(LATROBE, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team continued Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Saturday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, against the Bearcats of Saint Vincent College. The Tartans left Chuck Noll Field with a 49-14 victory to remain undefeated at 4-0 and 3-0 in PAC play. Saint Vincent moves to 0-3 and 0-2.
The Tartans totaled 403 yards of total offense while the Bearcats totaled 356. Carnegie Mellon forced six turnovers and committed zero. The Cardinal and Gray also converted 7-of-8 red zone chances on the day.
Junior quarterback JD Dayhuff (Westerville, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) threw for 218 yards and a career-best four touchdowns. All four of Dayhuff's scores went to sophomore Kris Hughes (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) who finished the game with a career-best five catches for 120 yards. The four touchdown receptions ties a single-game school record. Senior Chris Haas (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) led the Tartans rushing attack with 58 yards while Dayhuff ended the game with 47 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Senior Quinn Gaughan (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) led the defense with eight tackles, seven solo. Junior Mason Tolliver (Sylmar, Calif./Crespi) totaled seven tackles, three solo, and had an interception. Senior Long Tran (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) finished the game with 2.0 sacks. He now ranks fifth on the all-time sack list with 17.0 for his career.
Brady Walker completed 12-of-32 passes for 178 yards and two touchdown for Saint Vincent. Andre Dixon caught a game-high six passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. Mike Stasko led the Bearcats rushing game with 101 yards on 16 carries.
Carnegie Mellon forced a turnover on Saint Vincent's first offensive play of the game when Gaughan stripped the ball away from Hunter Grimes and senior Thomas Polutchko (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) recovered the ball on the Bearcat 16-yard line. On the next play, Dayhuff scored on a quarterback keeper with 11:57 showing on the clock in the first quarter to make the score 7-0.
Following a 42-yard punt by freshman Casey Jaeb (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep) that went out at Bearcat 1-yard line, the Tartans defense forced an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone which resulted in a safety and gave the visitor's a 9-0 lead with eight minutes to play in the first quarter.
Sophomore placekicker Brandon Nguyen (Maitland, Fla./Lake Highland Preparatory) pushed the Tartans lead to 12-0 before the end of the first quarter. The sophomore's 29-yard field goal capped off an eight-play, 56-yard drive.
Saint Vincent answered Nguyen's field goal with a 10-play, 79-yard drive that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Walker to Sam Nowicki. The touchdown strike made the score 12-7 three minutes into the second quarter.
With four seconds remaining in the half, the Tartans pushed their lead back to 12 (19-7) when Dayhuff found Hughes in the middle of the end zone from three yards out.
On the opening drive of the second half, Tolliver intercepted Walker to set the Tartans up on the Bearcats 14-yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, Dayhuff and Hughes connected for their second touchdown of the afternoon to make the score 26-7.
With 8:10 showing on the clock in the third quarter, Walker tossed his second touchdown of the game when he found Dixon on a 10-yard reception to cut the Tartans lead to 26-14.
The tandem of Dayhuff and Hughes struck again for their third touchdown. This time the touchdown toss, which came from 18 yards out, capped off a five-play, 46-yard drive, that started following a 39-yard kickoff return by junior Sean Cooke (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South). The point after was blocked and left the score at 32-14 with 5:34 to play in the third.
Sophomore Noah Castor's (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) blocked punt lead to the Tartans seventh score of the game that gave the ball to the Tartans on the Bearcats 30-yard line. Eight plays later, Nguyen's second 29-yard field goal on the afternoon made the score 35-14 as the third quarter came to a close.
The fourth touchdown strike by Dayhuff to Hughes, a 54-yard catch-and-run made the score to 42-14. A late 15-yard touchdown run by freshman Ryan Shaw (Emerson, N.J./Emerson) closed the scoring at 49-14.
The Tartans will remain on the road to play Grove City College on Saturday, October 5 in a 2:00 p.m. opening kick.