WASHINGTON, Pa. --
Pete Coughlin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) accounted for all eight touchdowns (seven passing, one rushing) as Washington & Jefferson rallied past Carnegie Mellon in double overtime for a 55-52 Homecoming win at Cameron Stadium.
Coughlin completed 31-of-49 attempts on the day for 340 yards and seven touchdowns, plus rushed 16 times for 111 yards and a score. 17 of his completions and four TDs went to
Jesse Zubik (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth), who topped 200 yards for the first time in his career and set a new program single-game record with 17 catches.
A CMU touchdown at 10:37 of the fourth quarter put the Tartans ahead by a 42-28 margin and calmed the Homecoming crowd. A 50-yard kickoff return by
Luke Merhaut (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) gave W&J the ball at midfield and the Presidents marched 50 yards in five plays to cut the deficit in half, 42-35, with the capper a 16-yard strike from Coughlin to
Braydon Toy (Kittanning, Pa./Kittanning), his second TD reception of the game and his career.
The Presidents' defense forced a three-and-out, but the offense didn't capitalize, punting after four plays. Again, however, the defense stood tall for three more plays to force another CMU punt, which Merhaut returned 24 yards to the 40-yard line. Six plays later, W&J found pay dirt when Zubik hauled in his third score of the day, 30 yards out from Coughlin, knotting the game at 42-42 with 4:25 remaining in regulation.
CMU marched on the ensuing possession, including a fourth-down conversion near midfield, but then the W&J defense held down to force a punt, which the Tartans downed at the one-yard line with 52 seconds left.
Austin Kemp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) rushed for nine yards on the first play, but the Presidents took an knee to send the game to OT.
W&J got the ball to open OT after CMU won the the coin toss and chose to go on defense. It took four plays for the Presidents to score and take the lead, a five-yard scamper by Coughlin, 49-42. Carnegie Mellon needed just two plays to tie the game and force a second overtime.
In the second OT, CMU was on offense first and eventually kicked a 20-yard field goal after getting to the four-yard line on the second play of the frame. Running back Sam Benger, a consensus All-American a year ago, was stopped for no gain, two yards and a loss of a yard, by the W&J defense to force the FG. On W&J's possession, Coughlin ran for 14 yards on second down and eventually capped the drive and game when he hit Zubik on a eight-yard fade route in the back corner of the end zone, 55-52.
W&J opened up a 14-3 lead after scoring on its first two possessions, passes to Zubik of 14 and 29 yards. CMU roared back with the next 18 points to go up 21-14 midway through the second quarter. Kemp hauled in his first career reception, a seven-yard score, to tie the game at 21-21, but an 82-yard punt return by the Tartans late in the quarter allowed them to score with 13 seconds left and take a 28-21 lead into intermission.
Benger opened the scoring of the second half at 3:07 of the third quarter, 35-21, before Toy snagged his first career TD with 31 seconds left in the period, from 15 yards out to make it a 35-28 game.
On the day, Coughlin's rushing total of 111 yards was a career high and his second 100-yard game on the ground. He totaled 451 yards of total offense with his 15th career 300-yard passing performance. He also moved past Chris Edwards (8,303) on the career passing yard list in third place with 8,367.
Zubik's 17 receptions broke Jordan Roycroft's record of 14 against Thomas More in 2010. It was his first game going over 200 yards after missing the milestone by one yard last week at Thiel. The four scores were also a career high and his fifth game with three-plus scoring grabs, including third this season. It also marked the first time a President recorded four touchdowns in a game since Craig Besong hauled in four scores at Thomas More on Nov. 1, 2008. Zubik moves into second place on the W&J career receiving TD list with 31 in 26 games over two-and-a-half seasons.
Toy had the best game of his tenure in Washington, snagging eight passes for 86 yards and his first two scores.
Kemp also established career highs on the day with 25 carries for 159 yards as the Presidents boasted two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since the 2014 season-opener against Wooster.
Nick Murgo (Warren, R.I./Mount Hope) recorded a team- and season-high 15 tackles on the day, including a game-best 3.0 for loss.
Tom Marra (Moon Township, Pa./Our Lady of Sacred Heart) was also in double figures for the first time in his career, recording 10 stops, with 2.0 going for loss. Merhaut made eight tackles and was matched by
Nick Getz (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone) who had the lone sack for the Presidents and
Torre Carr (North Strabane, Pa./Canon-McMillan).
W&J improved to 4-1 on the year and 2-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, while CMU drops to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the PAC. The Presidents will remain home next weekend for a 6 p.m. kickoff against Bethany at Cameron Stadium.
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