COM} + \boldsymbol{d}_i $$
and by taking the weighted average of the positions
$$\require{cancel} \sum_i m_i \boldsymbol{r}_i = \left( \sum_i m_i \right) \boldsymbol{r}_{\rm COM} + \cancel{ \sum_{i} m_i \boldsymbol{d}_i } $$
which means that the center of mass is the point which the weighted average relative position is zero $\sum_i m_i \boldsymbol{d}_i = 0$.
Now consider the motion of each particle as the velocity of the center of mass, and a rotation about the center of mass
$$ \boldsymbol{v}_i = \boldsymbol{v}_{\rm COM} + \boldsymbol{\omega} \times \boldsymbol{d}_i $$
Use the above to consider linear and angular momentum
Linear Momentum
$$\boldsymbol{p} = \sum_i m_i \boldsymbol{v}_i = \left( \sum_i m_i \right) \boldsymbol{v}_{\rm COM} + \boldsymbol{\omega} \times \left( \cancel{ \sum_i m_i \boldsymbol{d}_i }\right) = m\, \boldsymbol{v}_{\rm COM} $$
Angular Momentum about center of mass
$$ \begin{aligned} \boldsymbol{L}_{\rm COM} & = \sum_i \boldsymbol{d}_i \times (m_i \boldsymbol{v}_i) \\ &= \left( \cancel{ \sum_i m_i \boldsymbol{d}_i} \right) \times \boldsymbol{v}_{\rm COM} + \sum_i \boldsymbol{d}_i \times m_i ( \boldsymbol{\omega} \times \boldsymbol{d}_i) \\ &= \mathbf{I}_{\rm COM}\; \boldsymbol{\omega} \end{aligned}$$
The last part of the puzzle is equating net force $\boldsymbol{F}$ to the rate of change of linear momentum and net torque about the center of mass $\boldsymbol{\tau}_{\rm COM}$ to the rate of change of angular momentum.
The equations below are the standard equations of motion for a rigid body.
$$ \boxed{ \begin{aligned}
\boldsymbol{F} &= \tfrac{\rm d}{{\rm d}t} \boldsymbol{p} = m\,\boldsymbol{a}_{\rm COM} \\ \boldsymbol{\tau}_{\rm COM} & = \tfrac{\rm d}{{\rm d}t} \boldsymbol{L}_{\rm COM} = \mathbf{I}_{\rm COM} \boldsymbol{\alpha} + \boldsymbol{\omega} \times \boldsymbol{L}_{\rm COM}\end{aligned} }$$
So consider a force $\boldsymbol{F}$ applied away from the center of mass, which causes a net torque $\boldsymbol{\tau}_{\rm COM} = \boldsymbol{d} \times \boldsymbol{F} \neq 0 $ to a body initially at rest. This means that $\boldsymbol{\alpha} \neq 0$ causing rotational acceleration.
In summary, although a force applied on a body with always accelerate the center of mass, only a force through the center of mass causes no net torque, which would keep the body for accelerating rotationally.