Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College football team dropped a 35-14 decision to host Carnegie Mellon University in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at Gesling Stadium in Pittsburgh.
A strong rushing attack helped Carnegie Mellon record 265 yards on the ground. Willem Bouma spearheaded those efforts by matching the single-game CMU record with five rushing touchdowns. The Tartans defense sacked the Presidents four times and forced three turnovers in the victory. W&J outgained Carnegie Mellon in terms of total offense (403-371) with a large portion of those yards for W&J coming through the air.
W&J junior quarterback Jacob Pugh (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) finished the night with 315 yards passing and two touchdowns. Pugh completed 17-of-36 pass attempts but was intercepted three times. Pugh now has 22 passing touchdowns in 2023. Pugh's favorite target Saturday evening was sophomore Jacob Macosko (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) who racked up 167 yards on just five catches. Two of those catches accounted for the Presidents' touchdowns.
Carnegie Mellon took advantage of a short field to open the scoring. Following an interception, Bouma capped an eight-play, 25-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run at the 6:38 mark. A little more than two minutes later, Bouma sprinted 55 yards on the first play of the drive to extend the CMU lead to 12-0. W&J answered just 14 seconds later when Pugh found Macosko for a 67-yard touchdown catch and run on its first play of the ensuing possession. That touchdown cut the deficit to 12-7 after an extra point by Ricky Hunter (Freeport, Pa./Freeport).
Bouma tacked on a third first quarter touchdown run at the 1:09 mark. Bouma capped a seven-play, 94-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run that stretched the Tartans lead to 18-7. Early in the second quarter, Bouma pushed in from four yards out to make the CMU lead 25-7. The Tartans added on when Bouma raced 70 yards for his fifth touchdown of the first half. The score made it 32-7 Carnegie Mellon at halftime.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. Pugh found Macosko for a 51-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth, as W&J cut the deficit to 32-14 at the 11:49 mark following Hunter's point after.
Carnegie Mellon (7-1 overall) closed the scoring with a 39-yard field goal by Justin Caputo with just 3:59 to play in the game.
Defensively, Tanner Volpatti (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and Justin Johns (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional), finished with 12 tackles apiece to lead all players in the game. Volpatti also had 4.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Zachai Simmons (Hawthorne, N.J. / Linsly (W. Va.)) added nine tackles.
W&J (5-2 overall) will look to regroup as they host Case Western Reserve University (6-1 overall) on Saturday, Oct. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Cameron Stadium.