David BrodyDespite an interception-riddled performance from senior quarterback Adam Meranda, the Bears football team managed a 21-16 win over University Athletic Association (UAA) rival Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to secure outright their fourth consecutive UAA crown. En route to their four championships, the Bears have won 15 consecutive UAA contests. The win improved the Bears to 5-3 on the season, guaranteeing the Bears at least a .500 record with two games remaining. The game also concluded UAA play for the Bears, who end the conference season unbeaten at 3-0. Bears Coach Larry Kindbom was pleased with the win, particularly for the Bears’ seniors, who have been undefeated in UAA play throughout their Washington University careers.
“I’m excited for the seniors. They’ve gone through their UAA career undefeated. That’s a mark of consistency and dominance,” Kindbom said. “That’s hard to do that. My excitement is for them… It’s something we shoot for. It’s a goal on our board and we reached it.”
With the University receiving the opening kickoff, the Bears wasted little time in putting points on the scoreboard. The offense moved quickly and efficiently in the opening drive with Meranda mixing in short outs and screens and deep passes effectively. Junior Brad Duesing made one of the best catches of the game on the drive, catching a deep pass from Meranda to extend the drive on a third down. Senior Kevin McCarthy capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown run.
Entering the game with the UAA’s number one rushing attack, CMU’s offensive strategy stood in stark contrast to the Bears’. While the Bears featured an aerial attack, CMU employed a methodical grind-it-out running game with limited passing. When CMU did pass, they often went deep-perhaps in an effort to keep the Bears’ defense honest.
Receiving the ball after the Bears’ touchdown, CMU was quickly stopped by the Bears’ defense. The Bears’ quick touchdown, followed by their even quicker stop, made CMU appear overmatched in the early-going. But a flubbed Bears long-snap on a punt attempt later in the quarter forced sophomore punter Chaz Moody to scramble back for the ball and barely get the punt off before being tackled. With excellent field position as the result of the punt, CMU seized the opportunity. CMU beat the Bears deep on a long pass to set up a touchdown run to tie the game. CMU scored once more in the first on a 31-yard field goal towards the close of the quarter. Bears’ sophomore defensive back Eric Elias broke up a near touchdown pass to force the field goal. Despite a near perfect quarter from Meranda, who completed nine of 14 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown, the Bears found themselves trailing 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Having rushed eight times for 35 yards in the first quarter, CMU continued to pound the running game in the second, rushing 16 times for 53 yards. But while the Bears’ defense bent, it refused to break. The Bears held CMU scoreless in the second quarter. Despite the relative ease with which the Bears moved the ball on their opening drive of the game, the CMU defense tightened considerably afterwards, showing why they were ranked 12th in Division III in scoring defense, allowing just 11.8 points per game. Meranda was frequently hurried by the CMU defense, which intercepted the senior quarterback twice in the quarter. With Meranda under pressure, the Bears resorted to some offensive trickery on one play as Meranda pitched the ball back off the hike to senior wideout Zak Clark, who threw an on-the-mark (if wobbly) pass to fellow senior Jeff Buening for a 39-yard gain. While that drive was stalled due to a Meranda interception, the Bears would end the half with the lead as Meranda connected with senior Scott Armul for a 14-yard touchdown pass on a later drive to make the score 14-10 at the half.
Neither side could get much going at the start of the third quarter with both teams going three and out on their opening possessions. Still, the Bears were able to pin CMU at its own seven-yard line on their second possession of the quarter. On their first play of the drive, junior Joe Rizzo dove to intercept a CMU pass and give the Bears excellent field position. The interception was the ninth of Rizzo’s career. The Bears ran twice behind McCarthy before Meranda hit Armul for his second touchdown of the game-a 25-yard scoring play. CMU later scored on a 10-play, 57-yard drive with all 57 yards coming on runs. CMU was unable to convert on the subsequent two-point attempt, leaving the game at 21-16 after three quarters.
Neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter, but the Bears aided their cause with two long drives that helped kill the clock. Still, the outcome of the game was never certain for the Bears as Meranda tossed two more interceptions in the quarter to bring his game total to six. The Bears’ defense, which held CMU’s passing attack to just 3-17 and 71 yards for the game and managed to stymie CMU’s potent rushing attack, can rightly be credited with preserving the win. Coach Kindbom noted that the Bears defensive game plan is always keyed in on stopping the run.
“Our philosophy is to stop the run. It’s the number one thing we want to do in every football game that we play. Everything that we do centers around that,” Kindbom said. “[Carnegie Mellon is] very good at both the inside and the outside run. You have to play a disciplined game against that kind of offense… Some of the best plays aren’t the ones that will show up in the statistics… We had to play good team defense and I thought we did.”
Senior defensive back John Woock led the bears with 15 tackles for the game while recording his ninth career interception. McCarthy led the Bears rushing attack with 24 carries for 68 yards. Duesing was the Bears leading receiver with four catches for 89 yards. Meranda finished the game having completed 22 of 39 passes for 289 yards while throwing six interceptions. The game, which lasted two hours and 50 minutes, was played in warm, sunny weather with a temperature of 76 degrees and with 851 fans in attendance.
The Bears will play next this Saturday at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA, with a 1:00 p.m. (EST) kickoff time.