[Careless Whisper]

Talent Wins Out in Tartans' Bowl Loss to #14 Hawkeyes
Carnegie Mellon collected six sacks and three interceptions defensively, but couldn't make up a 371-248 yards difference



CMU runningback Jim Manning posted his 21st career 100-yard rushing effort in the defeat. (Anthony Henry / Getty Images)

by Jayson Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Making its first appearance in a NCAA Division I bowl game since 1939, Carnegie Mellon kept pace with No. 14 Iowa for three quarters but their opponents’ talent eventually prevailed in the final frame, as the Hawkeyes defeated the Tartans, 33-20, this evening in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Carnegie Mellon (7-7) was clearly outmatched, but managed to stay within an arm’s length of No. 14 Iowa (10-3) thanks to a solid rushing attack and opportunistic defense. The Tartans sacked Arvell Nelson six times and picked him off three times, making up for the 371-248 difference in total offense.

“I thought we handled ourselves well but never could get into a complete rhythm on offense,” said CMU fourth-year head coach John Elliott. “Our quarterbacks were constantly under pressure and managed to avoid sacks for the most part, but even when they had time our receivers couldn’t get the separation we needed to string drives together. That Iowa team is incredibly talented and we knew there was going to be a step up in competition tonight, but this just shows that while we met our goals for the season, there’s still a long way to go to reach our goals as a program.”

The Tartans kept the Hawkeyes off the board on their first drive after Hayden Temple intercepted Nelson at the CMU 24-yard line. The ensuing drive didn’t end in points however, and Iowa responded with a couple of quick strikes before Dana Brown burst through the defense untouched for a 24-yard score.

The Hawkeyes took possession again quickly after Adrian Clayborn’s pressure forced an interception from Justin Keyes, and Austin Signor drilled a 40-yard field goal to make it 10-0. The Tartans forced another Nelson interception – this one from Elvis Washington – to take advantage of a short field early in the second quarter, and Jim Manning found the end zone from four yards out to trim the gap to 10-7.

Iowa answered by churning out a 10-play drive, and despite one of two sacks from P.J. Ryan, Nelson connected with James Cleveland on third and 13 for a 41-yard touchdown to extend the advantage to 17-7. It seemed like that score would carry into the halftime break, but a couple of 12-yard Manning runs set CMU up inside the red zone, and Keyes found Stephen Carter for a seven-yard score to pull the Tartans within three.

That single-score difference remained through the third quarter, even after a Signor 44-yard boot, but the Hawkeyes would regain their two-score advantage with a Nelson-to-Cleveland connection from two yards out. The two-point conversion failed, but Nelson added another two-yard touchdown toss on Iowa’s next drive – this one to Trey Stross – to make it 33-14. Kevin Wilson, who played the entire fourth quarter, managed to pull the Tartans closer with a garbage time touchdown, a 46-yard pass to David Young on busted coverage.

Manning bounced back from a poor performance in the MAC Championship Game, rushing for 102 yards and the second-quarter score on 21 carries. The junior has 10 100-yard efforts this year and 21 for his career, and fell 64 yards shy of hitting the 2,000-yard milestone on the season.

Defensively, Ryan (2), Nathan Ford, Zac Hood, Matt Johnson, and Mark Toth all netted a sack, and Temple snagged two interceptions to go with Washington’s one. Despite not recording a stat, Calvin Burton held Biletnikoff Award winner Dominique Douglas in check, allowing a single catch for four yards.

Carnegie Mellon, who fell to 1-2 all-time in bowl games, finishes its fourth Division I season and second FBS campaign at 7-7.

Iowa Hawkeyes at Carnegie Mellon Tartans
Dec 28, 2009	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#14 Iowa Hawkeyes (10-3)	10	7	3	13	33
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (7-7)	0	14	0	6	20

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	CMU
8:30	(IOWA) Dana Brown 24-yard run (Austin Signor kick)	7	0
6:12	(IOWA) Austin Signor 40-yard field goal	10	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	CMU
12:45	(CMU) Jim Manning 4-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	10	7
7:51	(IOWA) Arvell Nelson 41-yard pass to James Cleveland (Austin Signor kick)	17	7
0:53	(CMU) Justin Keyes 7-yard pass to Stephen Carter (Jon Foster kick)	17	14
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	CMU
12:30	(IOWA) Austin Signor 44-yard field goal	20	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		IOWA	CMU
14:09	(IOWA) Arvell Nelson 2-yard pass to James Cleveland (pass failed)	26	14
8:57	(IOWA) Arvell Nelson 2-yard pass to Trey Stross (Austin Signor kick)	33	14
0:27	(CMU) Kevin Wilson 46-yard pass to David Young (pass failed)	33	20

Iowa Hawkeyes PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Arvell Nelson 19/36 254 3 3 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Dana Brown 11 92 8.4 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD James Cleveland 10 122 12.2 2 Tyler Sash 4 49 12.2 0 Trey Stross 3 77 25.7 0 Dominique Douglas 1 4 4.0 0 Garrett Barnes 1 2 2.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jeremiha Hunter 11 1 0 0 A.J. Edds 7 0 0 0 Dezman Moses 6 0 0 0 Chris Rowell 5 0 0 0 Taylor Herbst 4 0 2 0 Paul Warford 2 0 2 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Austin Signor 2/2 3/3 9 44 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Daniel Murray 3 149 49.7 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Dominique Douglas 1 53 53.0 0 James Cleveland 2 34 17.0 0 Trey Stross 1 18 18.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD James Cleveland 3 47 15.7 0 Dominique Douglas 1 6 6.0 0

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Justin Keyes 7/19 54 1 2 Kevin Wilson 2/7 48 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Jim Manning 21 102 4.9 1 Justin Keyes 11 40 3.6 0 Kevin Cousins 1 5 5.0 0 Clarence Cabral 2 1 0.5 0 Nate Satele 3 -2 -0.7 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Kevin Cousins 4 17 4.2 0 David Young 2 50 25.0 1 Stephen Carter 2 33 16.5 1 Issac Schroeder 1 2 2.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Matt Johnson 9 1 0 0 Mark Toth 9 1 0 0 P.J. Ryan 6 2 0 0 Hayden Temple 5 0 2 0 Zac Hood 4 1 0 0 Nathan Ford 2 1 0 0 Elvis Washington 2 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jon Foster 0/0 2/2 2 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Andy Fitzhugh 5 228 45.6 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jon Crowell 5 100 20.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jon Crowell 2 7 3.5 0