The Rise of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans (NCAA Football 07)

[Careless Whisper]

by Jeff Greenberg, Carnegie Mellon insider for Rivals.com

Smith to miss four more weeks

Junior middle linebacker Bobby Smith, who suffered a foot stress fracture in CMU’s season opener at Youngstown State, is progressing nicely from his injury but is still projected to miss four more weeks.

Smith is targeting a return of October 28 at Furman after missing the last three full games due to his injury. Third-year linebacker Will Reid replaced him in the starting lineup beginning at Maine on September 9.

Change at QB1

After tossing the Tartans’ first touchdown pass of the season last Saturday against Western Illinois, redshirt senior quarterback David Ford will start under center at Montana on October 7.

Ford replaced a struggling Andre Miller and finished 7-of-15 passing for 51 yards and the aforementioned score. The fifth-year senior will be making his first career start against the Grizzlies.

Johnson and Johnson make unofficial visits to CMU

Three-star prospects Matt and Michael Johnson (no relation) were in town for Carnegie Mellon’s home opener against Western Illinois this past Saturday, and enjoyed their visits, Tartan Tidbits has learned.

“Really liked the campus and being there for a game day,” said Matt Johnson (Circleville, Ohio) over the phone. “It had like a big high school game feel. I liked that and could see myself being a part of that.”

“The vibe was great,” said Michael Johnson (Dayton, Ohio) over the phone. “You could feel the excitement with it being the home opener and just a new thing for the fans. CMU is definitely in the running.”

Trio not considering CMU

Travis Logan (Broadview Heights, Ohio), Andre Jack (Latrobe, Pa.), and Eric Lindsey (Cherry Hill, N.J.) have removed Carnegie Mellon from their college considerations, Tartan Tidbits has learned.

Logan and Jack, both three-star offensive linemen, were two of six from that unit that head coach John Elliott offered scholarships to prior to the 2006 season. Michael Johnson’s favorability with the CMU staff seemed to keep the other two tackles as backup options, something they were not in favor of.

Eric Lindsey, a three-star middle linebacker, never really gelled with the Tartans coaching staff and will be moving forward with Ohio, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and West Virginia as his remaining five schools.

[ThatBritishGuy]

It was not the win, but you met that first target to get that elusive first touchdown. Can that be built on next game and get close to the win?

Not surprised we see Miller being replaced by Ford, hard to be good on a struggling team but there is a huge difference between 21% completion and 46% completion! Hopefully Ford can bring some of that 5th year steadiness to the team and just keep making the throws that are needed to get into these games as Riley seemed to hold his own on the ground last time out.

Maybe we are turning a corner?

[moose141]

Woo, a touchdown! Progress, albeit small, is still progress, haha. The real news for you this season is just monitoring that recruiting class and getting some small talent improvements across the board. Don't remember how the older NCAA's worked, I remember there being TeamBuilder/Create-a-Team but just with a subset of logos and stuff to use right? Wish that had been more fleshed out, even in 2014 because it would've been sweet to get some sort of Tartan jersey or look on the field!

[Careless Whisper]

Quote: Originally Posted by ThatBritishGuy

It was not the win, but you met that first target to get that elusive first touchdown. Can that be built on next game and get close to the win? Not surprised we see Miller being replaced by Ford, hard to be good on a struggling team but there is a huge difference between 21% completion and 46% completion! Hopefully Ford can bring some of that 5th year steadiness to the team and just keep making the throws that are needed to get into these games as Riley seemed to hold his own on the ground last time out. Maybe we are turning a corner?

It felt like we turned a bit of a corner there against Western Illinois, but these quarterbacks are just brutal to play with as expected. Miller was missing wide open guys constantly, and I can't even attempt to throw it deep because they over or underthrow it every time. Figured Ford gave me a spark, so he might as well get a shot at Montana.

Riley and Carlson are my impact players on offense, so I try to get them the ball as much as I can. Obviously it's harder with Carlson being a receiver, but Riley has been very steady and is a good bet to break off chunks of 6-7 yards at certain points of the game. He's one of the four 56-overall players on the roster, so I'm really screwed if he were to get hurt somehow.

[Careless Whisper]

Quote: Originally Posted by moose141

Woo, a touchdown! Progress, albeit small, is still progress, haha. The real news for you this season is just monitoring that recruiting class and getting some small talent improvements across the board. Don't remember how the older NCAA's worked, I remember there being TeamBuilder/Create-a-Team but just with a subset of logos and stuff to use right? Wish that had been more fleshed out, even in 2014 because it would've been sweet to get some sort of Tartan jersey or look on the field!

Definitely progress, so I'll take it! Hopefully I can string a couple of touchdowns together at some point this season.

The Create-A-Team function was relatively basic, they had a variety of generic and letter (and Greek, oddly) logos to choose from, along with five stadium types. You could choose a rival, design your field with a few basic options such as grassy turf, name in the end zone, etc., and then design four jerseys. I'll try to snap a photo of the jerseys next time I fire up the game!

[Careless Whisper]

Around the NCAA – Week 5 Edition
All eyes are on the Red River Shootout this week, as #4 Texas faces #3 Oklahoma

USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll
1 | Ohio State [40 first-place votes] (5-0)
2 | Auburn [21] (5-0)
3 | Oklahoma (4-0)
4 | Texas (4-1)
5 | Miami (Fla.) (4-0)
6 | Michigan (5-0)
7 | Notre Dame (4-1)
8 | LSU (4-1)
9 | USC (3-1)
10 | Georgia (5-0)

Biggest Climb | 17 teams moved up one spot
Biggest Drop | Florida (4-1) – #2 to #11
Newcomers | #22 Alabama (4-1), #25 Texas A&M (5-0)
Drop Outs | #23 Texas Tech, #25 California

Heisman Watch
Kenny Irons, Sr., HB, Auburn | 115 carries, 769 yards, 11 TD; 9 catches, 180 yards, 2 TD
Zac Taylor, Sr., QB, Nebraska | 159.2 QB rtg., 113-170, 1,178 yards, 19 TD, 2 INT
Colt McCoy, R-Fr., QB, Texas | 176.2 QB rtg., 91-137, 1,336 yards, 14 TD, 4 INT
Sam Keller, Sr., QB, Arizona State | 163.1 QB rtg., 128-193, 1,644 yards, 19 TD, 7 INT
Jeff Samardzija, Sr., WR, Notre Dame | 27 catches, 558 yards, 6 TD

NCAA Players of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola
Offensive: Quinton Smith, R-Sr., HB, Rice | 34 carries, 273 yards, 5 TD in 35-14 win at Army
Defensive: David Hawthorne, R-Jr., OLB, TCU | 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FF, 1 TD in 31-24 win vs. BYU

Injury Report
John David Booty, R-Jr., QB, USC | Severe concussion (season)
Tony Temple, R-Jr., HB, Missouri | Forearm fracture (season)
Thomas Brown, Jr., HB, Georgia | Broken finger (3 weeks)
Gaines Adams, R-Sr., DE, Clemson | Broken ankle (11 weeks)

Notable Top 25 Scores
#2 Auburn 42, South Carolina 14
#9 USC 52, Washington State 7
#1 Ohio State 58, #18 Iowa 7
#22 Alabama 22, #11 Florida 17
#17 Arizona State 35, Oregon 17
#7 Notre Dame 54, Purdue 23
#25 Texas A&M 35, Texas Tech 18
#12 Nebraska 24, Kansas 21
#16 Virginia Tech 38, Georgia Tech 17
#6 Michigan 52, #24 Minnesota 10

Week 6 National Broadcasts
#21 Florida State (2-2) at North Carolina State (3-1)
#8 LSU (4-1) at #11 Florida (1-1)
#4 Texas (4-1) vs. #3 Oklahoma (4-0) – Game of the Week, Red River Shootout
Michigan State (3-2) at #6 Michigan (5-0)
Tennessee (2-3) at #10 Georgia (5-0)
Arkansas (3-1) at #2 Auburn (5-0)
#19 Penn State (3-2) at #24 Minnesota (3-1)
Stanford (2-3) at #7 Notre Dame (4-1)

[Careless Whisper]

by Jeff Greenberg, Carnegie Mellon insider for Rivals.com

Manning, Matt Johnson keep CMU in running

Jim Manning (Reisterstown, Md.) and Matt Johnson (Circleville, Ohio) have trimmed their college lists to five and Carnegie Mellon appears on both, Tartan Tidbits has learned.

Manning, a three-star runningback with 731 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns for Franklin High School this season, has CMU in line with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech.

Johnson, a three-star linebacker that made an unofficial visit to Carnegie Mellon for the home opener, is considering the Tartans alongside Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes are reportedly the favorite for his services.

Grant, Sanders drop Tartans; Goff likely to

Three-star prospects Justin Grant (Newark, N.J.) and Sean Sanders (Englewood, Ohio) have dropped Carnegie Mellon from consideration, Tartan Tidbits has learned.

Grant and Sanders both have left CMU out of their top fives as the in-season recruiting period continues to take shape. Grant, a linebacker, reportedly is leaning towards Ohio State, while Sanders, a guard, is undecided between Michigan and Notre Dame at the moment.

An additional drop might be on the way, as three-star tight end John Goff (East Norriton, Pa.) raved about his unofficial visit to Michigan this past weekend, according to reports. The Wolverines serve as a clear favorite, with CMU sitting in the back half of his current top eight.

[Nunyerbiz]

I just got caught up and I love the approach... who doesn't appreciate a team of nobodies getting their heads kicked in for a season or two or five? It's what makes the NCAA Dynasty dream so appealing!

Also, I love this dude:



I imagine him using the telegraph to send his road game stories back to his editor at the home office in Pittsburgh and them being read on the ticker tape...



"That's how you give them the what's for Tartars! Take no prisoners lads!"