Season 5, Game 6: Toledo at Carnegie Mellon
CMU Defense Grounds Rockets in Revenge Blowout
Carnegie Mellon’s defense didn’t allow a single point, as Toledo only scored on two kick returns and a pick six
Junior free safety Todd Andriano was all alone to haul in his sixth interception of the season in the second quarter. (Julian Harrison / Getty Images)
by Alicia Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Nearly 10 months ago, Carnegie Mellon had its hearts crushed by an undefeated Toledo side in comeback fashion at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship Game. The Tartans’ locker room was filled with clippings from their 33-27 loss, but the extra motivation didn’t seem necessary as they exacted some revenge on the Rockets with a 43-21 victory this afternoon from Gesling Stadium.
Carnegie Mellon (4-2, 3-0 MAC) used a dominant defensive effort to top Toledo (3-2, 1-1 MAC), holding the visitors without an offensive touchdown. The Rockets only found the end zone via two kick returns and an interception, and was outgained by the Tartans offensively, 462-74, and 279-(-2) on the ground.
“Really proud of how the defense bounced back after last week (against Bowling Green),” said CMU fifth-year head coach John Elliott. “Despite losing most of their starters, Toledo has a ton of talent on that side of the ball and (Travaris) Cadet is a threat both throwing and running. We really were able to shake off the early kick return and hit them in the mouth – figuratively speaking – and our offense just churned out drive after drive on the ground. I know putting the (newspaper) clippings in the guys’ lockers is a cheap motivation ploy, and we didn’t need a reminder of how we felt after last December, but I do think it allowed us to play with more of an edge than usual.”
After Carl Ford broke a tackle and ran back the opening kickoff to the house, CMU brushed itself off and put together a tying response on a Justin Keyes five-yard option keeper. The drive was extended with three offside penalties, one coming off a missed third-down pass. Keyes missed putting the Tartans up 14-7 with a red zone interception, but Mark Toth picked his quarterback up with a strip sack of Travaris Cadet. Nate Satele followed that up with an 18-yard burst, setting up a Keyes nine-yard toss to Stephen Carter to make it 14-7 after a quarter.
Satele fell victim to his fumbling issue once again in the second quarter, but back-to-back sacks gave the ball back to the Tartans on a three and out. However, Keyes made his second mistake of the day right after the punt as Akeem Byrum jumped a telegraphed curl route and ran back the interception 16 yards for a touchdown, making it 17-14 with 5:53 left in the half. All the momentum seemed with Toledo after an early CMU punt, but Todd Andriano swung it back with an easy interception of Cadet, and Keyes then ripped off a 54-yard option dash to extend the gap to 24-14. The hosts would add a Jon Foster field goal at the end of the half to make it a 13-point game.
The Tartans began the second half with a 10-play, 57-yard drive, ending it with a Keyes option pitch to Kelvin Butler for an eight-yard score. CMU’s defense then took over without forcing a bevy of turnovers, instead limiting the Rockets to short drives and multiple punts. Foster booted three more field goals to add to the lead, while Cameron Mobley answered the second of those on an 88-yard kick return to make the score look more respectable.
Keyes didn’t have the same clean performance he did last December, but managed to compile 298 yards (183 pass, 115 rush) and three total touchdowns (2 rush). On the other end, Cadet threw for just 76 yards on 10-of-21 passing and the interception to Andriano.
Toth starred for the Tartans defense, recording 10 tackles, a pair of sacks, and three forced fumbles. Zac Hood also brought down Cadet twice, and Aaron Crosby and Matt Burnsides netted a sack each. Crosby also forced a pair of fumbles, recovering one of them.
Carnegie Mellon continues its three-game home stand on Saturday, October 16 with an 8:00 p.m. kick against Western Michigan.
CMU Defense Grounds Rockets in Revenge Blowout
Carnegie Mellon’s defense didn’t allow a single point, as Toledo only scored on two kick returns and a pick six
Junior free safety Todd Andriano was all alone to haul in his sixth interception of the season in the second quarter. (Julian Harrison / Getty Images)
by Alicia Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Nearly 10 months ago, Carnegie Mellon had its hearts crushed by an undefeated Toledo side in comeback fashion at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship Game. The Tartans’ locker room was filled with clippings from their 33-27 loss, but the extra motivation didn’t seem necessary as they exacted some revenge on the Rockets with a 43-21 victory this afternoon from Gesling Stadium.
Carnegie Mellon (4-2, 3-0 MAC) used a dominant defensive effort to top Toledo (3-2, 1-1 MAC), holding the visitors without an offensive touchdown. The Rockets only found the end zone via two kick returns and an interception, and was outgained by the Tartans offensively, 462-74, and 279-(-2) on the ground.
“Really proud of how the defense bounced back after last week (against Bowling Green),” said CMU fifth-year head coach John Elliott. “Despite losing most of their starters, Toledo has a ton of talent on that side of the ball and (Travaris) Cadet is a threat both throwing and running. We really were able to shake off the early kick return and hit them in the mouth – figuratively speaking – and our offense just churned out drive after drive on the ground. I know putting the (newspaper) clippings in the guys’ lockers is a cheap motivation ploy, and we didn’t need a reminder of how we felt after last December, but I do think it allowed us to play with more of an edge than usual.”
After Carl Ford broke a tackle and ran back the opening kickoff to the house, CMU brushed itself off and put together a tying response on a Justin Keyes five-yard option keeper. The drive was extended with three offside penalties, one coming off a missed third-down pass. Keyes missed putting the Tartans up 14-7 with a red zone interception, but Mark Toth picked his quarterback up with a strip sack of Travaris Cadet. Nate Satele followed that up with an 18-yard burst, setting up a Keyes nine-yard toss to Stephen Carter to make it 14-7 after a quarter.
Satele fell victim to his fumbling issue once again in the second quarter, but back-to-back sacks gave the ball back to the Tartans on a three and out. However, Keyes made his second mistake of the day right after the punt as Akeem Byrum jumped a telegraphed curl route and ran back the interception 16 yards for a touchdown, making it 17-14 with 5:53 left in the half. All the momentum seemed with Toledo after an early CMU punt, but Todd Andriano swung it back with an easy interception of Cadet, and Keyes then ripped off a 54-yard option dash to extend the gap to 24-14. The hosts would add a Jon Foster field goal at the end of the half to make it a 13-point game.
The Tartans began the second half with a 10-play, 57-yard drive, ending it with a Keyes option pitch to Kelvin Butler for an eight-yard score. CMU’s defense then took over without forcing a bevy of turnovers, instead limiting the Rockets to short drives and multiple punts. Foster booted three more field goals to add to the lead, while Cameron Mobley answered the second of those on an 88-yard kick return to make the score look more respectable.
Keyes didn’t have the same clean performance he did last December, but managed to compile 298 yards (183 pass, 115 rush) and three total touchdowns (2 rush). On the other end, Cadet threw for just 76 yards on 10-of-21 passing and the interception to Andriano.
Toth starred for the Tartans defense, recording 10 tackles, a pair of sacks, and three forced fumbles. Zac Hood also brought down Cadet twice, and Aaron Crosby and Matt Burnsides netted a sack each. Crosby also forced a pair of fumbles, recovering one of them.
Carnegie Mellon continues its three-game home stand on Saturday, October 16 with an 8:00 p.m. kick against Western Michigan.
| Toledo Rockets at Carnegie Mellon Tartans | |||||
| Oct 9, 2010 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Toledo Rockets (3-2, 1-1 MAC) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Carnegie Mellon Tartans (4-2, 3-0 MAC) | 14 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 43 |
| Scoring Summary | |||
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | TOL | CMU | |
| 14:51 | (TOL) Carl Ford 87-yard kickoff return (Shannon Quinn kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 10:42 | (CMU) Justin Keyes 5-yard run (Jon Foster kick) | 7 | 7 |
| 0:06 | (CMU) Justin Keyes 9-yard pass to Stephen Carter (Jon Foster kick) | 7 | 14 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | TOL | CMU | |
| 11:53 | (CMU) Jon Foster 24-yard field goal | 7 | 17 |
| 5:53 | (TOL) Akeem Byrum 16-yard interception return (Shannon Quinn kick) | 14 | 17 |
| 2:41 | (CMU) Justin Keyes 54-yard run (Jon Foster kick) | 14 | 24 |
| 0:00 | (CMU) Jon Foster 46-yard field goal | 14 | 27 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | TOL | CMU | |
| 9:06 | (CMU) Kelvin Butler 8-yard run (Jon Foster kick) | 14 | 34 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | TOL | CMU | |
| 14:57 | (CMU) Jon Foster 50-yard field goal | 14 | 37 |
| 8:51 | (CMU) Jon Foster 50-yard field goal | 14 | 40 |
| 8:42 | (TOL) Cameron Mobley 88-yard kickoff return (Shannon Quinn kick) | 21 | 40 |
| 5:03 | (CMU) Jon Foster 24-yard field goal | 21 | 43 |
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