PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Oct. 29) – The Saint Vincent College football team closed out its road portion of the 2022 schedule with a 30-12 loss to No. 18 Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Boasting one of the top defenses in the nation, Carnegie Mellon (9-0, 7-0 Presidents' Athletic Conference) limited Saint Vincent (3-5, 3-3 PAC) to just 174 yards of total offense and harassed the Bearcats into six interceptions.
Carnegie Mellon produced points on each of its first three drives of the afternoon to jump out to a 17-0 lead with 3:29 left in the first quarter.
On their first trip, the Tartans advanced inside the SVC 20, but the Bearcat defense limited the hosts to a field goal. CMU recorded its first interception of the day on the opening play of SVC's ensuing drive and turned the miscue into a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ben Mills to Kris Hughes. After the Bearcats' second punt of the quarter, the Tartans would then march 69 yards in eight plays, with Mills and Hughes connecting again for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-0.
While the Bearcats' next two possessions would again end in interceptions, the SVC defense kept the Tartans at bay, including a fourth down stop in the opening moments of the second quarter.
Taking over at their own 40 following a punt, the Bearcats would engineer their first scoring drive of the afternoon midway through the second frame.
Brady Walker completed four passes for 60 yards on the trip, capped off with a 6-yard touchdown pass to
Ryan Whitman. With the missed extra point, the Bearcats cut into the Tartan lead, 17-6.
Saint Vincent's defense again held on fourth down on Carnegie Mellon's next trip, but the offense was unable to seize the momentum, as CMU recorded its fourth interception of the half two plays after the fourth down stop. The hosts again turned the turnover into points, with a 33-yard field goal upping their lead to 20-6 and closing the half's scoring.
A 28-yard Carnegie Mellon field goal with 9:12 left produced the only points of a defensive-themed third quarter in which the Bearcats held on another fourth down and the Tartans picked off two more passes.
The hosts would score their final points of the game with 10:16 left in regulation when Joey McGinnis closed out a 7-play, 50-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge to make the score 30-6.
After a missed Carnegie Mellon field goal with just under seven minutes to play, the Bearcats embarked on their most productive offensive trip of the half. Taking over at their own 25-yard line, Saint Vincent embarked on a 10-play drive capped off with
Max Pisula's fifth rushing touchdown of the season, a one-yard score, to close the cap to 30-12 after the missed two-point conversion try. The drive included a pair of completions from
Austin Slye to
Jeffrey Downs II that netted 27 yards.
Kaelib McElroy gained a team-leading 44 receiving yards on four catches, while
Molayo Irefin made five catches for 35 yards and
Matthew Esdelle three for 27.
D.J. Gray Jr. rushed for 37 yards on 13 attempts. Walker and Slye split the duties under center, with the former completing 7 passes for 56 yards and, one touchdown, and the latter 11 of 21 attempts for 88 yards.
Defensively,
Jaden Edmonds and
Jaden Pratt shared the team lead with eight tackles apiece, with Pratt also forcing a fumble.
Brandon Nolder and
Max Pisula each were credited with 1.0 tackles for loss, while
Ahmad Shaw and
Joanes Polynice each produced 0.5 TFL.
Mills completed 21 of 39 passes for 195 yards and two TDs, both to Hughes, who finished with nine grabs for 65 yards. Tre Vasiliadis led the Tartans with 95 rushing yards on 20 attempts. Defensively, Adrian Williams recorded three of CMU's six interceptions, while Robert Coury made six tackles with a sack.
The Bearcats will now embark on a two-game homestand to end the regular season, beginning with a 1 p.m. date with Waynesburg at Chuck Noll Field on Saturday, Nov. 5.
