[Careless Whisper]

Toth’s Blocked Extra Point Seals Roller Coaster Win
Mark Toth deflected a game-tying extra point with 1:02 remaining, helping the Tartans move to 2-0 in the MAC



CMU linebacker Mark Toth fully extended himself to keep his team unbeaten in MAC play. (Mark Frazier / Getty Images)

by Jayson Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The campus of Bowling Green State University is approximately 56 miles west of Cedar Point Amusement Park, which dubs itself as the roller coaster capital of the world. On Saturday afternoon, it felt like the Mid-American Conference (MAC) contest between the Falcons and Carnegie Mellon was played on one of Cedar Point’s 18 thrill rides, as the Tartans escaped with a 42-41 victory thanks to a blocked extra point.

The game featured 83 combined points and four deadlocks, but the teams combined to turn it over eight times. Carnegie Mellon (3-2, 2-0 MAC) received a career-high four touchdown passes – and an additional one on the ground – from Justin Keyes, only to see Bowling Green (1-4, 0-1 MAC) redshirt freshman Adam Gilmore outdo him with six touchdown tosses, but three of the Tartans’ turnovers came on Keyes’ fumbles while Gilmore threw three interceptions.

“Really fortunate we were able to come away with a victory today,” said CMU fifth-year head coach John Elliott. “We weren’t ourselves defensively and took too many chances trying to confuse a young quarterback. Our offensive line also has to do a better job at protecting Justin (Keyes). Bowling Green has two talented defensive ends and Justin can help the guys up front out by extending plays with his legs, but they were on him too quickly and too often all day today. Thankful that Mark (Toth) was able to shoot through in the end and make an All-American type play, because I don’t think we deserved to win at all.”

After Brandon Brewer was stuffed on a fourth-down conversion, the Falcons marched right down and scored on their opening drive as Gilmore found Jermiah Kelley for the first of three hookups. The Tartans answered with a 40-yard touchdown pass between Keyes and Eddie Williams to tie it at 7-7, then the visitors strung together another promising drive before Lawrence McIntire put the ball on the ground with his first carry of the afternoon.

Todd Andriano snagged his fifth interception of the season on BGSU’s ensuing drive, and McIntire nearly gave it back again before Anthony Tremblay fell on the loose ball. CMU took advantage of its second life, as Keyes scrambled in from five yards out to make it 14-7 after a quarter, but the senior quarterback couldn’t extend the lead to two scores on the next drive after he was stripped of the football on a Michael Ream sack.

BGSU and CMU continued trading points on their possessions, as Gilmore connected with Kelley and Andrew Joseph for scores and Keyes hooked up with Williams on a 65-yard bomb to push the score to 21-21. The momentum swung back in favor of the Tartans at the end of the half however, as Kelvin Butler stiffarmed a would-be tackler on an 88-yard kick return touchdown, and after a Matt Burnsides strip-sack of Gilmore, Keyes found a wide-open Butler on a 39-yard score to make it 35-21 at halftime.

Another strip-sack of Keyes gave the Falcons another chance after a three-and-out, and Gilmore took advantage with a 12-yard toss to Kelley to pull the hosts within seven. BGSU’s defense continued to make it rough on the CMU offensive line, forcing a third fumble from the senior quarterback to stamp out a promising drive, leading to Gilmore’s fifth touchdown pass of the afternoon – a 55-yard bomb to Joseph over the head of Hayden Temple. That’s when the redshirt freshman Williams channeled his inner Jim Manning, dragging a Falcons cornerback five yards on a skinny post to score a go-ahead 22-yard touchdown with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

The scoring stopped after Williams’ herculean effort, as Temple made up for his mistake with a pair of interceptions but CMU’s offense couldn’t quite add an insurance score. With 1:51 left, the Tartans punted it back to BGSU but pinned the hosts at their own 13. After an incompletion and Erik Sellers sack, Gilmore faced a third-and-13 and pressure from David Brown off the edge, but stood in and connected with a wide-open Andre Debose down the right sideline for a 62-yard touchdown.

Overtime seemed like it was on the horizon, but extra points aren’t a sure thing against CMU as it has blocked eight since the start of the 2007 season. Mark Toth made it nine at the most crucial time, slipping through a crack in the Falcons line to get his hand on Fred Mathis’ attempt to keep it 42-41. Mathis tried to provide some heroics of his own on the onside kick, but David Young corralled it and fell down to secure a wild Tartans victory.

Keyes accumulated 385 yards (322 pass, 63 rush) offensively despite being sacked five times. Williams was stellar once again, catching nine passes for 172 yards and three scores.

Gilmore nearly doubled his season total in passing yards, throwing for 459 yards and the aforementioned six touchdowns. Joseph and Debose were over the century mark receiving with 181 and 152 yards, respectively, while Kelley added 70 yards on six receptions and three trips to paydirt.

CMU’s defense brought down Gilmore eight times with Burnsides and Brown both collecting a pair of sacks.

Carnegie Mellon begins a three-game home stand on Saturday, October 9 at 6:00 p.m. with a rematch of the 2009 MAC Championship Game against Toledo.

Carnegie Mellon Tartans at Bowling Green Falcons
Oct 2, 2010	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (3-2, 2-0 MAC)	14	21	7	0	42
Bowling Green Falcons (1-4, 0-1 MAC)	7	14	14	6	41

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		CMU	BGSU
9:34	(BGSU) Adam Gilmore 12-yard pass to Jermiah Kelley (Fred Mathis kick)	0	7
7:36	(CMU) Justin Keyes 40-yard pass to Eddie Williams (Jon Foster kick)	7	7
1:01	(CMU) Justin Keyes 5-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	14	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		CMU	BGSU
9:20	(BGSU) Adam Gilmore 4-yard pass to Jermiah Kelley (Fred Mathis kick)	14	14
8:03	(CMU) Justin Keyes 65-yard pass to Eddie Williams (Jon Foster kick)	21	14
6:24	(BGSU) Adam Gilmore 50-yard pass to Andrew Joseph (Fred Mathis kick)	21	21
6:15	(CMU) Kelvin Butler 88-yard kick return (Jon Foster kick)	28	21
4:02	(CMU) Justin Keyes 39-yard pass to Kelvin Butler (Jon Foster kick)	35	21
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		CMU	BGSU
11:19	(BGSU) Adam Gilmore 12-yard pass to Jermiah Kelley (Fred Mathis kick)	35	28
6:57	(BGSU) Adam Gilmore 55-yard pass to Andrew Joseph (Fred Mathis kick)	35	35
2:35	(CMU) Justin Keyes 22-yard pass to Eddie Williams (Jon Foster kick)	42	35
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		CMU	BGSU
1:02	(BGSU) Adam Gilmore 62-yard pass to Andre Debose (XP blocked)	42	41

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Justin Keyes 18/31 322 4 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Nate Satele 19 76 4.0 0 Justin Keyes 21 63 3.0 1 Eddie Williams 4 29 7.2 0 Kelvin Butler 2 19 9.5 0 Lawrence McIntire 2 6 3.0 0 Brandon Brewer 2 1 0.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Eddie Williams 9 172 19.1 3 Stephen Carter 3 46 15.3 0 Travis Sledge 2 33 16.5 0 Kelvin Butler 1 39 39.0 1 David Young 1 17 17.0 0 Issac Schroeder 1 12 12.0 0 Nate Satele 1 3 3.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Chris Hill 8 1 0 0 Erik Sellers 7 1 0 0 Matt Burnsides 5 2 0 0 Elvis Washington 4 0 0 0 Todd Andriano 4 0 1 0 Mark Toth 3 1 0 0 David Brown 3 2 0 0 Hayden Temple 2 0 2 0 P.J. Ryan 1 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jon Foster 0/0 6/6 6 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Andy Fitzhugh 3 125 41.6 3 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kelvin Butler 5 158 31.6 1 Stephen Carter 1 18 18.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kelvin Butler 3 12 4.0 0

Bowling Green Falcons PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Adam Gilmore 25/42 459 6 3 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Curtis Van Demark 5 36 7.1 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Andrew Joseph 7 181 25.8 2 Andre Debose 7 152 21.7 1 Jermiah Kelley 6 70 11.6 3 Nick Rieke 3 27 9.0 0 Jon Brown 2 29 14.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jarett Sanderson 11 0 0 0 Michael Ream 10 2 0 0 Jacob Hardwick 7 1 0 0 Randall Sanders 6 0 0 0 Keith Miller 6 0 0 0 Jay Smith 6 0 0 0 Lewis Parks 4 0 0 0 Darren Branch 3 1 0 0 Amir Bradley 1 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Fred Mathis 0/0 5/6 5 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Blake Benjamin 5 170 34.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jermiah Kelley 6 112 18.6 0 Andre Debose 1 20 20.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jermiah Kelley 2 0 0.0 0