CUA travels to face Carnegie Mellon in first road test
WASHINGTON - CUA looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season when it travels to Pittsburgh Friday evening for a matchup vs. Carnegie Mellon. The Cardinals committed five turnovers and fell to cross-town foe Gallaudet last weekend by a score of 47-27. It marked the first loss for CUA vs. the Bison in a series that dates back to 1906.
The Tartans meanwhile, improved to 2-0 with a 37-7 win over Allegheny. Patrick Blanks rushed for three touchdowns and Tim Kikta hauled in four receptions for 158 yards and a pair of scores to lead the CMU offense.
CUA and Carnegie Mellon are meeting for only the fourth time this weekend with the Tartans holding a slim 2-1 lead. CMU won the first two matchups before the Cardinals picked up their first win last season in Washington, D.C.
Under Head Coach Dave Dunn, CUA has won five of six road openers, including a thrilling 39-36 victory at McDaniel last season. The only year in which the Cardinals dropped their road opener was 2009, when they fell at Franklin & Marshall.
Junior Andrew Ouellette is currently 22nd in America in kick return average (28 yards/return). Ouellette, who has three career kick returns for touchdown, registered 137 all-purpose yards last weekend, including 104 on four kick returns.
12 different Cardinals have caught at least one pass during the early going. Two of those players, John Serdakowski and Victor Fernandez, notched their first collegiate receptions during that time.
After converting nearly 60% of their 4th down chances last season (19/32 = 59%), CUA is off to another strong start in 2012, having converted 3 of 4 chances.
Through two games, CUA has converted on 8 of 9 opportunities inside the red zone (89%), with seven touchdowns. Last year, CUA was 31 of 39 inside the red zone (79%) with 22 touchdowns.
Friday's game kicks off at 7 p.m. from Pittsburgh.
