[Careless Whisper]

Big Plays Lead to Senior Day Blowout
CMU scored three 50+ yard touchdowns and five additional 30+ yard ones move to 6-0 in the MAC



Senior cornerback Hayden Temple intercepted three passes, breaking Calvin Burton's school record for interceptions in the win. (Jared Jones / Getty Images)

by Alicia Brown, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Carnegie Mellon continued its march towards the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Division title this afternoon, as the Tartans outscored Miami (Ohio), 28-3, over a span of nearly 20 minutes to defeat the Redhawks, 56-37, this afternoon on Senior Day from Gesling Stadium.

Five of Carnegie Mellon’s (7-3, 6-0 MAC) eight touchdowns were 30 yards or longer, with three of them covering over half of the field. The Tartans started slow offensively with a three-and-out and Stephen Carter fumble, but Mark Toth’s 95-yard pick six midway through the first quarter squashed Miami’s (5-5, 4-2 MAC) early upset hopes. The Redhawks would answer CMU’s 21-0 start with 21 unanswered points of their own, only to see Eddie Williams swing the pendulum back in the hosts’ favor with a 55-yard run to make it 28-21 with 5:20 left in the half.

“Really loved the effort of the guys today,” said CMU head coach John Elliott. “We didn’t get off to the best start, and knew that Miami would come out with a purpose since they’re still in the hunt for the division. Our veterans and youth both stepped up today and really made some big momentum-shifting plays. I know that the younger guys really wanted to send this senior class out with a win, but I also know the senior class themselves were more motivated heading into this one.”

Following Toth’s 95-yard interception return, the Tartans forced a three-and-out and gave the keys to their quarterback Justin Keyes, who broke off a pair of long runs on the ensuing drive, including a 39-yard scamper to make it 14-0. Toth and Matt Burnsides then halted a promising Miami drive with back-to-back sacks, and Kelvin Butler sprung a 76-yard punt return touchdown – his second in as many weeks – to push the gap to 21-0 in the early stages of the second quarter.

The Redhawks had an answer shortly after Clay Benton connected with Armand Robinson on a 66-yard bomb to make it 21-7, then following a Nate Satele fumble, Donovan Potter took a backwards pass 45 yards to the house to make it a one-score game. A Keyes interception allowed Miami to keep the train rolling, and the visitors took advantage with a Benton 17-yard pass to Rob Reiland, tying the game at 21-21 with 9:03 left in the half.

Following a CMU three-and-out, Hayden Temple stopped the bleeding defensively by snagging an errant deep pass, giving him a program-record 18th career interception. Williams scored on the aforementioned jet sweep shortly after to put the Tartans back in front, and Temple snagged his second pick in as many possessions. While that didn’t lead to points, the hosts knocked Benton out of the game on their next drive and possession soon went back to CMU. It seemed as if the halftime tally would be 28-21, but Korey Harper dove on a fumble forced by Carter on the punt team with 36 seconds left, and Keyes found Issac Schroeder and Travis Sledge for completions – the latter being a 5-yard one in the corner of the end zone.

The special teams unit continued its big day as Bobby Magnum forced a fumble on the second-half kickoff and Schroeder recovered, leading to a Keyes 16-yard touchdown pass to Williams. Temple intercepted his third pass of the afternoon later in the fourth quarter, and Keyes put the game to bed at the start of the fourth quarter with a 32-yard touchdown scramble. While Miami managed to score twice against CMU’s second defensive unit, a late timeout by the Redhawks gave the Tartans the final score as Lawrence McIntire found paydirt in the closing seconds.

“We were just trying to run the clock out that entire fourth quarter pretty much,” said Elliott. “Not sure why they wanted to extend the game, but I figured if they thought they could come back from 12 points down with 30 seconds to go, we might as well put the game away.”

Keyes celebrated his Senior Day in style, compiling 341 yards of total offense (161 pass, 180 rush) and four touchdowns (2 pass, 2 rush). His classmate Temple topped Calvin Burton’s school record for interceptions with three and added five tackles, while Toth collected seven tackles, his aforementioned pick six, and a trio of the team’s nine sacks.

Carnegie Mellon will be off this coming week before finishing the regular season with a pair of road contests, starting with a Saturday, November 20 matchup at Kent State.

Miami (OH) RedHawks at Carnegie Mellon Tartans
Nov 6, 2010	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Miami (OH) RedHawks (5-5, 4-2 MAC)	0	21	3	13	37
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (7-3, 6-0 MAC)	14	21	7	14	56

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		M-OH	CMU
8:41	(CMU) Mark Toth 95-yard interception return (Jon Foster kick)	0	7
5:38	(CMU) Justin Keyes 39-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	0	14
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		M-OH	CMU
14:11	(CMU) Kelvin Butler 76-yard punt return (Jon Foster kick)	0	21
13:13	(M-OH) Clay Benton 66-yard pass to Armand Robinson (Calvin Russell kick)	7	21
12:59	(M-OH) Donovan Potter 45-yard run (Calvin Russell kick)	14	21
9:03	(M-OH) Clay Benton 17-yard pass to Rob Reiland (Calvin Russell kick)	21	21
5:20	(CMU) Eddie Williams 55-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	21	28
0:16	(CMU) Justin Keyes 5-yard pass to Travis Sledge (Jon Foster kick)	21	35
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		M-OH	CMU
14:38	(CMU) Justin Keyes 16-yard pass to Eddie Williams (Jon Foster kick)	21	42
10:27	(M-OH) Calvin Russell 39-yard field goal	24	42
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		M-OH	CMU
14:50	(CMU) Justin Keyes 32-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	24	49
12:12	(M-OH) yler Byers 41-yard pass to Rob Reiland (Calvin Russell kick)	31	49
5:29	(M-OH) Tyler Byers 7-yard run (pass failed)	37	49
0:23	(CMU) Lawrence McIntire 2-yard run (Jon Foster kick)	37	56

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Justin Keyes 13/27 161 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Justin Keyes 18 180 18.0 2 Lawrence McIntire 19 61 3.2 1 Eddie Williams 1 55 55.0 1 Nate Satele 4 10 2.5 0 Brandon Brewer 1 3 3.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Eddie Williams 6 73 12.1 1 Travis Sledge 4 32 8.0 1 Stephen Carter 2 23 11.5 0 Issac Schroeder 1 33 33.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Erik Sellers 10 0 0 0 Mark Toth 7 3 1 1 Aaron Crosby 6 1 0 0 Hayden Temple 5 0 3 0 Zac Hood 4 2 0 0 Rob Jones 3 1 0 0 David Brown 2 1 0 0 Matt Burnsides 1 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jon Foster 0/0 8/8 8 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Andy Fitzhugh 5 175 35.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kelvin Butler 5 89 17.7 0 Stephen Carter 1 21 21.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kelvin Butler 3 76 25.3 1

Miami (OH) Redhawks PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Clay Benton 22/44 278 1 4 Tyler Byers 4/6 91 1 0 Brian Greenway 0/2 0 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Donovan Potter 1 45 45.0 1 Thomas Merriweather 8 35 4.3 0 Tyler Byers 6 25 4.1 1 Clay Benton 6 8 1.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Armand Robinson 6 130 21.6 1 Rob Reiland 6 105 17.5 1 Donovan Potter 6 78 13.0 0 Chris Givens 4 47 11.7 0 Thomas Merriweather 2 6 3.0 0 Scott Barron 2 3 1.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Ben Bennett 9 0 0 0 Dexter Korto 8 0 0 0 Caleb Bostic 8 0 0 0 Josh Krauth 7 0 0 0 Ryan Kennedy 5 1 0 0 Jordan Stevens 5 1 0 0 Craig Mitchell 4 0 1 0 Edward Palmer 3 1 0 0 Matt Kaimowicz 3 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Calvin Russell 1/1 4/4 7 39 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Johnny Duncan 8 286 35.7 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Armand Robinson 7 140 20.0 0 Donovan Potter 1 44 44.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Armand Robinson 4 7 1.7 0