[Careless Whisper]

Tartans Top Rival Panthers, 28-25, to End 74-Year Drought
CMU collected eight sacks and an interception while overcoming four turnovers to defeat Pitt for the first time since 1938



CMU defensive tackle Mario Williams breaks the school record with his fourth sack of the game here. (Jacey Thomas / Getty Images)

by Jayson Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- After watching its 14-0 lead turn into a 17-14 deficit, Carnegie Mellon head coach Jules Nottingham benched his starting quarterback Kevin Wilson in favor of Gerald Culver, and was rewarded as Culver tossed two touchdown passes in the second half to lift the Tartans over rival Pittsburgh, 28-25, in the Steel City Showdown on Saturday.

The win for Carnegie Mellon (2-1) was its first over Pittsburgh (0-3) since Nov. 5, 1938, and its sixth overall in 37 tries. The Tartans had lost their last 11 meetings against the Panthers, including the previous six since the program returned to NCAA Division I competition by an average margin of 24.8 points per game.

“This was a long time coming,” said Nottingham. “Since I joined (Carnegie Mellon in 2010), we have had our opportunities but couldn’t quite close the deal. Today, despite the mistakes, we were able to battle back and not let history repeat itself. I’m proud of our guys for digging deep when it seemed like everything was going against us and finding a way to win an emotional rivalry game.”

CMU toppled Pitt despite turning the ball over four times, all of which came after the visitors grabbed a 14-0 lead through the first 15:01. Wilson capped an eight-play, 73-yard opening drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Travis Sledge, then on the first play of the second quarter, Lawrence McIntire punched it in from a yard out to complete another eight-play scoring trek.

That 14-0 scoreline remained until 5:58 remaining in the half when Wilson made his first mistake of the afternoon, throwing an interception to Claude Shack in the flat that he returned 32 yards to paydirt. Three plays later, Kelvin Butler was stripped of the ball after a first-down catch, and it was recovered by the hosts. Dee Jones tacked on a 34-yard field goal to make it 14-10 with 1:15 on the clock, which was then followed by Wilson’s second pick and CMU’s third turnover in five minutes. Eugene Halterman took full advantage of the miscue, finding Chris Henderson open down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Panthers ahead 17-14 at halftime.

Pitt carried all of its momentum into the break, but couldn’t capitalize on the first second-half possession as its offense went three-and-out. The Tartans responded with an extended 10-play, 62-yard drive that seemed destined for points, only for Wilson to fire his third interception of the game with the offense in the red zone. That prompted Nottingham to make a switch, pulling his senior starter in favor of Culver.

“We needed some good fortune there,” said Nottingham of the swap. “We believe in Gerald (Culver) and know what he brings to the table, and though Pitt was aware of his abilities, they likely prepared this week with Kevin (Wilson) as our quarterback. Making the switch allowed us to take back control of the game from a mental standpoint and position ourselves to capitalize on any mistake.”

Despite a Jabari London interception of Halterman, Culver’s first drive went nowhere as CMU punted it back quickly to the Panthers. Freshman defensive tackle Mario Williams then pulled down Halterman for his third sack of the day to force a three-and-out, and the Tartans took over with good field position late in the third quarter. Six plays later, Culver connected with Eddie Williams for an eight-yard touchdown to put the Tartans back in front, 21-17.

Neither team could gain an edge after the Williams touchdown, but the confidence of the CMU defense grew with two more three-and-out drives. With 6:11 remaining in regulation, Eddie Williams made the biggest play of the afternoon by beating Jonathan Green deep on a long third down, and Culver found him in stride for a 44-yard score. The Panthers didn’t answer until there was less than a minute left when the Halterman-Henderson connection was good from 47 yards, but following a successful two-point pass, the Tartans recovered the onside kick to seal the victory.

Mario Williams collected his fourth sack of the game on Pitt’s final drive, breaking the school record set seven different times by five players. The Tartans defense had eight sacks in all, with Zac Hood, P.J. Ryan, Robert Wall, and Brandon Williams also notching a takedown.

Culver finished 5-of-8 passing for 70 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 25 yards on the ground. Wilson was 15-of-23 for 202 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. After the game, Nottingham confirmed a switch at quarterback moving forward.

“Gerald (Culver) has earned the right to be our starting quarterback,” said Nottingham. “He’s playing with great efficiency right now, is taking care of the ball, and offers more mobility with our inexperienced offensive line. We believe in Kevin (Wilson) and I’m sure he’ll have his chances moving forward, but he can’t continue to turn the ball over and make ill-advised throws – particularly against teams like this.”

Eddie Williams continued his blistering start to the season with nine receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns. His 525 receiving yards through three games leads all of NCAA Division I football.

Halterman provided 238 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception on 19-of-33 passing for Pitt. Henderson finished with seven catches for 148 yards and both scores.

Carnegie Mellon begins Mid-American Conference (MAC) play next Saturday, Sept. 22 when it hosts Buffalo.

Carnegie Mellon Tartans at Pittsburgh Panthers
Sep 15, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Carnegie Mellon Tartans (2-1)	7	7	7	7	28
Pittsburgh Panthers (0-3)	0	17	0	8	25

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
10:52	(CMU) Kevin Wilson 17-yard pass to Travis Sledge (Joseph Love kick)	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
14:59	(CMU) Lawrence McIntire 1-yard run (Joseph Love kick)	14	0
5:58	(PITT) Claude Shack 32-yard interception return (Dee Jones kick)	14	7
1:15	(PITT) Dee Jones 34-yard field goal	14	10
0:33	(PITT) Eugene Halterman 27-yard pass to Chris Henderson (Dee Jones kick)	14	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
0:22	(CMU) Gerald Culver 8-yard pass to Eddie Williams (Joseph Love kick)	21	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		CMU	PITT
6:11	(CMU) Gerald Culver 44-yard pass to Eddie Williams (Joseph Love kick)	28	17
0:54	(PITT) Eugene Halterman 47-yard pass to Chris Henderson (Eugene Halterman pass to Jerome Irvin)	28	25

Carnegie Mellon Tartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Kevin Wilson 15/23 202 1 3 Gerald Culver 5/8 70 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Lawrence McIntire 14 69 4.9 1 Gerald Culver 7 25 3.5 0 Eddie Williams 3 13 4.3 0 Clay Armstrong 2 0 0.0 0 Kelvin Butler 1 -1 -1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Eddie Williams 9 182 20.2 2 Travis Sledge 5 62 12.3 1 Kelvin Butler 2 12 6.0 0 Chris Smith 2 12 6.0 0 Lawrence McIntire 1 5 5.0 0 Clay Armstrong 1 -1 -1.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brandon Williams 13 1 0 0 Jon Crowell 6 0 0 0 Mario Williams 5 4 0 0 Rob Jones 5 0 0 0 Matt Butler 5 0 0 0 Jabari London 3 0 1 0 Robert Wall 3 1 0 0 P.J. Ryan 1 1 0 0 Zac Hood 1 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Joseph Love 0/0 4/4 4 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Andy Fitzhugh 5 194 38.7 3 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kyle Holland 3 63 21.0 0 Kelvin Butler 1 19 19.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Kelvin Butler 6 29 4.8 0

Pittsburgh Panthers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Eugene Halterman 19/33 238 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Jerome Irvin 11 22 2.0 0 Chris Henderson 1 3 3.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Chris Henderson 7 148 21.1 2 Devin Morris 3 29 9.6 0 Blake Harrington 3 18 6.0 0 Gary Jones 3 7 2.3 0 Chance Watkins 1 20 20.0 0 Shawn Harris 1 10 10.0 0 Jerome Irvin 1 6 6.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jonathan Green 10 0 1 0 Andrew Pierce 6 0 0 0 Rian Porter 5 0 1 0 Jeff Randall 5 0 0 0 Jonathan Perry 4 0 0 0 Casey Holmes 3 1 0 0 Claude Shack 1 1 1 1 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Dee Jones 1/1 2/2 5 34 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Shane Berry 8 332 41.5 2 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Jonathan Green 3 67 22.3 0 Chris Henderson 2 47 23.5 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Chris Henderson 3 10 3.3 0