Despite junior tailback John Breedy’s mammoth day on the ground for UR, it was the 27-point second half for Carnegie Mellon University that proved to be the story of the game last Saturday.
Breedy’s effort was nearly enough to lead the Yellowjackets to a win, but it was the Tartans who had the last laugh. CMU scored a 30-20 victory at Fauver Stadium, dropping UR to 3-5.
Breedy piled up 156 yards on 24 carries, and scored all of the Yellowjackets’ three touchdowns.
The game was a tale of two halves, the first of which was owned by UR. Head coach Mark Kreydt resorted to some trickery to begin the game.
In a move that nobody could have predicted, Kreydt called for an onside kick to start the game.
The play worked perfectly, and the payoff was huge. Eight plays later, Breedy burst into the end zone from six yards out, giving UR a very early 7-0 lead, with merely three minutes of time elapsed in the first quarter.
CMU was able to answer on their next drive, with kicker Michael Palmer hitting a 26-yard field goal thanks to a tough goal-line stand by the UR defense to make the score 7-3.
However, Palmer walked away from the next two Tartans possessions much less happy. UR sophomore Sam Snowden blocked his FG attempt on the next drive.
Palmer then shanked a 32-yarder, keeping the UR lead at 3. Breedy made CMU pay for its missed opportunities, running 63 yards on the next play from the line of scrimmage. Six snaps later, Breedy once again found pay dirt, and the Yellowjackets led 14-3.
On the next Yellowjacket drive, sophomore quarterback Patrick Fitzsimmons showed why Kreydt chose him to take over for the injured Jeff Piscitelli.
A 28-yard pass from Fitzsimmons to sophomore wide receiver Brian Ferris and a 12-yard run from Fitzsimmons helped set up a nine-yard slicing TD run by Breedy.
The extra point attempt was blocked, giving Rochester a dominating 20-3 halftime lead.
The second half was a totally different story. The next 30 minutes were nothing but Tartans, and UR was helpless to withstand the assault.
The 17-point lead was quickly whittled away. The first drive of the half for CMU was capped off by an Andrew Garrodd 11-yard TD carry. A penalty on the ensuing kickoff against UR gave them the ball on their own 9-yard line.
On UR’s first offensive play of the second half, Fitzsimmons fumbled the ball, which rolled into the end zone and was pounced on by CMU defender Adam Frank for a touchdown. Halfway into the third quarter, UR’s lead was sliced to 20-17.
Fitzsimmons was picked off on the second play of the next drive deep in his own territory, but the UR defense wasn’t fazed.
Three plays later, senior linebacker standout Brian Kowalski made an interception of his own, getting UR out of a big jam.
However, Fitzsimmons was picked off again on the following drive. CMU capitalized on this mistake, scoring on a three-yard run by Adam Urbanczyk.
The Tartans had wiped out the seemingly insurmountable UR lead, and were ahead 24-20. Garrodd added yet another touchdown later in the half, giving CMU its 30-20 victory.
The Yellowjackets rushed for 241 yards, with Breedy’s 156 leading the way.
Fitzsimmons added 66 yards rushing to that total and passed for 157 yards on 12 completions. Ferris had three catches for 67 yards ? a nice afternoon for the sophomore receiver.
The loss to CMU dropped UR to 1-2 in the University Athletic Association. The men hope to end their two-game skid next weekend as they take on Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. at 1 p.m.
“I would like to finish on a strong note and get big wins with Union and Case Western [Reserve University,” Breedy said.
Pisco can be reached at jpisco@campustimes.org.
