The conditions certainly were not ideal to foster success.
When No. 13 Carnegie Mellon took the field for its NCAA Division III second-round playoff game Saturday against Centre, heavy winds were swirling around Gesling Stadium, blowing fallen leaves around the frozen turf, with the temperature lurking at 25 degrees.
For Tartans sophomore wide receiver Brendan McCullough, though, that was when something else took over.
“Nobody is immune to cold weather,” the Peters Township product said. “I would say this game, I think it was a culture game for sure. I would say ever since I’ve been here, I think our culture has been No. 1, and I would argue that our culture is one of the best in the country.
“The energy of the pregame is, I think, one of the most important things before a game,” he added. “I think we had more energy than they did. I think our culture overall took over that game.”
After a one-year absence from the NCAA playoffs, Carnegie Mellon returned to postseason play and never trailed en route to knocking off Centre, 24-15, to capture its first postseason victory since 2022 and fifth all time.
The Tartans (10-1) held the Colonels (8-3) to a school-record minus-33 rushing yards, while McCullough caught a career-high 10 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns to pace his team’s offensive attack.
“I’m really proud of our guys, proud of the effort,” third-year Carnegie Mellon coach Ryan Larsen said. “It certainly wasn’t perfect football for us, but in the moments that mattered the most offense, defense and special teams all made plays.”
Carnegie Mellon advances to face No. 5 Mount Union in the third round of the NCAA playoffs at noon Saturday at Kehres Stadium in Alliance, Ohio. The Raiders defeated John Carroll, 42-7, Saturday in a second-round contest.
“I said it to the team at the end, ‘We’ve gone now three years in a row with 10 wins or more,’” Larsen said. “That’s a huge accomplishment, that’s an unbelievable accomplishment, that takes everybody. That’s not just the star player, that’s just not a coach or a play-caller or any single person, that is a complete program-wide commitment, and it’s phenomenal, and that’s the kind of program we’re trying to build.
“We have an amazing opportunity after this to go play kind of one of those preeminent Division III powers,” he added. “That’s what we’re trying to build and become, and we think we have the right people to do it.”
Linebackers Robert Coury and Logan Young certainly are among those people.
Young, a Moon graduate, had two interceptions against Centre and finished with seven tackles, one for a loss. Coury, meanwhile, finished with five tackles and a critical fourth-quarter sack.
With 15 career interceptions, Young is tied with Aaron Lewis for most in program history. Coury also recorded his 360th career tackle to surpass Lewis’ 358 from 2003-06 for the most by a Tartans defender.
Safety Jacob Franze recorded a team-high 11 tackles with a fumble recovery for the Tartans Saturday, while cornerback Adrian Williams, a Peters Township product, also had nine tackles.
“It was just everyone doing their jobs, fitting the right gaps,” Coury said. “We knew what runs they liked, and just being able to play downhill and penetrate I think caused a lot of havoc on their end and allowed us to make a lot of plays in the backfield.”
Young said he was proud of his team’s record-breaking game.
“It’s pretty cool to hear that stat line,” he said. “It’s not something we’re going to reminisce on. We’re just going to move on to the next game, and we’re just thankful to still be playing football. We’re excited to just keep going. We’re not ready to be done yet.”
Special teams played a big role in getting Carnegie Mellon out to an early lead it would not relinquish.
After a bad snap on a first-quarter Centre punt attempt allowed the Tartans to take the ball inside the Colonels 30, McCullough immediately made his presence felt.
Quarterback Ben Mills connected with McCullough for a 20-yard touchdown pass to give Carnegie Mellon a 7-0 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
South Fayette product Justin Caputo, playing on a broken foot he injured at practice during the week, then converted a 27-yard field goal to extend the Tartans’ advantage to 10-0 at halftime.
“They did some thing that put us in a position where we let someone free,” Centre coach Andy Frye said. “I give Carnegie Mellon credit, coaching their punt block team.
“Special teams are big,” he added. “Especially in big games like this, special teams always have a big effect.”
Centre was able to move the football through the air, especially in the second half.
Quarterback Jack Gohmann threw for 402 yards and a touchdown, while Luke Hammons also threw a 6-yard touchdown pass for the Colonels.
Wide receiver Blake Busson caught 13 passes for 212 yards to lead Centre’s passing attack, and Dant Bowling added 10 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Jakei Tarter cut into Carnegie Mellon’s lead in the third quarter with a 6-yard touchdown reception, while Bowling’s 27-yard scoring strike from Gohmann later cut the Tartans lead to 17-15 with 8:44 left in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been in the playoffs three other times and we had ‘dudes,’ as they said,” Frye said. “We don’t have a lot of ‘dudes,’ but we’ve got a team that’s really close, and they put themselves in this position. I’m very proud of them. I’m very proud of this team.”
With the game on the line, Carnegie Mellon turned to Wildcat quarterback Joey McGinnis IV. He carried the ball five times for 23 yards and scored a 1-yard touchdown run with 49 seconds remaining that put the game away.
“It’s awesome to win in your hometown, your home city of Pittsburgh,” McCullough said.
Missed field goal ends No. 12 Grove City’s season in consecutive seasons
No. 12 Grove City rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit but saw its NCAA Division III playoff run come to a disappointing conclusion for the second season in a row. Sophomore kicker Daniel Sullivan missed a potential game-tying 27-yard field-goal attempt with nine seconds remaining as the Wolverines were handed a 17-14 loss to No. 19 Johns Hopkins in a second-round contest at Homewood Field in Baltimore.
It was a particularly brutal end to the 2024 season for Grove City (9-2), which had its 2023 campaign finish in the second round of the NCAA playoffs when kicker Caleb Kuechly missed a 37-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in a 25-24 loss to eventual national champion Cortland.
Facing a 17-0 deficit against Johns Hopkins (10-1) Saturday, though, the Wolverines rallied to make the game interesting over the final 7:59 of the fourth quarter.
Grove City quarterback Logan Pfeuffer, a Peters Township graduate, first got his team on the board when he connected with wide receiver Scott Fraser, a Knoch product, for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 5:29 left in the contest.
After sophomore Jase Herrick fell on a blocked Blue Jays punt in the end zone for a Wolverines touchdown that narrowed their deficit to 17-14 with 3:42 left in the contest, Pfeuffer again led his team down the field but was ultimately unable to score a decisive touchdown.
Pfeuffer led his team on a 14-play, 61-yard drive over 2:31 to put his team in a position for the potential game-tying field goal. The senior quarterback completed 24-of-49 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown.
Fraser finished with 19 catches for 213 yards and a touchdown, while the Wolverines were held to minus-13 yards rushing.
Johns Hopkins quarterback James Rinello rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and also threw a 6-yard scoring strike to EJ Talarico.
No. 17 Washington & Jefferson blows early lead in postseason loss
Senior quarterback Jacob Pugh threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to give No. 17 Washington & Jefferson an early two-score advantage, but host Randolph-Macon responded by scoring 38 unanswered points before emerging with a 38-22 NCAA Division III second-round playoff victory at Day Field in Ashland, Va.
Pugh, a Thomas Jefferson product, was one of only 24 quarterbacks in any NCAA division to throw for 3,000 yards this season. He completed 24-of-41 passes for the Presidents (9-2) against the Yellow Jackets (10-1) with 271 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
The W&J quarterback also carried the ball 10 times for 15 yards and two touchdowns.
Wide receiver Jacob Macosko, a Peters Township graduate, had 11 receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown for the Presidents.
Randolph-Macon gashed the W&J run defense for 220 yards on the ground, led by Mitchell Johnson, who carried the football 27 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Yellow Jackets quarterback Dante Casciola also threw for 137 yards, two touchdowns and rushed for 83 yards and a score on 13 carries.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.