[Careless Whisper]

Tartans Routed by Richmond in Season Finale
Carnegie Mellon had no answer for the Spiders’ Eric Ward, who threw for 409 yards and four touchdowns

by Alicia Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- After a string of promising performances, Carnegie Mellon suffered a setback in its season finale, falling to Richmond, 33-7, on Saturday night.

Carnegie Mellon (1-11) could not stop Richmond (8-4) quarterback Eric Ward, who finished with 409 yards passing and four touchdowns. The Spiders opened up a 27-0 lead before the Tartans dented the scoreboard, then added a pair of field goals to set the final score.

“I wish we could have given our seniors a better result,” said first-year head coach John Elliott. “They were great for us all of their careers, and were troopers this season as we started this new journey. I know they would have liked to win more games, but they’re the building blocks to this new era in Carnegie Mellon football.”

Andre Miller returned to the starting lineup for his final collegiate game and finished with 158 yards passing, a touchdown, and an interception. Robert Riley surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone on the ground with a 97-yard day, compiling a total of 1,034 on the season.

Defensively, sophomore defensive tackle Devon Elliott recorded a career-high nine tackles and three sacks. Elliott, along with sophomore cornerback Raymond Cooper, are intriguing underclassman pieces that the Tartans will have for two more seasons.

Carnegie Mellon, who finishes the season at 1-11, is set for one more season at the FCS level before moving up to FBS competition.

Richmond Spiders at Carnegie Mellon Tartans
Nov 25, 2006	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Richmond Spiders (8-4)	7	7	13	6	33
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (1-11)	0	0	7	0	7

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		RICH	CMU
8:14	(RICH) Eric Ward 14-yard pass to Arman Shields (Andrew Howard kick)	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		RICH	CMU
1:46	(RICH) Eric Ward 16-yard pass to Arman Shields (Andrew Howard kick)	14	0
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		RICH	CMU
14:54	(RICH) Eric Ward 80-yard pass to Josh Vaughan (XP failed)	20	0
13:24	(RICH) Eric Ward 6-yard pass to Matt Hale (Andrew Howard kick)	27	0
9:05	(CMU) Andre Miller 4-yard pass to Al Jackson (Justin Thompson kick)	27	7
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		RICH	CMU
9:08	(RICH) Andrew Howard 28-yard field goal	30	7
2:19	(RICH) Andrew Howard 30-yard field goal	33	7

Richmond Spiders

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Andre Miller 16/30 158 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Robert Riley 21 97 4.6 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Pete Carlson 7 43 6.1 0 Al Jackson 5 70 14.0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Devon Elliott 9 3 0 0 Robert Graves 5 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Justin Thompson 0/1 1/1 1 --