By Matt Florjancic
D3sports.com
At many levels of athletics, fathers not only serve as spectators, but also fill the role of head coach. It is more common that as time goes on, fathers give the reins to men and women with more experience in coaching.
Well, what happens when the father is one who has the most experience? The answer for the Carnegie Mellon Tartans comes in the form of senior outside linebacker Jonathan Bodnar.
The mechanical engineering major leads the same defense on the field as his dad does from the sidelines. Terry Bodnar, in his 24th season with the Tartan football program, is serving as the defensive coordinator for the 22nd consecutive year. This year, the Bodnars have executed their assignments well. Though CMU has a 2-3 mark, the Tartans have held opponents to 17.6 points per game.
With the five games remaining on their schedule, the Tartans are looking for some drastic improvement. Making the playoffs at 7-3 would be a long shot.
"That's been the goal since we started to make the playoffs again," Jonathan said. "The UAA is always tough.
"It's just bringing in the leadership and the experience from the older kids that played last year and showing the younger kids that are starting now that leadership and be able to pull them through any rough spots that they have," he added.
For Jonathan, the leadership and experience came early in his career. During his first two seasons, he split time at linebacker. As a junior, he was elevated to a starting role and has not relinquished it since.
"In high school, he was a defensive back and I just didn't view him as being fast enough to be a defensive back for me," Terry said of Jonathan. "He's got a second-degree black belt in martial arts. He considered Princeton for volleyball. He's an excellent volleyball player.
"He takes after his mom, who is very athletic," Terry continued. "Those strengths help him play an outside backer position because an outside backer in our 3-4 is involved in coverage a lot. His coverage experience from high school has helped him."
Playing football in college may be a difficult challenge for anyone. When one factors in the amount of time the academics take at a well-respected engineering school like Carnegie Mellon, there is a lot of pressure on both athletes and coaches. The younger Bodnar has a pretty good handle on time management, but if he does have a bad practice, he will hear about it after finishing his homework.
"The very first practice I attended as a freshman, it was pretty obvious there weren't any favorites being played," Jonathan said. "It's nothing I hadn't dealt with in the 19 years before I went to college. Most other kids don't get phone calls after bad practices.
"That definitely happens occasionally after a practice," continued Jonathan. "You've got to deal with that phone call."
"The academic load of all our players here is high," Terry said. "There are times they're going early from practice or coming late to practice. There are times when we will talk football, particularly if he had a practice I didn't care for. He will get a little bit more. I will rely on him if I see a problem with one of his friends. There is a relationship there I can use to help coach."
Despite his success on the field, Terry always feels there is room for improvement on the field.
"He's my son, but he's just another one of my players," Terry said. "He's been raised the whole time as any of my players have been.
"He's done a good job for us," added Terry. "My wife will say, 'How did Jon do today?' I don't know I'm coaching him. He's got a helmet on and got yelled at probably like when other people screwed up."
As a junior, Jonathan registered 59 total tackles, including 20 solo stops. He also intercepted two passes and sacked the quarterback once on the way to a second team All-University Athletic Association selection.
While Jonathan was having a great season for Carnegie Mellon, the team itself was becoming successful. The Tartans ran the table, going 10-0 during the regular season. They also won their first round playoff game, beating Millsaps 21-0 at home.
However, the next week, Wesley ended the run for CMU with a 37-0 home win over the Tartans. Jonathan knows the scheme the defense implores is a big reason for the team's success last year.
"For us, we're definitely one of the more well-rounded positions on defense,' Jonathan said of this outside linebacker spot. "We have to be able to cover up on the line and hold our position. At the same time, we have to drop into pass coverage a lot. Sometimes, we sacrifice ourselves so somebody else can make the tackle."
This weekend, the Bodnars will be suiting up for a home game against Case Western Reserve. Jonathan will be busy with a Spartan offense that averages 42.6 points and 474.2 yards per game. If the Tartans are able to continue their winning streak against Case, it would put them in the hunt for another UAA championship.
Comets soar as Bulldogs suffer first setback
Adrian looked poised to knock the Hope Flying Dutchmen off the top of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. However, someone forgot to give Olivet the memo.
The previously undefeated Bulldogs were upset on Homecoming by Olivet 14-13 last Saturday, just two weeks before welcoming Hope to Adrian for a possible first place match-up.
Olivet trailed early in the game when the Bulldogs built a ten-point advantage with 13:08 remaining in the third quarter. However, an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Willie Jones turned the momentum of the game in favor of the Comets. Chris Smith went on to haul in the tying score with Kyle Zabel tacking on the extra point for the lead.
Despite surrendering 318 passing yards to Adrian, including seven catches for 131 yards by Desmond Upshaw, the Comets withstood the aerial attack for the upset.
News and Notes
• Heidelberg took on its third nationally ranked opponent last Saturday when they welcomed Baldwin-Wallace to Frost-Kalnow Stadium, but this game had a much different outcome. Aaron Jonhenry rushed for two touchdowns and Kenny Sims added two other scores in the 42-20 upset over the Yellow Jackets. It is the first victory for Heidelberg in the Ohio Athletic Conference since the 2003 season.
• For just the second time this season, the Washington and Jefferson Presidents were held under 50 points in a 28-12 victory over the Thiel Tomcats. The Presidents passing offense threw for 230 yards, while their defense held the Tomcats to just 113 yards through the air. Tom McCafferty caught five passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. Defensively, Presidents linebacker David Gitlitz registered 14 tackles and an interception en route to being named the Presidents Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
• Following a three-game losing streak to start the 2007 season, Oberlin has now won back-to-back games over Hiram and Denison. In Granville, the Yeomen held on for a 34-27 victory Saturday afternoon. They now welcome Earlham to Savage Stadium before traveling to Wabash and Wittenberg at the end of October. Yeomen running back R.V. Carroll rushed 25 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Greg Mangan was 16-of-23 for 220 yards and two scores at Denison.
Great Lakes teams in D3football.com's Top 25
No. 1 Mount Union (OAC): No change following 44-0 victory at Ohio Northern
No. 7 Capital (OAC): Up one spot with 37-13 victory vs. John Carroll
No. 9 Washington and Jefferson (PAC): Up four spots after 28-12 win against Thiel
No. 11 Ohio Northern (OAC): Down two spots with 44-0 loss to Mount Union
No. 14 Wabash (NCAC): Up two spots with 28-20 victory at Allegheny
Others receiving votes: Wittenberg (NCAC) defeated Earlham 73-0 on the road
Baldwin-Wallace (OAC) dropped out of Top 25 with 42-20 loss at Heidelberg
John Carroll (OAC) dropped out of Top 25 with 37-13 loss at Capital
Games of the Week
Case Western Reserve (5-0, 0-0 UAA) at Carnegie Mellon (2-3, 0-0 UAA), Oct. 13, noon: The high-octane offense for the Spartans will face off against a CMU defense that surrenders 199.8 yards per game through the air. Case wide receiver Tim Cowdrick is the favorite target of sophomore Dan Whalen. However, if they get in the red zone, Ryan Kolesar could also be a threat to Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans have two rushers that can carry the load in Robert Gimson and Travis Sivek behind an experienced offensive line.
Wittenberg Tigers (4-1, 2-0 NCAC) at Wabash Little Giants (5-0, 3-0 NCAC), Oct. 13, 1 p.m.: Wittenberg takes a balanced offensive attack to Wabash for a match-up with the passer-friendly Little Giants. Wabash averages 262.4 yards a game through the air, but will be tested by the Tigers, who give up 156.4 passing yards a contest. This game could well determine the North Coast Athletic Conference's champion and playoff team, as Oberlin is the only other undefeated team in the conference.
