O'Brien Runs For 111 Yards in 21-13 Loss at Carnegie

CMU-WASHU BOX

Pittsburgh, Pa., October 31, 2009 – Carnegie Mellon University took advantage of three special teams turnovers by Washington University and scored 14 points in a span of two minutes and 53 seconds to escape with a 21-13 homecoming victory over the Bears on Saturday afternoon at Gesling Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Leading 13-0 in the third quarter, the Bears’ special teams unit made two costly turnovers that quickly turned the game around for Carnegie. Sam Thompson’s 55-yard punt resulted in a fumble by senior Tim Machan, as the Tartans took over at the WU 10-yard line. Four plays later, Phil Pantalone scampered 10 yards on third and goal to trim the lead to 13-7.

Another special teams mistake by the Bears gave Carnegie Mellon the ball on WU’17-yard line. A bad snap by junior long snapper J.J. Gotlieb was fumbled by sophomore punter Austin Morman and jumped on by CMU’s Tom Todd. Andrew Lovrovich carried the ball two times for Carnegie, including a two-yard TD run, to make it 14-13 with 12:21 left in the fourth quarter.

A three-and-out by Carnegie’s defense, gave the Tartans the ball back for a chance to put the game out of reach. Justin Pratt sealed the homecoming victory with a one-yard touchdown run with 1:36 remaining to make it 21-13.

Junior Jim O’Brien ran for 111 yards on 15 carries in the loss, as he eclipsed 100 yards for the fourth time this season. Junior quarterback Stephen Sherman finished the contest 13-of-20 passing for 106 yards and a TD. Junior Tom Gulyas had a game-high four catches for 40 yards, while sophomore Easton Knott added three receptions for 21 yards.

Senior Andrew Berryman led the defensive unit with a season-high 13 tackles in the loss, while Machan added nine stops. Junior Brandon Brown and sophomore Kyle Larkin also added eight tackles in the loss. The Bears’ defense allowed 234 yards in the loss, and limited the Tartans to 5-of-11 passing for 30 yards.

The Bears’ defense forced a three-and-out on the opening CMU possession, and Washington U. responded with a six-play, 40-yard drive for the first score of the game. O’Brien’s 42-yard run got Washington U. into Carnegie territory, and then junior Tim Johnson nailed a season-long 36-yard field goal to make it 3-0 with 10:28 left in the first quarter.

As a continuous drizzle continued to fall, the Bears’ offense continued to move the football as WU put together a nine-play, 76-yard drive for a touchdown. Sherman capped the drive with a 10-yard pass to senior H-back Greg Lachaud in the end zone. The key play in the drive was a 19-yard reception by Gulyas, who was nearly wrapped up five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Washington U.’s defense was the story in the first half of play, as the Bears allowed just 106 yards of total offense and limited Carnegie Mellon to five first downs. WU forced three punts, two turnovers on downs and a turnover in the first 30 minutes of play. O’Brien ran for 82 yards on 10 carries on the ground, while Sherman was 6-of-10 for 69 yards.

Johnson pushed the advantage to 13-0 with 6:27 left in the third quarter as he drilled a 27-yard field goal, capping a 10-play, 51-yard drive.  

Washington University (3-5, 0-1 UAA) returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 7, at home against the University of Chicago, in is final home game of the 2009 season. Prior to the game, there will be a ceremony to honor the 15 seniors appearing in their final regular season home contest.

Bear Notebook: Carnegie Mellon (5-3, 1-0 UAA) now leads the all-time series with Washington University, 15-12 … The Bears dropped to 14-6 all-time in UAA openers, with all six of their losses coming against Carnegie Mellon … The Bears kicked two field goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 6, 2004 at Washington & Jefferson College, a span of 48 games … Brown had an interception in the second quarter, the ninth of his career.