[Careless Whisper]

“A Special Day”: Tartans Take Thriller with Late Field Goal
Justin Thompson’s 29-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining gave Carnegie Mellon its first win of 2006

by Jayson Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- It was Carnegie Mellon’s most winnable game of the season. And it held a 17-7 halftime lead, scoring multiple touchdowns for the first time in 2006.

But when the Tartans found themselves trailing 15 minutes later, 24-17, to an opponent who played a level higher than them last season, one would have expected them to fold. After all, they hadn’t been in this position yet and were working with an offense that had entered the day with just 26 points to their name.

Instead, sophomore wide receiver Pete Carlson flipped the script, ripping off a 99-yard kick return touchdown to begin the fourth quarter, and CMU finished out a long drive with a last-minute field goal to topple Shippensburg, 27-24, this afternoon at Gesling Stadium.

With the victory, Carnegie Mellon (1-8) avoids its first winless season since 1947 and nets its first triumph since moving up to NCAA Division I competition.

“What a special day,” said first-year head coach John Elliott. “The guys have always bought in to what we’re doing here, and deserved a reward like this. They never quit and put their heads down, even as (Shippensburg) went on that run in the third. That’s a good program we beat today too – they might be a little down this season, but they’re always pretty competitive in their conference.”

The Tartans passing game again struggled to move the ball, as Alex Smith and Andre Miller combined for 78 yards and four interceptions on 4-of-11 passing. However, the home team was boosted by another heroic performance from Robert Riley, who ran for a season-high 147 yards and two scores on 26 carries.

“Robert (Riley) was incredible today,” added Elliott. “His determination kept that final drive alive, and he made some huge plays in the first half to give us a lead. He’s a great kid.”

Justin Thompson provided the first points of the game on a 35-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first quarter. Shippensburg (4-5) responded with an extended drive, only to see it end in an interception by freshman cornerback Jay Edmonds. A long Tartan drive ended in a 13-yard trip to paydirt for Riley to make it 10-0, but the Red Raiders responded with a touchdown pass from Gabe Maiocco to Aaron Dukes with 2:10 left in the half.

CMU came back with another solid drive that looked to end in a field goal attempt, only for Smith to find Riley on an option pitch while trying to set Thompson up at the hash. The junior tailback made a man miss and found daylight, sneaking inside the pylon from 21 yards out with a second left on the clock.

“That was huge,” said Elliott of Riley’s second touchdown. “I was yelling for Alex (Smith) to slide so we could just burn our last timeout, but he saw something in the defense and let Robert go for it.”

Smith really started to struggle in the second half, tossing a pair of picks that led to Shippensburg touchdowns. Andre Miller was then subbed in and found the waiting arms of a Red Raider defender, setting up a Jamie Reder 35-yard field goal that made it 24-17 in favor of the visitors after three.

That’s when Carlson found a seam on the ensuing kickoff, racing down the left sideline for a 99-yard score to tie the game. The CMU defense took over from there, hoping the Red Raiders scoreless on a pair of drives to give its offensive unit one last gasp at winning in regulation.

Elliott decided to roll with Riley and Tramon McCollum, using his ground game to push the ball downfield. On a third and four, Riley broke off an 11-yard dash to keep the drive alive and move it within Thompson’s range, giving the junior kicker enough time to boot it between the uprights with 23 seconds remaining. Edmonds then intercepted a desperation pass from Maiocco to send the Tartan faithful into a frenzy.

Maiocco threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns for Shippensburg, but also tossed the aforementioned two interceptions to Edmonds.

Carnegie Mellon is back on the road next Saturday when it travels to Princeton.

Shippensburg Red Raiders at Carnegie Mellon Tartans
Nov 4, 2006	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Shippensburg Red Raiders (4-5)	0	7	17	0	24
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (1-8)	3	14	0	10	27

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		SHIP	CMU
0:24	(CMU) Justin Thompson 35-yard field goal	0	3
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		SHIP	CMU
4:12	(CMU) Robert Riley 13-yard run (Justin Thompson kick)	0	10
2:10	(SHIP) Gabe Maiocco 6-yard pass to Aaron Dukes (Jamie Reder kick)	7	10
0:01	(CMU) Robert Riley 21-yard run (Justin Thompson kick)	7	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		SHIP	CMU
3:05	(SHIP) Gabe Maiocco 18-yard pass to Pat Ferguson (Jamie Reder kick)	14	17
1:19	(SHIP) Gabe Maiocco 2-yard pass to Chris Infante (Jamie Reder kick)	21	17
0:00	(SHIP) Jamie Reder 35-yard field goal	24	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		SHIP	CMU
14:49	(CMU) Pete Carlson 99-yard kick return (Justin Thompson kick)	24	24
0:23	(CMU) Justin Thompson 29-yard field goal	24	27

Shippensburg Red Raiders

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Alex Smith 4/10 78 0 3 Andre Miller 0/1 0 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Robert Riley 26 147 5.7 2 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Pete Carlson 3 69 23.0 0 Robert Riley 1 9 9.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jay Edmonds 4 0 2 0 Jared Davis 2 2 0 0 Curtis WIllis 2 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Justin Thompson 2/2 3/3 8 35 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Pete Carlson 4 203 50.8 1