The Ursinus Bears football team rounded out Centennial Conference play on Saturday, scoring a 27-20 win over the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. The team honored their seniors in a big way on Senior Day, with a big win over an esteemed program.
With the victory, the Bears finished 6-4 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The Tartans, meanwhile, dropped to 3-4 in conference play and 5-5 overall, in their first year as a member of the Centennial Conference.
Both teams secured a spot in the Centennial-MAC Bowl series after Sunday, a postseason tournament that pairs the top three Centennial Conference non-NCAA Tournament qualifying teams, with the top three non-qualifying teams in the MAC conference.The NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings of the three Centennial Conference teams – Carnegie Mellon, Ursinus, and Dickinson – determined which teams will compete in the tournament, with the Bears finishing third among non-tournament qualifying teams. The ranking sets them up to take on the third-seeded MAC team, the Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, this Saturday.
It took a stellar performance offensively for the Bears to battle past a tough Tartan defense. Tristan Machado, a junior quarterback, completed 29 of 40 passes for a career-high 347 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. Ryder Zulkowski, a classmate, caught two touchdown passes with six receptions for 79 yards, while junior wide receiver Aidan Roselle topped the Bears with 106 passing yards on six receptions with a touchdown. In the victory, senior Cody House caught six passes for 56 yards.
The Bears got out to a great start, with a long 13-play 70-yard drive that took off at 7:44 on the clock. They were stopped, however, on fourth-and-1 at the Tartans 5-yard line, leaving them empty-handed in the red zone. With 1:55 remaining in the first quarter, the team bounced back, as Machado connected with Zulkowski on a 35-yard flea flicker touchdown pass, giving Ursinus the early 7-0 lead. At 11:23, Carnegie Mellon answered with a 13-play 61-yard drive that resulted in a 25-yard field goal, making the score 7-3.
Two plays into the subsequent Ursinus drive, Machado’s ball was deflected into a 25-yard pick-6 to give Carnegie Mellon a 10-7 lead, maintaining the Tartans’ momentum. Following two punts, Roselle’s 21-yard catch-and-run score at 1:51 gave the Bears a 14-10 lead. But with a 26-yard touchdown pass on third and 17, the Tartans executed the two-minute offense flawlessly and led 17–14 at the half.
After forcing a Tartans punt to start the second half, Ursinus marched 80 yards in 11 plays to regain the lead at 20–17. At 5:16 in the third quarter, Zulkowski caught a 6-yard touchdown pass over a defender. With 1:01 remaining in the third quarter, Carnegie Mellon used a botched extra point to level the score at 20 with a 36-yard field goal. At 11:21 in the fourth quarter, Machado found junior Aidan Donahue on an 18-yard touchdown throw, giving the Bears a decisive advantage.
With 6:39 remaining in regulation, the Bears defense rallied when needed most, forcing two three-and-outs and returning the ball to its own 7-yard line. With two third-down conversions, Ursinus took off with 5:51 of the clock, leaving the Tartans with just 48 seconds remaining at their own 23-yard line without a timeout. Manney Saenz, a sophomore defensive lineman, scored a sack on the third play of the drive, and the victory was maintained by a false start penalty that was applied in the last ten seconds.
The 6-4 Bears take on 6-4 Lebanon Valley in a must-watch Saturday battle. Come out and support the team as they look to finish their season strong!