Tartans Welcome Grove City to Gesling Stadium to Open 2012 Season

Game Notes - pdf

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Carnegie Mellon University football team will open its 2012 season with a non-conference matchup against the Grove City College Wolverines.  The game is slated for a 1:00 pm kickoff on Saturday, September 1 at Gesling Stadium on Carnegie Mellon's campus.

The Tartans look to extend their streak to 14 straight season-opening victories Saturday afternoon. Carnegie Mellon has started its past two seasons with wins over Grove City.  The Tartans won 21-19 last season at Gesling Stadium and the year before outlasted the Wolverines in Grove City, 28-21.

Carnegie Mellon has squared off on the gridiron with the Wolverines 53 times, with the Cardinal and Gray holding the all-time edge 33-18-2. The Tartans have had recent success against Grove City, winning the last three meetings and six of the last seven between the teams.  Only Washington & Jefferson College has met Carnegie Mellon more times than Grove City.

The Tartans are once again led by head coach Rich Lackner, who is entering his 27th season at the helm and will look to continue the program's trend of success in the season openers.  

Carnegie Mellon returns 16 starters from last year, including preseason All-Americans senior cornerback Sam Thompson (Alcoa, Tenn.) and junior offensive guard Nathan Cheek (Lancaster, Ohio).  Thompson led the UAA with seven interceptions in 2011 while tying a Tartan single-season record. It also tied him for second in Division III. Cheek heads an offensive line that returns the 13th and 15th all-time rushers in Tartan history.