Allegheny (3-1) at Carnegie Mellon (4-1)
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Opening Kickoff:
Allegheny and Carnegie Mellon are meeting for the 49th time in a series that dates back to 1906. The series took a hiatus in 1995 and was renewed in 2007. Since then, each team has traded wins with the Gators posting a 24-21 victory in 2007 and the Tartans winning 41-14 last year in Meadville, Pa. to snap Allegheny's six-game winning streak against CMU. The Gators are coming off their first loss of the season, while Carnegie Mellon just finished a three-game road trip with a 2-1 record. The Tartans only loss this season was to Hobart, 24-16.
First meeting: 1906 (Carnegie Tech 5, Allegheny 0)
Most points by one team: 1969 (Allegheny 70, CMU 39)
Largest margin of victory: 1921 (Carnegie Tech 56, Allegheny 0)
Smallest margin of victory: 1950 (Carnegie Tech 14, Allegheny 13)
Ties: 1987 (CMU 7, Allegheny 7; 1917 (Carnegie Tech 0, Allegheny 0)
1994: Allegheny's last win at home against CMU (Allegheny 37, CMU 22)
2008: CMU's last victory at Allegheny (CMU 41, Allegheny 14)
1983: CMU's last shutout against Allegheny (CMU 35, Allegheny 0)\
1964: Allehgeny's last shutout against CMU (Allegheny 13, Carnegie Tech 0)
*There have been 18 shut-out victories in the series: 13 – CMU, 5 – Allegheny; In the last 11 contests, the home team is 3-7-1; Allegheny is 7-18-1 on the road against CMU.
Last Week:
The No. 12 Wabash Little Giants snapped Allegheny's three-game winning streak and spoiled its Homecoming game, accumulating 533 yards of total offense en route to a 37-3 decision last Saturday. The Gators hung around with the defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions early on before Wabash erupted for 21 second-quarter points. Allegheny's lone score came on a 40-yard field goal by Ryan Zipf, with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
Dominant Defense:
The Gator defense was able hand Wabash its first sack of the year thanks to Travis Wilkins, who made two for a loss of 16 yards. Wilkins, the Allegheny football defensive MVP for the game, also recorded his second interception of the season and added five tackles. Senior Andy Schleihauf paced the team with 11 tackles and a forced fumble. C.J. Bell contributed seven solo and three assisted for 10 tackles.
Sack Race:
Allegheny has 11 sacks through four games and is just nine shy of 20 set in 2008. The defense also has eight interceptions this season, putting them five shy of last year's number (13).
Receiving It Well:
Senior Jake Vite recorded his first 100-yard receiving game this season against Wabash, marking the third time he has caught for over 100 yards in his career. He made seven catches for 114 yards. He leads the team with 20 catches for 285 yards, averaging 71.2 yards per game. Vite's season-long catch was for 39 yards against the Little Giants.
The Last Meeting:
The Tartans broke a 7-all tie with two touchdowns in the second quarter and adding two more in the fourth to defeat the Gators 41-14 in Allegheny's first televised game since 1994. Carnegie Mellon recorded 359 yards on the ground thanks to running backs Christo Garcia (13-for-125 yds, TD) and Anthony Ruzga (22-for-125, 2 TDs), who both posted career highs. Eric Mastrogiacomo and T.J. Salopek each scored for the Gators.
CMU Last Week:
Justin Pratt scored his second touchdown of the game on a two-yard scamper with just under 13 minutes to play to put Carnegie Mellon ahead 17-14 against Kenyon, proving to be the final margin. Freshman Dave Birsen had a 65-yard return to the Kenyon 18-yard line which set up the eventual winning drive for the Tartans. Carnegie Mellon's defense stood tall forcing the Lords to turn the ball over on downs and the Tartans went on for the three-point victory. Chris Garcia led the Tartans rushing attack with 99 yards on 22 carries. Pratt finished with 68 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Brendan Howe tallied four receptions for 66 yards.
Common Opponents:
Allegheny and Carnegie Mellon have two common opponents on their schedule: Kenyon and Wittenberg. The Tartans just defeated Kenyon17-14 last week. The Gators will travel to Kenyon on October 24 and to Wittenberg on November 7. Carnegie Mellon will take on the Tigers two weeks prior (the same day Allegheny faces Kenyon).
Salopek Stats, Vite Vitals Update:
T.J. Salopek has accumulated 4,163 career passing yards to move into sixth place on the all-time leaders list. He also has tallied 387 career completions for fourth overall and needs just two more to take over third place. Jake Vite is eighth in program history with 88 career receptions to take over sole possession of seventh place and needs one more to be in three-way tie for sixth.
