Ben Mills Becomes Carnegie Mellon’s All-Time Passing Touchdown Leader as #15 Tartans Defeat Waynesburg 42-0

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team, ranked 15th nationally, hosted the Waynesburg University Yellowjackets for the 12th Annual Cindy Lackner Memorial Game on Saturday under the lights at Gesling Stadium. The Tartans' stout defense paired with a host of offensive weapons to shut out Waynesburg 42-0 in the Presidents' Athletics Conference (PAC) contest.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 42, Waynesburg 0
Records: Carnegie Mellon (5-0, 5-0 PAC), Waynesburg (1-4, 1-4 PAC)
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Richard M. Lackner Field at Gesling Stadium)

How it Happened

• Carnegie Mellon opened the scoring on a blocked punt by sophomore Giacomo Valente, recovered by sophomore defensive back Ethan Ming and returned five yards for the score to put the Tartans up 7-0 to close the first quarter.
• After an exchange of punts, the Tartans capped a seven-play, 48-yard drive with a 4-yard laser from graduate student quarterback Ben Mills to sophomore wide receiver Reece Kolke, taking 3:21 off the clock to widen the gap to 14-0 with 11:27 left in the half.
• Following a recovered Waynesburg fumble by senior Mitchell Stokey, Carnegie Mellon tacked on another score with a 1-yard airborne plunge from junior quarterback Joey McGinnis IV, capping a seven-play, 44-yard drive to further the lead to 21-0 with 1:03 left in the half.
• Midway through the third quarter, Tartans senior wide receiver Will Squibb caught four passes in a row, the final being a 16-yard back-corner strike to score courtesy of Mills, capping a six-play, 70-yard drive taking up 2:22 to extend the lead to 28-0 at the 10:40 mark.
• McGinnis IV tacked on another touchdown with a 1-yard scamper to finish a six-play, 70-yard drive eating up 2:21 to put the Tartans up 35-0 to close the third quarter.
• With 10:13 left in the game, McGinnis IV logged both his first career passing attempt and first career passing touchdown on a 21-yard strike to freshman wide receiver Luca Cuttita to end a seven-play, 31-yard drive of 2:05. The catch was Cuttita's first career receiving touchdown.

Stats

• The Tartans outgained Waynesburg 329-206 on 65 and 63 offensive plays, respectively.
• Squibb turned in a career day with 128 yards on nine catches and a touchdown to lead the Tartans' receiving corps. He added 11 yards on the ground as well.
• McGinnis IV led the scoring with three touchdowns, two rushing and one passing.
• Tartan senior linebacker Evan Roper led the defense with nine tackles, including tying a career best of 3.5 tackles for loss. Tartans graduate student linebacker Logan Young and junior linebacker Leighton Tarke contributed eight and seven tackles, respectively.
• Mills led Carnegie Mellon's passing game with 232 yards on 23-26 attempts and two touchdowns.
• Graduate student running back Tre Vasiliadis tallied 59 rushing yards on 10 carries to lead the Carnegie Mellon rushing attack.
• Carnegie Mellon junior kicker Justin Caputo finished the night perfect on PATs with six.
• Senior Jackson Lajoie ended the game with two block kicks, a field and a punt, and finished with three tackles.

Game Notes

• Carnegie Mellon leads the all-time series with Waynesburg 18-5-1, winning seven of the last eight contests, including six straight.
• The Tartans have won 21 straight games at home, the second longest streak in Division III and fifth longest among FBS, FCS, DII and DIII institutions.
• Mills is now the all-time passing touchdowns leader for the Tartans with 58 career touchdowns. He also tallied 509 career completions and needs three more to be the sole category leader.
• Saturday's game marks the third shutout this season, with nine total over the last five seasons, and five over the last 15 games.
• The Tartans win streak is now at 12 games.
• It marked the fourth time this season the Tartans finished the game with double-digit tackles for loss, as the Cardinal and Gray totaled 12 in the win.

Thoughts From Head Coach Ryan Larsen

• "I was very happy with how hard our guys played in all three phases of the game tonight. Our defense preserved the shutout, our special teams made multiple big plays, including a blocked punt for a touchdown, and offensively we were explosive when we needed to be. We cannot wait to get back to work tomorrow!"

Up Next

• Carnegie Mellon will travel north to play Grove City College on Saturday, October 12. Kick against the eighth-ranked Wolverines is at 2:00 p.m. in Grove City, Pennsylvania.