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

[Careless Whisper]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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!"

Appreciate the kind words! My idea of Bryan Smith is this old-timey columnist who is constantly grouchy and snarky, because he's earned the right to be after being in a beat writer/reporter role for so many years. All the journalists' head shots are just stock Google searches, but that one for Bryan was the perfect representation of what I wanted him to be.

[Careless Whisper]

Tartans Blanked in Toughest Test Yet
A game after scoring its first touchdown of 2006, Carnegie Mellon was shut out by FCS power Montana

by Alicia Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter

MISSOULA, Mont. -- Facing its toughest opponent of the 2006 season thus far, Carnegie Mellon stumbled and fell to Montana this afternoon, 31-0.

Carnegie Mellon (0-5) tallied 87 yards of offense and punted the ball 10 times. Redshirt senior David Ford made his first career start at quarterback and struggled, completing 8-of-18 passes for nine yards and an interception.

“Montana is ranked fifth (in FCS) for a reason,” said first-year head coach John Elliott. “They hit us in the mouth and we couldn’t recover. We managed to hold their offense at bay for most of the day, but there was nothing going for us offensively. Can’t compete if we don’t create opportunities for ourselves.”

Even the usual reliable Robert Riley was ineffective, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry on 19 attempts. Raymond Cooper provided the only bright moment for the Tartans, picking off a Josh Swogger pass in the first quarter.

Montana (6-0) received three Swogger touchdown tosses, two going to Craig Chambers. Van Cooper Jr. provided the cherry on top by running back a Ford pick to the house with 4:39 remaining.

It doesn’t get any easier for Carnegie Mellon next week, as it has just a five-day turnaround before it restarts its rivalry with Pitt next Thursday night.

Carnegie Mellon Tartans at Montana Grizzlies
Oct 7, 2006	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (0-5)	0	0	0	0	0
#5 Montana Grizzlies (6-0)	0	7	7	17	31

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		CMU	MONT
2:14	(MONT) Josh Swogger 4-yard pass to Craig Chambers (Dan Carpenter kick)	0	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		CMU	MONT
6:20	(MONT) Josh Swogger 35-yard pass to Craig Chambers (Dan Carpenter kick)	0	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		CMU	MONT
9:52	(MONT) Dan Carpenter 35-yard field goal	0	17
6:33	(MONT) Josh Swogger 33-yard pass to Lex Hilliard (Dan Carpenter kick)	0	24
4:39	(MONT) Van Cooper Jr. 37-yard interception return (Dan Carpenter kick)	0	31

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT David Ford 8/18 9 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Robert Riley 19 54 2.8 0 Andre Clifford 5 22 4.4 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Kurt Thompson 4 3 0.8 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brett Davidson 5 1 0 0 Robert Graves 5 0 0 0 Raymond Cooper 3 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Justin Thompson 0/1 0/0 0 --

Montana Grizzlies

[moose141]

If Pitt is your first scalp that you finally take, I may never recover, haha.

[Careless Whisper]

Quote: Originally Posted by moose141

If Pitt is your first scalp that you finally take, I may never recover, haha.

Haha you won't have to worry, I'll take a win if I can stay within four scores of the Panthers!

[Careless Whisper]

Around the NCAA – Week 6 Edition
#3 Oklahoma is on top of the world after defeating #4 Texas in the Red River Shootout, 33-26

USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll
1 | Ohio State [33 first-place votes] (6-0)
2 | Auburn [24] (6-0)
3 | Oklahoma [1] (5-0)
4 | Miami (Fla.) [1] (5-0)
5 | Michigan [1] (6-0)
6 | LSU (5-1)
7 | Notre Dame (5-1)
8 | USC (4-1)
9 | Texas (4-2)
10 | Nebraska [1] (6-0)

Biggest Climb | Texas A&M (6-0) – #25 to #22
Biggest Drop | Georgia (5-1) – #10 to #19
Newcomers | #24 Colorado (5-1), #25 Texas Tech (4-2)
Drop Outs | #21 Florida State, #24 Minnesota

Heisman Watch
Kenny Irons, Sr., HB, Auburn | 149 carries, 973 yards, 12 TD; 12 catches, 229 yards, 2 TD
Jeff Samardzija, Sr., WR, Notre Dame | 34 catches, 687 yards, 8 TD
Zac Taylor, Sr., QB, Nebraska | 152.8 QB rtg., 136-208, 1,395 yards, 22 TD, 4 INT
Troy Smith, R-Sr., QB, Ohio State | 157.4 QB rtg., 92-143, 979 yards, 18 TD (2 rush), 1 INT
Jarrett Hicks, R-Sr., WR, Texas Tech | 60 catches, 804 yards, 8 TD

NCAA Players of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola
Offensive: Cassen Jackson-Garrison, Jr., HB, Vanderbilt | 25 carries, 254 yards, 4 TD in 38-7 win at Ole Miss
Defensive: Jonathan Casillas, So., OLB, Wisconsin | 2 tackles (1 TFL), 2 INT, 1 TD in 42-10 win vs. Northwestern

Injury Report
Steve Levy, R-Sr., QB, California | Broken tibia (10 weeks)
Willis Barringer, Sr., SS, Michigan | Severe concussion (season)

Notable Top 25 Scores
#20 Utah 21, #23 TCU 20
#8 USC 56, Washington 10
#22 Texas A&M 31, Kansas 21
#6 LSU 34, #16 Florida 17
#3 Oklahoma 33, #9 Texas 26
#5 Michigan 35, Michigan State 24
Tennessee 17, #19 Georgia 10
#2 Auburn 30, Arkansas 27
#18 Penn State 26, Minnesota 14
#7 Notre Dame 49, Stanford 7

Week 7 National Broadcasts
#14 Virginia Tech (5-0) at Boston College
#16 Florida (4-2) at #2 Auburn (6-0) – Game of the Week
#5 Michigan (6-0) at #18 Penn State (4-2)
#15 Arizona State (4-1) at #8 USC (4-1)
#10 Nebraska (6-0) at Kansas State (3-3)
Iowa State (3-3) at #3 Oklahoma (5-0)
#1 Ohio State (6-0) at Michigan State (3-3)
#25 Texas Tech (4-2) at #24 Colorado (5-1)

[Careless Whisper]

by Jeff Greenberg, Carnegie Mellon insider for Rivals.com

Davidson lost for season

Junior outside linebacker Brett Davidson suffered an upper arm fracture in Carnegie Mellon’s 31-0 loss at Montana this past Saturday, sidelining him for the remainder of the 2006 season. Recovery for the injury is estimated to be 11 weeks.

Davidson compiled 28 tackles, two sacks, and an interception this year. He saw time on both outside spots with starters Robert Graves and Curtis Willis.

The junior is the second CMU player to suffer a season-ending injury, joining wide receiver Ali Concepcion, who went down at James Madison with a broken tailbone.

Quarterback carousel continues

Redshirt senior Andre Miller will replace classmate David Ford as the starting quarterback on Thursday night at Pittsburgh, Tartan Tidbits has learned.

Miller, who has a 55.4 quarterback rating in four starts this season, was benched in favor of Ford at Montana. Ford finished with just nine passing yards on 18 attempts and an interception in the 31-0 loss to the Grizzlies.

True freshman Alex Smith has been taking snaps at practice as the backup quarterback, and will serve in that role against the Panthers.

Tartans nervous for rivalry?

There is some nervous chatter ahead of Carnegie Mellon’s rivalry game with Pitt on Thursday night, Tartan Tidbits understands.

The anonymous report says that players are disheartened after last Saturday’s loss at Montana, and that the Tartans are going through the motions at practice leading into the meeting with the Panthers. Pitt enters the matchup at 5-1 overall with its lone blemish coming to Michigan State, and wins over Cincinnati (37-0), The Citadel (49-0), Syracuse (20-7), Toledo (45-16), and Virginia (31-10).

Thursday night’s game can be seen on FSN Pittsburgh.

Manning, Fitch name CMU in top five

Three-star duo Jim Manning (Reisterstown, Md.) and Matt Fitch (Sylvania, Ohio) have trimmed their respective college lists to five, and Carnegie Mellon is in both, Tartan Tidbits understands.

Manning and Fitch are both considering Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech alongside the Tartans. The runningback and guard join Michael and Matt Johnson (no relation) as CMU targets with the school in the top five.

Goff leaves Tartans out of top five

Three-star tight end John Goff (East Norriton, Pa.) has removed Carnegie Mellon from consideration, Tartan Tidbits has learned.

An expected decision after Goff’s unofficial visit to Michigan two weeks ago, the tight end is now a silent commitment to the Wolverines heading into the home stretch of in-season recruiting.

[ThatBritishGuy]

Ouch, this is just not getting any easier at all. And with Pitt next, we could be looking at a cricket score unfortunately.

Guess it is looking to the future now, need to bring in some key personnel, hopefully can land some 3 star talent to plug some of the holes in the team!

[Careless Whisper]

Pitt Calls Off Dogs in Trashing of Carnegie Mellon
The Panthers owned a 503-178 advantage in yards and scored 38 unanswered points

by Jayson Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter

PITTSBURGH -- In the return of an old city rivalry, Pitt started slow but finished strong, coming away with a 38-7 victory over Carnegie Mellon at Heinz Field on Thursday night.

Pitt (6-1) nearly tripled Carnegie Mellon (0-6) in yardage, despite primarily playing its backups in the fourth quarter. One of Tyler Palko’s two interceptions came in the opening frame to keep the game scoreless, but the redshirt senior southpaw threw for 306 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Panthers to victory.

“We didn’t really play our game over the first 20 minutes,” said Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt. “Tyler (Palko) took a couple of shots that weren’t there and we weren’t focused on the task at hand. Proud of the guys’ finish though, we were able to refocus and play Pitt football.”

While Palko excelled for Pitt, fellow redshirt senior Andre Miller was overmatched in his return to the starting lineup. Miller threw for 72 yards and three interceptions, only completing 10-of-23 attempts.

“Pitt’s a really good team,” said Carnegie Mellon head coach John Elliott. “We knew going into tonight that it would be one of our toughest games, and the gap in talent showed. We hope to be on that level eventually, but right now it’s about finding the positive moments and building on those.”

Tramon McCollum provided CMU’s second touchdown of the season with 3:48 left in the fourth quarter, cashing in on a two-yard run with both teams playing their reserves.

“It would be good for the city for this game to be a competitive one in the future,” said Wannstedt. “What they’re doing at Carnegie Mellon is bold, and I don’t know if it will work but I certainly respect the attempt.”

Pitt moves to 25-5-1 all-time against Carnegie Mellon.

Carnegie Mellon remains at home next week when it hosts Harvard on Saturday, October 21.

Carnegie Mellon Tartans at Pittsburgh Panthers
Oct 12, 2006	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (0-6)	0	0	0	7	7
Pittsburgh Panthers (6-1)	0	10	21	7	38

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
5:51	(PITT) Tyler Palko 14-yard pass to Joe DelSardo (David Abdul kick)	0	7
0:07	(PITT) David Abdul 52-yard field goal	0	10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
11:37	(PITT) Tyler Palko 3-yard pass to Steve Buches (David Abdul kick)	0	17
8:00	(PITT) Tyler Palko 28-yard pass to Michael Pestano (David Abdul kick)	0	24
2:37	(PITT) Tyler Palko 27-yard pass to Michael Pestano (David Abdul kick)	0	31
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
12:02	(PITT) Mike Yezovich 8-yard run (David Abdul kick)	0	38
3:48	(CMU) Tramon McCollum 2-yard run (Justin Thompson kick)	7	38

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Andre Miller 10/23 72 0 3 Alex Smith 0/1 0 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Robert Riley 21 85 4.0 0 Tramon McCollum 3 12 4.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Pete Carlson 5 39 7.8 0 Kurt Thompson 1 20 20.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Curtis Willis 5 0 0 0 Devon Elliott 4 1 0 0 Raymond Cooper 4 0 1 0 Sean Day 0 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Justin Thompson 0/0 1/1 1 -- KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Pete Carlson 4 82 20.5 0

Pittsburgh Panthers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Tyler Palko 19/32 306 4 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD LaRod Stephens-Howling 11 97 8.8 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Cedric McGee 5 93 18.6 0 Joe DelSardo 4 42 10.5 1 Michael Pestano 3 114 38.0 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD H.B. Blades 6 1 0 0 Chris McKillop 6 1 0 0 Steve Dell 4 0 0 0 Clint Session 4 1 0 0 Darrelle Revis 0 0 2 0 Sam Bryant 0 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG David Abdul 1/2 5/5 8 52