Football Keeps Share of UAA Title Alive with 18-13 Win Over Washington (Mo.)

Oct. 27 - (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team hosted Washington University in St. Louis Saturday afternoon in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Tartans kept their hopes of a share of the UAA title alive with an 18-13 victory over the Bears. The Tartans even their overall record to 4-4 and move to 2-1 in the UAA, as the Bears are now 6-2, 1-1.

The Tartans defense started the scoring as junior defensive lineman Clay Crites (Tuscarawas, Ohio/Indian Valley) and junior linebacker Dan Falkenstein (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina) sacked Washington’s quarterback Buck Smith on a play-action pass in his end zone with 3:56 on the clock in the first quarter. The safety was set up when Tartan senior punter Matt Adams (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) pinned the Bears on their own two-yard line after a 39-yard punt.

The Bears took a 7-2 lead at the start of the second quarter following a fumble by the Tartans setting up Washington on Carnegie Mellon’s 28-yard line. Five plays later, freshman running back Jim O’Brien took it in from two yards out at 13:47 in the second.

The score remained 7-2 until the 9:34 mark in the third quarter when senior fullback Travis Sivek (Traverse City, Mich./St. Francis) ran untouched from one-yard out. After a failed two-point conversion the Tartans led 8-7. Sivek’s touchdown run was set-up when senior outside linebacker John Brown (North Olmstead, Ohio) blocked Tommy Bawden’s punt causing a turnover on downs at the Washington 28.

Carnegie Mellon extended their lead to 15-7 with 1:00 left in the third quarter, as sophomore quarterback Phil Pantalone (Camp Hill, Pa./Cedar Cliff) found senior Jeremy Doo (Cambridge, Mass. Phillips Exeter Academy) for a 40-yard touchdown strike. The touchdown pass was the first of Pantalone’s career. On the 77-yard 11-play drive, Sivek rushed for 30 of the Tartans 37 rushing yards on seven carries.

After an interception by Tartans senior Jonathan Bodnar (Cheswick, Pa./Deer Lakes), Carnegie Mellon junior place kicker Colin Marks (Washington Crossing, Pa./Council Rock North) hit a 20-yard field goal to give the Cardinal and Gray an 18-7 lead with 10:10 to play in regulation.

Washington cut the Tartans lead to 18-13 on O’Brien’s second rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 4:07 to play. The freshman rushed in from one-yard out capping a seven play, 76-yard drive that took only 1:06 off the clock.

Sivek led the way for the Tartans, rushing for 122 yards on 36 carries. This marks the second time Sivek has rushed for at least 100 yards against the Bears and is just the ninth opposing back to reach the feat in the Bears’ last 88 games. Doo led all receivers with 73 yards on two receptions including a 33-yard catch-and-run from wide receiver Brendan Howe (Grosse Point, Mich./Grosse Point South).

Carnegie Mellon rushed for 215 yards compared to 96 by Washington and held the slight edge in total offense 291-286. Defensively the Tartans were led by senior linebacker Trent Sisson (Novi, Mich.) and senior corner Jon Scholl (Coraopolis, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) with ten and nine tackles, respectively.

Smith ended the day 16-of-27 for 163 yards and one interception. The Bears defense was headed by sophomore linebacker Andrew Berryman with 22 tackles. Senior linebacker Tyler McSparin added a career-best 16 tackles, while fellow senior linebacker Michael Elliott added a career-high 15 stops in the loss.

The Tartans will be back in action when they travel to West Virginia to play the Bison of Bethany College, Saturday, November 3 for a 1:00 p.m. kick.